01The two mothers
The images of both Devis are carved in the rock of the hill. The town’s katha says the two sisters once quarrelled and began to leave the hill, the elder sinking into the ground to the waist and the younger turning away, before Bhairav and Hanuman persuaded them to stay; that is how they are seen today. Dewas was ruled from 1728 by two branches of the Pawar family, the Senior and Junior states, which shared one town; the Tulja Bhavani of the Pawars’ Maharashtrian homeland and the Chamunda of Malwa are their two Devis.
02Navratri on the tekri
Steps and a ropeway climb the hill, and in Navratri the whole tekri is lit and crowded through the night; walkers come from Indore, about 35 km away, on foot. The hill also has shrines of Kalika, Annapurna, Bhairav and Hanuman, and a Jain shrine below. Dewas lies on the Indore–Ujjain road, and many pilgrims to Mahakal stop here on the way.
The life of this place
- 1728The Pawar brothers Tukoji and Jivaji take Dewas, founding the Senior and Junior states.
In the centre of Dewas, about 35 km from Indore. Use the ropeway or the steps; Navratri nights are the liveliest time.
