Beyond the Village Boundary
The sacred geography of Vasavad does not end at the village gate. Beyond the settlement, along the road that leads to Randal Na Dadva, stands a small but significant shrine: Rokadiya Hanumanji. This temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman occupies a place in the landscape where the built environment of the village gives way to the open countryside — a threshold between the domestic and the wild, guarded by the deity known for his strength, devotion, and protection.
Location: Beyond Sukhnath Mahadev, on the road towards Randal Na Dadva, Vasavad.
Hanuman temples at village boundaries and along roads are a deeply rooted tradition across Gujarat and Saurashtra. The deity's role as Sankat Mochan — the remover of obstacles and protector of travellers — makes roadside Hanuman shrines a natural feature of the landscape. For the people of Vasavad, Rokadiya Hanumanji would have been both a place of daily worship and a landmark on the journey outward from the village.
The Temple Today
The temple today is a modest, well-maintained structure — white-washed walls with maroon trim, arched openings on three sides that allow the breeze and light to enter, a tiled forecourt with decorative patterns, and the signboard above the entrance. The surrounding greenery — dense trees and shrubs — gives the shrine a sense of seclusion and tranquility, set apart from the bustle of the village.
An Omsymbol in orange and white is prominently displayed on the temple wall — a simple, universal declaration of the sacred. Above it, the dark stone plaque that records the story of the temple's renewal.
The Jirnodhar: Shri Hasitbhai Joshipura's Gift
The plaque on the temple wall tells the story in precise, formal Gujarati:
“This temple's jirnodhar (renovation) has been undertaken by Mumbai resident Shri Hasitbhai B. Joshipura, in memory of his grandfather Sv. Shri Indubhai and his grandmother Sv. Shri Lilamben.
Samvat 2062, Chaitra Sud 15
Date: 13–4–2006, Thursday”
This inscription captures a pattern that has sustained Vasavad's sacred architecture for generations: a son or grandson of the village, now settled in a city — Mumbai, in this case — looks back to the place of his ancestors and chooses to honour them not with a monument in the city but with a gift to the village. Shri Hasitbhai Joshipura did not build something new. He renewed something old. He took the temple where his grandparents had worshipped and ensured that it would stand for the generation that came after them.
The date — Chaitra Sud 15, Samvat 2062 — is significant. Chaitra is the first month of the Hindu new year in the Vikram Samvat calendar. Chaitra Sud 15 is the full moon day of the new year — Hanuman Jayanti— one of the most auspicious days in the Hindu calendar for inaugurating sacred works, and particularly fitting for the renewal of a Hanuman temple. The choice of date was not accidental; it was deliberate, considered, and spiritually meaningful.
The Pujari: Shri Prabhashankar Joshi
The temple's pujari was Shri Prabhashankar Joshi— the custodian responsible for the daily worship, maintenance, and ritual care of the Hanumanji. In village temple tradition, the pujari is not merely an employee but a devotee entrusted with the deity's service, often serving across generations within the same family. Shri Prabhashankar Joshi's stewardship of Rokadiya Hanumanji was part of this tradition of dedicated service.
Rokadiya Hanumanji — a small shrine on a country road, renewed by a son of Vasavad, tended by a faithful pujari, standing guard on the way to Randal Na Dadva.