Eka Mukhi Dattatreya temple also known as Shri Shiva Datta Dham, located in Madhya Pradesh, is the first temple established under the vision of Param Pujya Shri Narayan Maharaj’s concept of creating four Dhams. It is situated on the banks of the Narmada River at Shri Kshetra Jalkoti Sahastradhara, Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh.
The temple houses a grand idol of Lord Dattatreya with six arms and is Ekmukhi (single face), known as Shiv Datta. In front of the statue, there is a massive Shiva Lingam, which is accessible through a 600-meter cave.
The main highlight of this temple is the attractive idols of Lord Ek Mukhi Datta, Maa Narmada, and Lord Ganesha.
According to a senior volunteer these temples were built under the guidance of Vishwachetanya Sadguru Narayan Maharaj, who had the vision to establish four shrines dedicated to Lord Dattatreya in India. The first Dham, built in 2008 near the Narmada River, is known as Datt Dham.This location is also considered a spiritual meeting point of Lord Dattatreya and his disciple Kartavirya Sahastrarjun.
The second Datt Dham, named Anusuya Datt Dham, is located near the sea in Anji village, Batta Kota in Tamilnadu.
The third Dham is called Brahma Datt Dham and is situated in Kolkata. The fourth Dham is named Shri Atri Datt Mandir and is located in Uttarakhand. However other than Shiva Datta Dham, Lord In the last three temples, Lord Dattatreya’s idol is depicted with three faces. However, there are no priests dedicated to Lord Dattatreya in these four temples. Volunteers manage everything from cleaning the temple to conducting prayers and aarti.
Special events include a grand feast (Bhandara) every Thursday, aarti, and a procession of Lord Dattatreya’s sacred sandals (charan paduka). It is believed that visiting this temple for 11 or 21 consecutive Thursdays fulfills all wishes.
