Window Of Culture

The Srikanteshwara Temple, Nanjangud, Karnataka

Kalahasteeswarar Vayu Lingam Temple, Andhra Pradesh

Shakti Temples

Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir, Varanasi, Uttarpradesh

Hanuman Temples

Ganesh Temples

Krishna/Vishnu Temples

13/May/2022

Mata Vaishno Devi Temple, Jammu (vaishno-devi-temple-jammu) is the holy shrine of the Divine Mother and is situated right in a beautiful, ancient cave excessive up at the sacred Trikoota Mountain. The Divine Mother rests at this location in the exalted shape of Vaishno Mata who’s believed to be an embodiment of Goddess Mahakali, Mahalakshmi, and Mahasaraswati. Vaishno Devi Temple, Jammu is held with utmost regard through the Shaktas (worshippers of God as Divine Mother), the pious and blessed shrine of Vaishno Mata is one of the Shakti Peethas or home of ultimate strength in the Hindus (vaishno-devi-temple-jammu).

The first mention of the Mother Goddess:

The first mention of the Mother Goddess is in the epic Mahabharata. When the armies of Pandavas and Kauravas were arrayed on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna the chief warrior of Pandavas upon the advice of Sri Krsna meditated upon the Mother Goddess and sought Her blessings for victory. At this time Arjuna addressed the Mother Goddess as ‘Jambookatak Chityaishu Nittyam Sannihitayale’, which means ‘you who always dwell in the temple on the slope of the mountain in Jamboo(probably referring to the present day Jammu).

vaishno-devi-temple-jammu is the holy shrine of the Divine Mother -Pindi — Vaishno Devi Temple- Pindi

Previously only one natural tunnel for in and out movement was for the cave. In 1977, a second tunnel built for the devotees. In 1998, a third cave was built. A smooth stone, or svarūpa, in the shrine, is the physical manifestation of the Goddess. Mahāsarasvatī, Mahālakshmī and Mahākālī,. The three aspects of the goddess, manifested here. There are three-stone lumps called pindis.

The cave is almost one hundred feet long and 5200 feet above sea level. Symbols of Hindu Gods and Goddesses fill the cave. Pilgrims greeted and surrounded by them as they enter. The devotees reached through a pool of water to the pindis,. Water flows continuously out of the pindis and out of the cave.

How the vaishno-devi-temple-jammu came into existence:

The temple of Mata Vaishno Devi built many centuries ago according to research carried out by geologists. Belief is that Mata Vaishno Devi had a bodily form as a lovely princess in Treta Yuga as a Shakti of Mother Parvati, Saraswati and Lakshmi for the welfare of the universe. She carried out atonement in the cave on Trikuta Mountain. When the time came, her body merged into the stellar form of the three divine energies Mahakali, Mahalakshmi, and Mahasaraswati.

Of all of the famous stories of Mata Vaishno Devi, the latest one is that of her keen devotee, Shridhar, who lived approximately seven centuries ago. Shridhar and his wife were great devotees to the Mother Goddess. Once, Shridhar received a divine instruction in his dream to arrange a Bhandara (public ceremonial dinner) in Her honor. Because of his poor economic condition, Shridhar failed to arrange enough groceries for the general public ceremonial dinner. He is concerned about the disgrace and guilt he will be subject to for failing to feed the visitors the subsequent day.

vaishno-devi-temple-jammu is the holy shrine of the Divine Mother — Mata Vaishno Devi

Unable to sleep the entire night, Shridhar resigned himself to destiny. In the morning, villagers started out arriving at the small residence of Shridhar to attain the feast. To Shridhar’s surprise, Goddess Vaishno Devi appeared in his hut in the guise of a small girl. The feast was organized and served to the villagers, as per Her Will.

The villagers had satisfied with the meals except for Bhairon Nath, who was one of the visitors. When he asked for a meal of animal meal from Shridhar, Vaishno Mata refused to oblige Bhairon Nath on Shridhar’s behalf. Bhairon felt insulted, Bhairon attempted to catch hold of the divine little girl however didn’t do so. The girl vanished.

This incident left others shocked, and Shridhar grief-stricken. One night, Vaishno Mata appeared in Shridhar’s dream and guided him to a cave on Trikuta Mountain which homes her historic shrine. Shridhar gladly followed instructions and found the holy shrine. He spent the rest of his life in Her service. People everywhere came to know thereafter about the shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi.

The divine call:

The popular belief is that unless Mata Vaishno Devi invites you to visit her, it is impossible to have her darshan. The Bulava (or Divine Call) of the Mother all that necessary and the rest taken care of by Mata Vaishno Devi. Hence, rich or poor, wise or ignorant, men or women await Her Bulava to go to Vaishno Devi Temple, Jammu.

The Route to the vaishno-devi shrine:

Pilgrims and keen devotees of the Mother Goddess brave the exhausting 24-kilometer-long trek (up and down) to reach the shrine. The route to the shrine starts at Ban Ganga in Katra. It believed to have sprung up from the earth when Vaishno Mata shot up an arrow from her divine bow many centuries ago.

