Locking wishes, unlocking divinity at Prayagraj’s ‘Taale Wale Mahadev’ temple

Prayagraj, Mar 4 (PTI) Tucked away in a bylane in the heart of Prayagraj is an old Shiva temple where devotees from near and far offer flowers, ‘prasad’ and shiny locks, each carrying a wish in someone’s name.

If the wish is fulfilled, the devotee returns to open the lock and take it home.

However, finding a spot to attach a lock could be a daunting task as locks are all that someone visiting this temple would see, be it inside the chamber or on its surrounding structures.

PTI visited the temple, now called ‘Shree Natheshwar Mahadev Mandir’ with the deity colloquially referred to as ‘Taale Wale Mahadev’, just a few days before the closure of the Kumbh Mela 2025, during which many pilgrims and some police personnel from other states had also hung locks seeking fulfilment of their wishes.

Rows and rows of shiny locks, many carrying engraved names or painted with colour, fill the four walls inside the temple chamber with the shivling in the sanctum sanctorum at the centre, appearing almost like a divine guardian of these metallic objects loaded with wishes.

While there is no official count of the locks hung on rods and rails, inside and out, top and below, the temple’s mahant, Shivam Mishra, says there are about “50,000 locks in total”.

“And, when it comes to places from where devotees have come to lock in their wishes, there is hardly any state of India left. About 100-150 locks are added every day,” he told PTI here.

One person from Thailand and another from the UK have also put in their locks here, the priest claimed.

“The temple is very ancient, and it also has a very old inscription on a tablet embedded on the back wall of the ‘garbha griha. ‘ We don’t know the exact age of the temple, so I appeal to the Uttar Pradesh government to have an archaeological study conducted of its stones,” the mahant said.

He said the temple is already popular among the locals, many of whom join in the evening aarti every day.

Located on a small plot of land, the temple, ensconced by concrete housing structures, is situated in a lane in the Mutthiganj area of Prayagraj, which is around 6 km away from Triveni Sangam — the point of the confluence of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati.

Rakesh Kumar, 25, a native of Bihar’s Madhepura district, visited the temple on February 24, a day after taking a holy dip at Sangam.

Asked what he had wished for, he told PTI, “It’s about my job”, as he added another lock to the grid of round metals on one of the side walls of the temple.

But, how did it all begin and who put the first lock?

Mahant Mishra, whose residence is located in the same lane, across the temple, offered an answer as he whipped out his mobile phone and showed some images and videos of how the temple looked till a few years ago.

“In 2020, this temple was not in good shape. Then, by the grace of God and guidance of many gurus, the work on its revival started,” he said.

On February 26, on Maharashivratri, which was also the last day of the Kumbh Mela, a grand ‘rudrabhishek’ and ‘maha-aarti’ was held at the temple, where several devotees joined in.

Mishra said he had hung the “first lock” at the temple in 2023, and the number grew exponentially, giving the temple the moniker of ‘Taale Wale Mahadev Mandir. ‘

“During my ‘sadhna’, I had this divine ‘aadesh’ from Pashupati Nath of Kathmandu, where I go to every year to pray that I should put the first lock, and so I did,” he claimed, adding, every month he adds a lock to the grid, without any ‘mannat’.

In 2023, there were just about 150 locks. The number has kept rising while several locks have been unlocked, meaning wishes were fulfilled, the priest said.

However, 80 per cent of the people don’t like to reveal what they had wished for once they open their locks, Mishra said when asked if they have an average count of locks opened in a day.

“But as the number of locks is overwhelming, sometimes devotees are unable to find their locks. In that case, we seek forgiveness from Mahadev and deposit the keys,” the priest said.

The presence of such a huge number of locks, which includes one shaped like a fish with a gold-tinged hue and another with an image of Lord Ganesha embossed on it, can make an ordinary visitor feel like one has come to a curiosity shop.

“Some locks are also lying open with the keys inserted in them. These are offered by devotees not as a ‘mannat’ (wish) but as ‘shringar’ for ‘baba,'” Mishra said.

The priest says that for those living in far-off places or out of the country, there is also “a provision to apply online to have a lock hung in their names”.

On the evening of February 24, as many flocked to the Sangam with a sole wish to take a holy dip during the Kumbh Mela, local resident Smita Shrivastava rushed to the temple to “open her lock”.

“My wish has been fulfilled, so I have come to open the lock which I had hung in 2024. It’s not been a year (12 months), and my wish has been fulfilled by God’s grace. I will hang another lock,” she told PTI, searching for her lock amid a mountain of the shiny metallic objects carrying the dreams, aspirations and hopes of thousands of people.