From Rajasthan’s Jalore, a road on the right of the Ahore Road, goes towards a village called Kaniwada, and this is where the grand gate of the Kaniwada Hanuman Temple is located. A few kilometres ahead, on the right hand side of the village, stands the grand ancient temple of Lord Hanuman. Inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, is placed an idol of Lord Hanuman, to whom offerings of vermillion and oil are made by devotees, who visit the temple from far away places. One can find four priests here, who are busy serving their Lord, who bless the devotees sitting in front of them with a replica of Lord Hanuman’s mace.
From the last 10 generations, the descendants of four families have been becoming this temple’s priests, and this temple is a wonderful example of the social harmony in this area. This temple is visited by people from all communities in large numbers. And the Dalit priests help the devotees pray and bless them as well. As per the priests, they are the children of Gargacharya. There are some unique things about this temple too. This grand temple is made out of marble, but there is no roof on it. Explaining the reason behind the same, priest Jagaram said that the idol of Lord Hanuman was not installed here, but it had appeared, and the temple was made after the idol appeared here.
No matter how many times a roof was tried to be constructed, either it fell or blew away due to storms. And hence, when the new temple was made, a roof was not tried to be placed above it. It is said that there was a forest here earlier, and if thieves visited this area, they used to turn blind. A large number of devotees come here with the prayer of having children. A large number of male children will be found to be named ‘Hanuman’ in Kaniwada village and in the other villages situated nearby.