Though tough, the roof-covered paths, stairways, water coolers, seating areas, pantries, and food shops provided by the Shrine Board throughout the course gives some relief to the devotees on their way to the temple.

vaishno-devi-temple-jammu Timings:

Timing for Darshan: 5. AM to 10. PM.

vaishno-devi-temple-jammu is the holy shrine of the Divine Mother-list — (vaishno-devi-temple-jammu) – Adhkawari

A very long queue of devotees is always a possibility if you are trying for the morning darshan. After 11.AM, the crowd gets thinner. Services like bath and toilet facilities for both men and women are available free of cost outside the main shrine area.

Click to Follow: Facebook and Twitter

You May Also Read:

Shiva Temples

Baijnath Shiv Temple, Kangra, Himachal

Dharmeshwar Mahadev Temple, Himachal

The Srikanteshwara Temple, Nanjangud, Karnataka

Virupaksha Temple, Hampi,Karnataka

Kalahasteeswarar Vayu Lingam Temple, Andhra Pradesh

Kedarnath Temple, Uttarakhand

Vishwanath Temple, Kashi, Uttarpradesh

Kailashanath Temple At Ellora, Maharastra

Brihadeshwara Temple, Thanjavur, Tamilnadu

Elephanta Caves Shiva Temple, Maharastra

Neelkanth Mahadev Temple , Uttarakhand

Shakti Temples

Kangra Brijeshwari Temple, Himachal

Kangra Chamunda Devi Temple, Himachal

Meenakshi Mandir, Madurai, Tamilnadu

Kumari Devi Temple(Kanyakumari), Tamilnadu

Bhimakali Temple, Himachal

Durga Temple, Aihole, Karnataka

Shringeri Sharadamba Temple,Karnataka

Mahalakshmi Temple, Kolhapur, Maharastra

Kiriteswari Temple, West Bengal

Hanuman Temples

Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir, Varanasi, Uttarpradesh

Hanumangarhi Temple, Ayodhya, Uttarpradesh

Mahabali Temple, Manipur

Hanuman Temple, Allahabad, Uttarpradesh

Ganesh Temples

Trinetra Ganesh Temple, Ranthambore, Rajasthan

Ganapatipule Temple, Ratnagiri, Maharastra

Bada Ganesh Temple Of Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh

Krishna/Vishnu Temples

Ranganathaswamy Temple, Andhra Pradesh

Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple, Kerala

Padmanabha Swamy Temple, Kerala

Suchindram Temple, Tamil Nadu

29/Apr/2022

Before we start talking about Dakhineswar Kali Temple, let us try to find the answer to a few pertinent questions. Who is Dakhineswar? What is the real name of the place Dakhineswar? Why was the temple built here? What is the origin of the building of twelve Shiva temples, and what is the origin of the idea of building the nabaratna category Dakhineswar Kali Temple of Ma Kali? Who found the confluence of three spiritual philosophies Shiva-Shakta-Vaishnav? How it is a Mahatirtha?

If we can explain these questions, the importance of Dakhineswar Kali Temple could be realized.

The History:

Approximately three hundred years before, Deulipota[1] was a place on the eastern bank of the Ganga River at the end of the plot of the land where Dakhineswar Kali Temple is now situated. The family of the King of the place King Ban had their palace there at Deulipota. King Ban established a Shivalinga (Shiva Temple) in a village within his kingdom named Shonitpur and renamed the village Dakhineswar. Lord Shiva thus became Dakhineswar.

After the death of Ban King, the temple was destroyed and the forest encroached on the area. No human inhabitant was there except a few huts of fishermen. Durgaprosad Roychoudhury and Bhabaniprosad Roychoudhury, from the family of Saborna Roychoudhury, came here. They cleaned the area. Durgaprosad Roychoudhury and Bhabaniprosad Roychoudhury arranged human settlement here. They brought a few families of Brahmins and helped them to settle here.

A large area of the eastern side of the Ganga River belonged to the British. The area was in the control of an Englishman named John Hastie. The southern part of the land was like the back of a tortoise. According to the rule of tantra, a cemetery on this type of land is the best place to establish a place for shakti and pursuit.

On the southern side of the land, there was a Kuthibari. The residence of John Hastie. The circular platform (bedi) where Sri Ramkrishna pursued is here. It is known from the history that Nilkar Saheb (refers to the notorious indigo Agri policy by the British) used to stay at the Kuthibari some two hundred years back.

Rani Rashmoni:

After the death of her husband Rajchandra Das on 9th June 1836, Rani Rashmoni[2] started practicing the sacred life of Brahmacharini. She decided on a pilgrimage. Rani Rashmoni wanted to start her tour with Kashi. She wanted to worship Baba Mahadev and Ma Annapurna. Rani Rashmoni had a plot at Kashi. She may have any plan on that plot. Rani Rashmoni along with a big team of relatives and relations, helping hands started a voyage for Kashi on twenty-five numbers of Bajra (Big Boat).

