Jyotish Shastra
(Vedic Astrology)
Shree Rakeshdada is the head priest of the Hedavade Mahalakshmi Temple, and a renowned scholar of Vedas, and Vedic Astrology.
Shri Rakeshdada is the grandson of the illustrious Param Pujya Guruvarya Dadasaheb Haate (or “Guruvarya”, as he was widely known). Guruvarya was a great astrologer and an acknowledged expert in the fields of Prashna Shastra and Palmistry. As an ardent devotee of Mata Mahalaxmi, Guruvarya had attained the divine “Vaccha Siddhi” or “Vakk Siddhi” – which made his predictions inevitably accurate. In his early days, the young Guruvarya learned this Vidya, along with Tantra Shastra, from his holiness Guru "Shree Narayan Swami "of Gangapur. His Holiness "Nityanand Swami "of Ganeshpuri also blessed Guruvarya with lengthy, scholarly discourses on Dharma. Many eminent personalities like film actors, Politicians, and industrialists visited Guruvarya for advice. Every Friday, it was a custom for Jyotish durbar to be conducted after Maha-arti; and devotees would seek advice from Guruvarya. Guruvarya’s divine legacy is continued to this day, by his grandson Shree Rakeshdada, who is the third generation of Guruvarya’s family.
A Mechanical engineer by qualification, Shree Rakeshdada touched great heights in his professional career, where he was last engaged in a renowned MNC as a Senior Vice President (Supply Chain Management) in the United States. After the demise of his father, Param Pujyaguruvarya Baba Saheb, Shree Rakeshdada took over the reins of the Mandir and decided to take “sanyaas” (or renunciation) from the corporate world. Passionate about furthering the spiritual well-being of Mataji’s followers, Shree Rakeshdada steeped himself in the depths of the science of Astrology. Having rigorously learned astrology and palmistry from a young age under the watchful eye of Guruvarya, Shree Raakeshdada was groomed under the golden traditions of the “Guru-Shishya Parampara”. Blessed with a disciplined approach and a research-oriented nature, Shree Rakeshdada immersed himself in ancient and rare family manuscripts, which endowed him with sound knowledge of the “Language of Gods”. Born and raised in a strictly religious, orthodox Brahmin family, he has had a sound grounding in religion and “Dharma”. Shree Rakeshdada has been trained in Vedic rites (under the guidance of his Holiness, the Shankaracharya). All temple rituals like “Hawans”, “Shanti” etc. are performed by him personally at the Mahalaxmi Temple.
Shree Rakeshdada has attained immense proficiency in the fields of Vrihat Parashar Hora Shastra, Nadi Shastra, Jaimini, Kerala Prashna Shastra, Tambool Prashna, Palmistry, Numerology, Vaastu, Samundra Shastra, and many other methods. He has been awarded "Jyotish Visharath", "Jyotish Ratna", "Jyotish Vachaspati", "JyotishAcharya", "Vastushatra Samarat" by recognized astrological communities. He has gone so far as to create his own software programs to incorporate many of the subtler aspects of astrological science by way of computational algorithms. He also specializes in “Muhurta Astrology” - a comprehensive branch within Vedic astrology.
Apart from guiding devotees, Shree Rakeshdada teaches astrology to deserving students – since he firmly believes in spreading this “Light” (or secret knowledge), and preserving it for future generations.
He provides astrological guidance to ardent devotees at the temple on Fridays. Due to sincere requests from many followers, Shree Rakeshdada allows for select private consultations, by prior appointment only.