There are no priests in this 'unique' temple of six-armed Hindu deity lord Dattareya, it is located in...

Shridev Dattatreya Temple, also known as 'Dutt Dham' is one of the most unique temples in India. It is located in Madhya Pradesh. It is the temple of hindu deity Lord Dattatreya. There are no priests in the temple and according to beliefs the Lord Dattareya gives Darshan to his devotees in real life. Let's know about this temple in detail.

About Shivdatta Dham

Shivdatta Dham is located in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh, and has a large influx of devotees every year. It is in the Jalkoti Village, located at the banks of Narmada. This is the only temple in Madhya Pradesh. There is a huge six armed statue of Lord Dattareya and a huge shivling in the front. It was built in 2008, by Vishwa Chaitanya Sadguru Maharaj. Datta Dham is the first and the only Datta Dham of MP that is included in four datta dhams. There are three other datta dhams in Kolkata, Uttarakhand and Kanyakumari.
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Lord Dattareya was a worshipper of Lord Shiva, and is also known as ‘Shivdatta in the Jalkoti village. According to Vishnu Purana and Dattatreya Purana,  Lord Dattatreya is the incarnation (avatar) of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Devotees can worship the statue, but only see shivling from above. The shivling is located far away, and devotees have to cross a 600 meters long cave. This cave is, however, closed.

There is no Pandit or Pujari in the temple, this makes it a unique temple. Devotees or sevadars are made responsible to serve the temple. Every week new sevadars come and serve for eight days. For all these days, they live in the temple, clean the temple, worship and do Bhandaras. They do not charge any money for this. Many devotees aspire to serve as sevadars, however they only get a chance once a year, as there are a large number of devotees willing to serve their lord.

Thursday is considered an auspicious day to worship Lord Dattareya. Devotees reach the temple on Thursdays. Many kirtans, fairs and Bhandaras are held on Thursday evenings. Moreover, worshipping in the temple on 11 or 21 Thursdays fulfills one's wishes, as per popular beliefs.