Rani was very much disturbed by the sufferings of poor people who were starving due to famine. At night. her Bajra was stopped at Dakhineswar. Ma Annapurna came in her dream and said that she need not have to go to Kashi. Ma Annapurna said that let her build a temple here at the bank of the river and Ma Annapurna will take her daily offering and worshipping here.
In the morning, she discussed with her men the order she had received in her dream from Ma Annapurna. Rani Rashmoni canceled the pilgrimage. She ordered to distribute the provisions she had in the Bajra to the poor starving people. She decided to build a temple as wished by Ma Annapurna.

Her effort to purchase a plot of land on the western side of the river at Uttarpara, Bali, etc., was not successful because Hindu Brahmins did not allow Rani Rashmoni to build a temple as she was from a lower cast. Finally, she got the most suitable land at Dakhineswar[3]. Dakhineswar had a Muslim place of pursuit, a cemetery of Muslims, a cemetery of Hindus, and a Christians Kuthibari.
On 6^th September 1847, Rani Rashmoni purchased the land with an amount of Rs. 42,500.00. She also acquired some adjacent land and the area became 60 bighas. The total expenses for land were Rs.55,000.00. Later, some area handed over for building Vivekananda Setu and now the area is more or less 58 bighas.

The actual construction of the temple began in 1847. Rani Rashmoni had to face resistance from a few Zamindars. They could not accept a woman of a farmer’s family background of the lower cast to build the temple. They moved to court to stop the construction, not once but sixteen times. But defeated every time.

It is not known who the artists of the temple. Macintosh Burn appointed the architect for designing the temple. The unique architect visibly influenced by the following temples.

Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansha Dev — Dakhineswar Kali Temple and Thakur Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansha Dev

In the temple, installed Sri Jagadishwari Ma, the mother of the universe under the priesthood of Sri Rama Kumar Chattopadhyay. Gadadhar was Rama Kumar’s younger brother. Gadadhar used to come with his elder brother to the temple. In course of time, Gadadhar that is Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa Dev became the main priest of the temple. Ramakrishna gave the name of Ma Kali as Ma Bhabatarini.

After studying deeply, the life and philosophy of Sri Ramakrishna Dev, the people of the twenty-first century concluded that Ramakrishna is none other than God himself. The footprint of God Sri Ramakrishna in the temple made the place a world pilgrimage.

Temples of Shiva

A collection of 12 same Shiva temples installed on the premises of the Devalaya. Opposite the Kuthi Bari, those temples are near the banks of the River Ganga. The indoors of the temples accomplished in white and black stone and in every of the temple’s homes Shiva lingas made of black stone. The temples face the east and built withinside the typical ‘Aat Chala’ Bengal architecture. The collection of temples divided via way of means of the Chadni (Riverbank), retaining the six Shiva temples to the left and the alternative six to the right. Prayers provided each day and it became the place where Sri Sri Ramakrishna stated to have attain enlightenment.

Vishnu Temple

To the northeast of the Temple, Complex is the Vishnu Temple or the Radha Kanta’s Temple. A flight of steps results in the columned verandah and into the temple wherein a silver throne rests with a 21 and 1/2 inches idol of Lord Krishna and sixteen inches idol of Radha. Daily puja achieved and Sri Ramakrishna himself offered puja right here.

Mandir remains opened

Morning: 6:30 am to 12.30 pm

Evening: 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Click to Follow: Facebook and Twitter

You May Also Read:

Shiva Temples

Baijnath Shiv Temple, Kangra, Himachal

Dharmeshwar Mahadev Temple, Himachal

The Srikanteshwara Temple, Nanjangud, Karnataka

Virupaksha Temple, Hampi,Karnataka

Kalahasteeswarar Vayu Lingam Temple, Andhra Pradesh

Kedarnath Temple, Uttarakhand

Vishwanath Temple, Kashi, Uttarpradesh

Kailashanath Temple At Ellora, Maharastra

Brihadeshwara Temple, Thanjavur, Tamilnadu

Elephanta Caves Shiva Temple, Maharastra

Neelkanth Mahadev Temple , Uttarakhand

Shakti Temples

Kangra Brijeshwari Temple, Himachal

Kangra Chamunda Devi Temple, Himachal

Meenakshi Mandir, Madurai, Tamilnadu

Kumari Devi Temple(Kanyakumari), Tamilnadu

Bhimakali Temple, Himachal

Durga Temple, Aihole, Karnataka

Shringeri Sharadamba Temple,Karnataka

Mahalakshmi Temple, Kolhapur, Maharastra

Kiriteswari Temple, West Bengal

Hanuman Temples

Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir, Varanasi, Uttarpradesh

Hanumangarhi Temple, Ayodhya, Uttarpradesh

Mahabali Temple, Manipur

Hanuman Temple, Allahabad, Uttarpradesh

Ganesh Temples

Trinetra Ganesh Temple, Ranthambore, Rajasthan

Ganapatipule Temple, Ratnagiri, Maharastra

Bada Ganesh Temple Of Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh

Krishna/Vishnu Temples

Ranganathaswamy Temple, Andhra Pradesh

Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple, Kerala

Padmanabha Swamy Temple, Kerala

Suchindram Temple, Tamil Nadu

15/Apr/2022

Mention in Mythology:

According to Hindu mythology, Kamdev established the Kamakhya temple[1]. Relationships that prevail between time and creation are that time destroys everything. So, the temple too was destroyed in course of time. There is a mythological story. That explains the relationships that existed between the decaying of the temple and Maha Muni Bashisto Dev.

