page_title: Yogmaya Temple
section_title: Structure
hierarchical_section_title: Yogmaya Temple / Structure
caption_attribution_description: English: Entry door to the Yogmaya precincts
context_page_description: Yogmaya Temple, also Jogmaya temple, is a Hindu temple Shakti Peetha dedicated to the goddess Yogmaya, also considered to be a sister of Krishna as she took avatar as Subhadra, and situated in Mehrauli, New Delhi, India, close to the Qutb complex. According to local priests and native records, this is one of those 27 temples destroyed by Mahmud Ghazni and later by Mamluks and it is the only surviving temple belonging to pre-sultanate period which is still in use. Hindu king Samrat Vikramaditya Hemu reconstructed the temple and brought back the temple from ruins. During Aurangzeb's reign a rectangular hall was added to the temple which is a witness of a failed attempt by Mughals to convert this ancient temple into a mosque which was later turned into a store room for Devi's vastra. Though its original architecture could never be restored after its destruction by Islamic rulers, but its reconstruction had been carried out repetitively by the locals.
  Yogmaya or Jogmaya is considered, an aspect of Maya, the illusionary power of God. The temple is also venue of a large congregation of devotees during the Navratri celebrations.
context_section_description: The temple rebuilt in 1827 is a simple but contemporary structure with an entrance hall and a sanctum sanctorum that houses the main Idol of Yogmaya made of black stone placed in a marble well of 2 ft (0.6 m) width and 1 ft (0.3 m)  depth. The sanctum is 17 ft (5.2 m) square with a flat roof over which a truncated shikara (tower) is built. Apart from this tower, a dome is the other feature seen in the temple (pictured). The idol is covered in sequins and cloth. Two small pankhas (fans) of the same materials are seen suspended over the Idol from the roof. The walled enclosure around the temple is 400 ft (121.9 m) square, with towers at the four corners. Twenty two towers were built within the precincts of the temple at the orders of the Sood Mal, the builder. The floor of the temple was originally made of red stone but since then has been replaced by marble. The main tower above the sanctum is 42 ft (12.8 m) high and has copper plated shikara or pinnacle.
  The flowers and sweet meats offered by the Devotees to the goddess are placed over a marble table of 18 inches square and 9 inches height set in front of the idol in the sanctum floor. Bells, otherwise a part of Hindu temples, are not tolled during the worship of the goddess. Wine and meat are forbidden to be offered at the temple and goddess Yoga Maya is stated to be austere and exacting. An interesting display at the temple premises in the past (but now in an open wall panel) was an iron cage of 8 ft (2.4 m) square and10 ft (3.0 m) in height in which two stone tigers are exhibited. A passage, between the temple and the wall panel has flat roof which is covered with the planks overlaid by bricks and mortar and fixed with bells.
caption: Entry into the temple precincts
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