For over two decades, veteran singer Anuradha Paudwal has called the same Mumbai home her sanctuary. It is the house she moved into with her late husband, music composer Arun Paudwal, where they raised their children Aditya and Kavita, and where she has weathered both immense joy and unimaginable grief. Like many dream homes, hers has a story. But unlike most, Anuradha believes it began with a divine vision. According to the singer, it was Maa Kali herself who guided her to a home in Mumbai’s Khar, even revealing its exact location long before the building existed.
Anuradha Paudwal with her son and daughter. (Photo credit: Rediff)
A duplex filled with memories
In the early 2000s, Anuradha bought a sprawling duplex in Khar, one of Mumbai’s posh western suburbs. Spread across the first and second floors of the building, the home features two balconies, large windows and spacious interiors. Speaking to Rediff, the 71-year-old singer said she made several design changes while the building was still under construction.
The dining area has a special area for Anuradha Paudwal’s awards. (Photo credit: Rediff)
“I made a few changes because flats on the lower floors are generally dark as they are surrounded by tall buildings. I asked the architects to add more windows so the house would be airy and bright.”
The wall is hand-painted by an artist from Jaipur. (Photo credit: Rediff)
The home reflects her spiritual and artistic sensibilities. It is filled with paintings, Buddha statues and artefacts collected from across the world, especially Bali. Her daughter, Kavita Paudwal, once joked about her mother’s love for collecting decor. “I am the voice in mum’s head. I keep telling her that the house already has enough things. Every corner is occupied, but whenever she travels, she still finds something new to bring home.”
The living room of Anuradha Paudwal. (Photo credit: Rediff)
The dining area features a hand-painted wall mural created by a Jaipur artist, who reportedly spent 36 hours completing it. One of the balconies has been converted into a peaceful seating area centred around a Buddha plaque.
The stairs leading to the Goddess Kali temple. (Photo credit: Rediff)
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The door that opens to Goddess Kali’s temple. (Photo credit: Rediff)
The duplex staircase leads to what is perhaps the home’s most striking feature—a spacious temple. The temple’s ornate golden doors and panels were gifted by a devotee from Bali, while two lion statues guarding the entrance were brought from Thailand. The rest of the home is done in soothing off-white tones, contrasted with a bright pink sofa, wooden furniture and a warm, wood-finished modular kitchen. The upper floor also houses a piano beside an idol of Goddess Saraswati, a regal chair, and a life-size Buddha statue just outside the temple.
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The area outside the temple zone. (Photo credit: Rediff)
‘Maa Kali showed me the house’
The story of how Anuradha found the home is what makes it special. In a conversation with actress Preetika Rao on YouTube, Anuradha recalled that she had long wished to move back to Khar after living in Santacruz. Anuradha says her spiritual connection with the goddess deepened after the heartbreaking loss of her first child, Chandra, who was born prematurely and died of pneumonia within a month of birth. Since then, she believes the goddess has guided her through life’s biggest decisions.
The temple opposite the bungalow. (Photo: Preetika Rao/YouTube)
“I had a vision. I saw a place opposite the Gayatri Temple, and I felt like Mata told me, ‘I have a house there too.’” Curious, she visited the temple repeatedly. “There was only a bungalow there. No building was coming up. I kept wondering which house she had shown me. I finally thought perhaps it was just a dream because a vision is not really a vision until it materialises.” She decided to give it one final chance. “I went back to the temple and told Maa, ‘This is the place you showed me, but I don’t see any house. I will wait another 24 hours. If nothing happens, I will start looking in Juhu.’”
Bungalow before the building. (Photo: Preetika Rao/YouTube)
What happened next, she says, left her stunned. “Before I had even finished praying, a man standing behind me asked, ‘A building is coming up here. Would you like to buy a flat?’ I was shocked. My prayer was answered even before 24 seconds had passed. I immediately agreed.”
The life-size Maa Kali idol
The spiritual centre of the house is the life-size idol of Maa Kali, gifted by late T-Series founder Gulshan Kumar. Anuradha recalled that Gulshan Kumar had once asked if she wanted an idol of the goddess. “I thought he would gift me a small idol.” Instead, when she and her husband moved into their new home, they found a massive wooden crate waiting in the lift. “We opened it and found a life-size idol of Maa Kali. I wasn’t prepared for it. But she had arrived, and there was nothing I could do.”
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Rather than following traditional consecration rituals, Anuradha says she chose a different path because she believed the goddess herself instructed her to. “She told me not to get into rituals.”
The life-size Maa Kali idol. (Photo: dr_pradeep_sethi/Instagram)
According to Hindu beliefs, many discourage keeping life-size idols of deities inside a private residence. So Anuradha found an unusual solution. “Instead of keeping the idol in the home where I lived, I bought an entire floor in Maa Kali’s name and registered it as a temple. I thought it was better for me to live inside the temple than keep such a large idol inside my home.”
Kitchen. (Photo credit: Rediff)
There is only one ritual the family follows faithfully. “Whatever we cook or bring food from outside, it is first offered to Maa Kali before anyone eats it.”
‘People may find it strange’
Anuradha admits that many people may find her experiences difficult to believe. “Some people may think these things sound strange. But these are my personal experiences. We have heard many stories of God revealing His presence through different incidents. I believe them. At first, you think they are coincidences, but when such experiences happen repeatedly, you stop calling them coincidences. That’s why I usually keep these experiences to myself. Nobody has to believe me.”
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One of the balconies are converted into a seating area. (Photo credit: Rediff)
Life after loss
Anuradha Paudwal was among India’s most celebrated playback singers before stepping away from mainstream film music to devote herself to devotional music. Her personal life, however, was marked by tragedy. She lost her husband Arun Paudwal at the age of 37. In 2020, her son Aditya Paudwal died after battling kidney failure.
Today, Anuradha has largely dedicated her life to philanthropy through her NGO, which works on drinking water projects in water-scarce villages, supports HIV treatment initiatives, and undertakes several other humanitarian efforts.