Rare Video of Anjali of Kamakhya Devi

It is written in the Kalika Puran[2] that Maha Muni Bashisto Dev used to stay at Sandhyachal Hills. The land of Kamrup was ruled by Narakashur at that time. One day, Bashisto Dev came to the Kamakhya temple to see Devi Kamakhya. The relationships that existed between them were not good. Narakashur prevented him to see Devi Kamakhya for some reason.

Relationships that: Mandir 1

Bashisto Dev got angry with Narakashur, and he cursed Narakashur that so long he will be alive, Devi Kamakhya will be invisible. So, Devi went invisible then. The temple remained empty. Forest engulfed the place after some time.

The History:

In the eighth century, Shankaracharya[3], as a part of his promotional outreach for Hinduism[4], came here and rebuild the temple after cleaning up the forest. He re-established the Maha Pith. Though the temple was constructed, Devi Kamakhya did not become popular among common Hindus. Relationships that developed between people and the temple were not enough intimate.

In the year 1150, King Dharmapala of the Pala dynasty was ruling the west of Guwahati. He arranged the puja of Devi Kamakhya and for that, he appointed a few Brahmins and brought them from Kanyakubja. But puja was stopped after some time again. The temple was destroyed again after some passage of time.

King of Coachbehar Biswa Singha [5], invaded Kamrup to fight against King of Ahom. That was 1490. Once he along with his brother Shib Singha went on a night war expedition. He had their troop with him. But somehow, he and his brother lost touch with their troop. He lost his way and was trying to return on foot. At that time, he found himself in Kamakhya Hill.

The two brothers were thirsty, hungry, and tired. They were walking and looking for water. Suddenly, they saw a stream of bright light under a banyan tree. They found an old lady worshipping a piece of stone. Though they did not understand the accord between the stone and the old lady, they were delighted. That old lady helped them to a spring to drink water. Asked them to take a rest under the banyan tree.

Biswa Singha asked the old lady, whom she was worshiping in the stone. The old lady told that the tribes of these hills had a tie with the stone and worship the stone as Devi and believe that all their hardship can be overcome easily by the grace of Devi. The tribes sacrifice their domestic animals to the Devi and wish for anything they need. They were satisfied that they got everything they wish for.

King Biswa Singha overwhelmed. He believed what the old lady said. He prayed to the Devi and wished for a trouble-free kingdom and also wished to meet his lost troop. Biswa Singha promised to the Devi to build a golden temple and an arrangement of daily worshipping subject to fulfillment of his wishes.

He threw his ring in the stream and thought if he would get his ring back in the Ganga River at Kashi, he would doubtlessly believe the greatness of the Devi.

Biswa Singha surprisingly found his troop the next morning. His kingdom became thornless now. He became busy with the administrative work of his kingdom and forgot his promise of building the temple at Kamakhya Hill.

A few years later, he went to Kashi and astonishingly found his ring in the Ganga. He now remembered his promise. Back home, he told his whole story to the pandits. They researched Puranas and other books and concluded that the piece of stone was nothing but the vagina of Devi Kamakhya. They concluded that it was from Sati’s body, one part of fifty-one pieces. So, Kamakhya was a Maha Pith out of fifty-one Piths. Relationships that were established by the Pandits were of Sati Pith and Kamakhya.

King Biswa Singha went back to Nilachal Hill[6]. He brought with him a large number of construction workers. They cleaned the forests and excavate the old temple and idol. The king constructed a new beautiful temple on the old foundation. He used some gold pieces in the construction. Daily worshipping of Devi Kamskhya arranged.

King Biswa Singha ruled successfully his kingdom for forty-nine years, from 1485 to 1534. His son Naranarayan became the ruler after the death of Biswa Singha. Naranarayan appointed his brother Shukladhwbja as Commander-in-chief. Shukladhwbja was later known as Chilaray[7].

In the year 1538, Samrat Sher Shah defeated Mehood Shah in war and became the ruler of Gour. King Naranarayan took the opportunity and attacked Ahom’s kingdom. One big enemy of his father was the king of Ahom, Khora.

Destruction By Kalapahar:

Kalapahar, the Pathan warrior, attacked Kamrup in the year 1553. He was on a spree to destroy Hindu temples. He damaged the tomb of the Kamakhya temple, its stone pillars, and even the idol inside the temple.

King Naranarayan was busy fighting with Ahom King. So, he could not do anything against Kalapahar. After the end of the fighting with Ahom King, King Naranarayan was ready to retaliate against Kalapahar’s atrocities. Before he attacks Gour, he went to Kamakhaya. In the temple which was made by his father, extensive damage was caused by Kalapahar. That hurt him. He prayed to the Goddess for his win in the war with Nawab Soleman of Gour. He promised to the Devi to rebuild the damaged construction of the temple after the win.

Chilaray fought a fierce battle with Nawab. He was defeated and imprisoned. One night he saw Devi Kamakhya in his dream and Devi told him about their negligence in rebuilding the temple. They did not give priority to rebuilding instead they engaged in fighting. They got their punishment.

fell into the feet of Ma Kamakhya and requested to pardon them. Devi was pleased with Chilaray’s devotion and gave blessing. Surprisingly, after some turn of events, Nawab became a friend of Chilaray. He was freed by the Nawab. Chilaray came back to his land with his head high. He explained everything to his brother Naranarayan.

Now, the two brothers started the reconstruction of the temple fast. From 1555 to 1565, it took ten years to complete the rebuilding of the temple.

Stone sculptures of Naranarayan and Chilaroy were built in the temple complex.

relationships that info-1 — Relationships that: Chronological History

The Temple:

The garvagriha is down from the ground level. Stone steps going down the ground. There is no regular idol. A vaginal-shaped stone block worshipped instead of any idol. Water is sipping out constantly from a crack on the stone and deposited in a tank. Devotees use this sacred water as charanmrita. The place has no electric light and has a very narrow space. A small cremation ground is there inside the temple complex. Devi worshipped here following tantra shastra. Kamakhya temple is a Sati Pith, a Shakti Pith.
It written in the Kalika Puran (sixty-fifth Section), that a person gets blessings worshipping Devi Kamakhyay more than what he could achieve gifting a crore cow.

According to Panjika, from 6/7 of Ashar month to 10/11 of Ashar month (Bengali calendar) comes Ambubachi. It says that the period of the earth happens at this time of the year and the Kamakhya temple remains closed for three days. Rumor is that the color of seeped water from the stoned idol becomes red. Many practicing Tantric flocks here at this period from all over the country.

relationships that info-2 — Relationships that: Important Personalities Visited the Temple

Click to Follow: Facebook and Twitter

You May Also Read:

Shiva Temples

Baijnath Shiv Temple, Kangra, Himachal

Dharmeshwar Mahadev Temple, Himachal

The Srikanteshwara Temple, Nanjangud, Karnataka

Virupaksha Temple, Hampi,Karnataka

Kalahasteeswarar Vayu Lingam Temple, Andhra Pradesh

Kedarnath Temple, Uttarakhand

Vishwanath Temple, Kashi, Uttarpradesh

Kailashanath Temple At Ellora, Maharastra

Brihadeshwara Temple, Thanjavur, Tamilnadu

Elephanta Caves Shiva Temple, Maharastra

Neelkanth Mahadev Temple , Uttarakhand

Shakti Temples

Kangra Brijeshwari Temple, Himachal

Kangra Chamunda Devi Temple, Himachal

Meenakshi Mandir, Madurai, Tamilnadu

Kumari Devi Temple(Kanyakumari), Tamilnadu

Bhimakali Temple, Himachal

Durga Temple, Aihole, Karnataka

Shringeri Sharadamba Temple,Karnataka

Mahalakshmi Temple, Kolhapur, Maharastra

Kiriteswari Temple, West Bengal

Hanuman Temples

Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir, Varanasi, Uttarpradesh

Hanumangarhi Temple, Ayodhya, Uttarpradesh

Mahabali Temple, Manipur

Hanuman Temple, Allahabad, Uttarpradesh

Ganesh Temples

Trinetra Ganesh Temple, Ranthambore, Rajasthan

Ganapatipule Temple, Ratnagiri, Maharastra

Bada Ganesh Temple Of Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh

Krishna/Vishnu Temples

Ranganathaswamy Temple, Andhra Pradesh

Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple, Kerala

Padmanabha Swamy Temple, Kerala

Suchindram Temple, Tamil Nadu

02/Apr/2022

Tarapith[1] is considered to be the maximum favorable area for tantra sadhana and tantric. The cremation floor, which is positioned on the bank of the river Dwarka[2] has several huts and hermitages of tantric. Relationships between the cremation area and a tantric are immense. This awful area has many mud-clad huts of tantric with thatched roofs underneath the banyan trees. The pink-painted skulls embedded in the dust partitions make the place dreaded.

Atma, cremation area, human skull, and tantric:

It is believed that Goddess Tara may be seen in shadows ingesting the blood of goats sacrificed each day at her altar, to satiate her anger. The ash-smeared tantric is usually seen in and across the temple. Tantric[3] uses appropriate skulls to drink liquid – skulls of virgins and people who devoted suicide are appeared as effective as Atma(soul) of those skulls have not attended freedom from existence cycle. The strong relationships between Atma, cremation area, human skull, and tantric have prevalently existed.

Where Is Tarapith?

It is known from different writings of great writers and devotees of Ma Tara, namely Promod Kumar Chattopadhyay, Binoy Ghosh that Tarapur was a village in the Birbhum district of West Bengal between Mallarpur and Rampurhat railway station in 1910. Tarapur (other names Chandipur, Sahapur) now called Tarapith is the land of Ma Tara and the very famous Tarapith temple is situated there.

Shakti Pith Tarapith known as “the temple of salvation”. Relationships between the temple and Tantric are as old as the temple is. Tarapith is one of the Shakti Pith among 52 Piths and the eyeball of Sati fell here when her dead body was chopped into pieces by Lord Vishnu to prevent Lord Shiva to cause destruction of the universe. Lord Shiva was angry as Sati left her life in protest of her father Daksha’s cruel behavior toward her husband Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva kept Sati’s body on his shoulder and started dancing vigorously. It was about to cause the destruction of the universe and Lord Vishnu had to interfere.

When Built?

The exact date when Tarapith Temple was built is not known. The first part of the thirteenth century is the approximate time when the mandir built by Joydutta with the blessing of Ma Tara as most belief.

Who Built the Temple?

The commonly accepted story is that a merchant, Joydutta was the person who built the temple. Here is the story of Joydutta.

Relationships between: Image- The Temple

The Story:

Once Joydutta and his only son and many associates were traveling in a few boats through the Dwaraka River with a lot of valuable goods for trading. He cast anchored his boats beside a scary cremation ground. The place was in a dense forest.

It was night, Joydutta was busy with accounting work along with his son on the boat. From the cremation ground side, a girl of dark complexion, with long hair, wide eyes, with smiling face came near Joydutta and asked “what is there in your boat”. Joydutt was busy. He felt disturbed. He tried to concentrate on his work without looking at the girl. But the girl kept on asking the same question again and again. He then answered in annoyance “ash”. The girl left the boat immediately. Relationships between the girl’s coming and sudden existence not known at that time.

The next morning, Joydutta found all his valuable goods have turned into ash. Even his only son expired in a cholera attack within a short time. Joydutta broke down.

The boatmen and servants of Joydutta encountered an unbelievable incident at that time. A dead fish became alive when they were cleaning the fish in a nearby pond before cooking. They told the story to Joydutta. They were confident that the dead body of Joydutta’s son will get his life back if he touches the water of that pond. So, they brought the dead body to bathe in the pond. The young man became alive. Joydutta was very happy.

That night Goddess Tara came in the dream of Joydutta in the guise of a little girl and told him about her greatness. She left before morning light came.

Joydutta told in his dream, about a stone idol under a very old shetshimul (white bombax ceiba) tree in the forest. Joydutta discovered that stone idol from that place also discovered the footmark of Ma Tara and a Shiva Linga stone. The relationships between Ma Tara in the guise of a small girl, and Joydutta established.

Joydutta builds a temple in the sacrate place with his own money and installs the stone idol of Ma Tara in the temple. He arranged worshipping on daily basis and Bhog regularly. Relationships between Ma Tara and Joydutta helped to establish the mandir.

The story of the building of the temple is in the mouth of the people and is coming generation after generation. No written history is available.

It believed that Tarapith is not one of the 51 Shaktipeeths but one of the 108 Peeths. It believed that half eye of Sati had fallen here. In the Shivcharitra text, it said that the eyes fall in the Tarapith. Tarapith also called Mahapeeth.

There are three entrances in the east, west, and south direction for entry on the platform of Tarapith temple. On the front side of the temple, there is a commentary craft on terracotta stones. Which is venerated from Ramayana, Mahabharata, and many mythological events. Apart from this, there is a newly constructed Natya Mandir in front of the temple. In which morning and evening, Tara Vandana by countless devotees and music composed by devotee Kabir keeps resonating.

There is a temple of Chandrachud Shiva in the courtyard of the temple. There is a Vishnu temple adjacent to the Shiva temple. Where Lord Vishnu worshiped in a craft form. Along with this, there is also an idol of vehicle Garun and Hanuman ji. There is an idol of seeker Vamakhepa in the temple of Tulsi Manch, Narayan Mandir, attached Bamdev at the entrance of Vishnu temple.

Also rising from the ghat built to touch the water of the living pool Pushkarini, there are two Vishnu idols in the Vasudev temple on the right side, which ethically worshiped as Shashti Mata. Probably both the idols belong to the Gupta era. Attached to the Vishram Mandir is the Mother’s Vishram Mandir. Aarti held here in the morning and evening. During the evening aarti, instruments like dhol, shehnai, and gati played. At 4 o’clock the priest, whose turn it is, opens the temple.

Seeing the Dhyanamayo Tara Maa adorned in a mask, a garland of hair and a garland of flowers, the soul of the devotees relieved. After the Mangal Aarti, the worship of the priests begins. Bhog offered to the mother between 12 noon and 1 pm.

In the evening, Sandhya Aarti followed by Adishila Shilammayi form. After that the temple closed at 10 pm, on some special occasions like two Ashtami, both Chaturdashi, Purnima, Amavasya, Sankranti, night special worship, Aarti and Bhog request organized on both sides of the month (Krishna Paksha and Shukla Paksha). . It forbidden to take a picture of the mother without the permission of the priest. The spire of the temple is 70 feet high and decorated with modern artwork in green and white color. The red flag always hoisted on the summit.

The entire part of the temple decorated with stones and tiles. There is an ancient gate in front of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, which is painted with ocher color and red paint. There is a grill in the iron pipe on the way to have a long chain for the devotees to see. Which is painted with a red belly.

The area of the Devi temple is one and a half bighas. There are 230 serving priests of the mother. The employees are 50. There are about 2000 shops for fruits, flowers, prasad, and photos. Two thousand devotees, worship on the same day. There are a lot of crowds on Tuesdays and Saturdays number is about 3 to 5 thousand. Every year 25 lakh devotees do darshan and worship.

Who Rebuilt the Temple again?

In the year 1743 approximately, the temple rebuilt. The old temple was too old to remain erect. Ramjiban Choudhury, an important employee of Raja Udaynaryan Roy of Rajshahi rebuilt the temple. Ramjiban not only build the temple, but he also built Chandrachur Temple, a big tank named Tarasagar. He helped to build a Shiva Temple and one more Tara Temple in Kaleswar village.

Ramjiban arranged daily Puja and Bhog at Tara Ma temple and Chandrachur Temple. Joydutta appointed Bhirab Thakur, the first purohit. Ramjiban appointed Gangaram Thakur as purohit. Bhirab Thakur’s 13th generation was Gangaram Thakur.

The mandir reconstructed once again by Jagannath Roy, a zamindar of Mallarpur at approximately 1840.

Who Was Bamakhepa: [4]

Bamakhepa was the last Tantric sadhak of the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

Bama was born at Atla village which was four kilometers away from Tarapith. His father Sarbananda Chattopadhyay and mother Rajkumari Devi were a religious couple and believers in God who had their second son Bama.

Sarbananda’s source of income was from service as a priest. For better income, he started a Jatra Dal (open-air drama group). He was good at Vocal music and Violine. Rama and Bama were two brothers. They were good at singing too. Bama sometimes acts in the role of Krishna, sometimes as Ram. During his appearing, he unknowingly associated in detail with the characters he played. He was very much religiously aligned, and simple, moody, little eccentric. He was a little different than other boys in his childhood.

Bamakhepa (left surpassed mad saint), attended his tantric spirituality with the aid of sadhana at Tarapith and became the head of the temple. He used to offer his worship with his left hand and his spirituality made him act in an unnatural manner. He used to call in the name of Bamakhepa (1837– 1911) for this reason.

Bamakhepa was a high-level ascetic. Many great personalities came in touch with him. They wrote about him in their writings. Given below a small list of it.

Swami Vivekananda [5]
Dyananda Swaraswati [6]
Rabindranath Thakur [7]
Charan Kobi Mukundadas [8]
Maharshi Debendranath Thakur [9]
Swami Ramananda Bharati [10] and many others

Click to Follow: Facebook and Twitter

You May Also Read:

Shiva Temples

The Srikanteshwara Temple, Nanjangud, Karnataka

Kalahasteeswarar Vayu Lingam Temple, Andhra Pradesh

Shakti Temples

Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir, Varanasi, Uttarpradesh

Hanuman Temples

Ganesh Temples

Krishna/Vishnu Temples

19/Mar/2022

Goddess Kali has been worshipped throughout the world in many old Kali Mandirs. Ma Kali worshiped at Kalighat Kali Mandir, Kolkata for hundreds of years. Kalighat Kali Mandir at Kolkata is a prime tourist attraction of West Bengal. Relationships with Ma Kali and devotee thus defined. A brief history of Kalighat Kali Mandir written below.

Mythology:

A long time ago in Satya Yuga, Sati, wife of Lord Shiva, daughter of Daksha, immolated herself in protest of her husband Shiva’s insult by her father. Lord Shiva shocked by the incident and in anger, he kept the dead body of Sati on his shoulder and started the dance of destruction, and started moving towards East.

Watching his devastating attitude Bramha and other Gods became worried. They worried that the universe may be destroyed. They knew that the body of Sati on the shoulder of Lord Shiva would not decompose so long it remained in touch with Shiva’s body. But it was important to detach the body of Sati from that of Siva to bring Lord Siva out of such a great shock and could be avoided from the catastrophe of the universe. They knew what to do but were not sure how to do it.

They then approached Lord Bishnu. After a long discussion, they decided that Lords Bramha, Bishnu, and Shani would utilize their power of Yoga to chop the body of Sati into pieces and threw those parts of the body to the universe to establish Shaktipeeths. They executed the plan. The destruction of the universe averted.

Body parts of Sati fell in fifty-one places of India and fifty-one sacred Shaktipeeths was established. The toe of the right leg of Sati or according to another opinion four fingers of the right leg fell at the bank of Adi Ganga, Kalighat. That is how the sacred pilgrimage of Kalighat came into existence. Adi Ganga was the original course of Ganga which later changed to a new route shifted towards the west.

Kalighat:

East bank of Ganga said to be the place where Ma Kali used to exist in different temples. Hindu merchants used to go on their voyage for trading to the sea en-route Adi Ganga, they used to take a break and offer puja to Ma Kali at Kalighat to ensure a safe voyage. The ghat they used to reach Ma Kali’s temple, known as Kalighat.

It is not known when this shrine (Peeth) discovered after it came into existence. Adi Ganga surrounded by dense forests; it was an extended area of Sundarbans. Shaktipeeth also surrounded by impenetrable forests. One Siddha Yogi saint, named Atmaram, and his Siddha Yogi Guru Bromhanandagiri had a connection with Shankaracharya Math. They were the persons who established Kalighat Kali Mandir as Peeth as learned.

There are many contradictory stories about how Goddess Kali that we can see now, came into existence. Here Sati’s right foot fingers were fell that’s why it called ‘Dakshina Kalika’ or ‘Dakshina Kali’. The idol not of a regular shaped clean appearance. The three huge eyes, long projecting out tongue made of gold, and four hands, which all made of gold too.

Ma Kali here worshipped by Kali Mantra which is not a practice for other Kali temples where commonly Kali worshipped as Durga or Parbati, which are the other form of Ma Jagadamba.

This Shaktipeeth is established at a distance called Kalighat. The origin of Kolkata is considered to be Kalikot and it is from Kalikot that Kalighat has been named. Kolkata is the Apabhramsa of Kalighat. Kolkata has been the head of India since ancient times. It is an ancient metropolis, situated on the banks of the Ganges. Howrah and Sealdah are the major railway stations here. At this place, four fingers of the right foot Sati had fallen except the thumb. This Shaktipeeth is revered by the public and in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, a statue of the divine form of the mother is seated on a huge rock. The mother’s form is black. She has three eyes.

A gem crown is adorned on the forehead of the mother. Mother Kali’s four hands and teeth are 10 kg. They are of gold, there are 108 Asura Mudmalas of gold around the neck. Shiva received 60 kg at the feet of Mata Kali. The image is of silver, the crown and tongue are of gold, and on the hand are gold bangles and bracelets. Mother has a golden hive on her head. All the devotees whose wishes are fulfilled, bring and offer them. There is a huge hall in front of the main temple. Devotees sit and worship the mother. Thousands of hours are spent in the temple.

On the right side of the temple are Shree Narayan Mandir, Shiva, Bhairav, Hanuman, and Radha-Krishna temples. The temple has a total of 6 gates. Mata’s padmasana is of gold, which is missing from the rock. Every day there is an influx of devotees from morning till late at night.

Kalighat Kali Mandir 3 — Kalighat Kali Mandir: Image 3

Who has crafted the Kali image and erected the temple? There are many stories about it. But the most reasonable story is that Santosh Roychoudhury, a family member of Bengal’s ancient zamindar Saborna Roychoudhury was the founder of the temple. Saborna Roychoudhury installed the image of Goddes Kali in the temple. Saborna Roychudhury was an ancient and cultured Zamindar clan of Bengal in the period of the Sen dynasty. Their zamindari was spread from Halisahor in North to Barisha in South. They were Shakto. Santosh Roychudhury of the Saborna Roychudhury family was a liberal zamindar. He was a big devotee of Great Goddes Ma Kali. He discovered the idol and came to know the greatness of Goddess Kali.

The Story:

Once he was on a trip in his boat on Adi Ganga. At that time, he heard somebody’s voice enchanting mantra in the dense forest. He came down from the boat and saw one Bramhin worshipping a Kali idol in the forest with great devotion and that person told Santosh Roychudhury about the greatness of Ma Kali. Thus, people came to know about the greatness of Ma Kali. A permanent construction of the mandir was first erected by Raja Basanta Roy. The mandir destroyed after a short period of time, as known. Then the mandir reconstructed by Santosh Roychudhury and that construction still exists. The new mandir built in the year 1809, finally.

Kalighat Kali Mandir 5 — Kalighat Kali Mandir: Image 4

Kalika Purana (Ashtashakti) has clear mention of Dakshina Kalika, Mukha khanda as major Saktipeeth situated at Kolkata, West Bengal.

Click to Follow: Facebook and Twitter

You may also visit:

Shiva Temples

The Srikanteshwara Temple, Nanjangud, Karnataka

Kalahasteeswarar Vayu Lingam Temple, Andhra Pradesh

Shakti Temples

Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir, Varanasi, Uttarpradesh

Hanuman Temples

Ganesh Temples

Krishna/Vishnu Temples

08/Mar/2022

45^th International Kolkata Book Fair 2022 that is now been held since 28^th February will come to an end on the 13^th of March. The salient features of this year’s Fair are –

Bangladesh is the theme country this year
This year is the centenary year of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Bangladesh pavilion is showcasing in 50 stalls by 42 publishers
This year Bangladesh is celebrating the Golden Jubilee of their independence
The other countries that participated in the fair are UK, USA, Russia, Italy, Japan, Iran, Spain, Argentina, Mexico, and several Latin American Countries

The relationships between India and Bangladesh is old and natural. This year at Kolkata International Book Fair 2022 celebrating 50 year old bond has strengthened further.

Nearly 550 stalls of different publishers and institutes
More than 25 lakhs footfalls already
More than 200 little magazines
Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, and Bangladesh State Minister for Cultural Affairs, M. Khalid inaugurated the fair. On this occasion, Chief Minister renamed the ground ‘Boimela Prangon’.
The 45^th International Kolkata Book Fair was postponed last year, due to COVID-19,
COVID guidelines are followed in the Fair

The 45th International Kolkata Book Fair is exhibiting books of many languages like Bengali, English, Urdu, Hindi. Hindi Literature plays an important role when it comes to Indian Culture. This culture and importance are still alive because of magnificent writers and Hindi authors in the new era.

Iran pavilion is participating for the first time in the 45th International Kolkata book fair 2022 and they have showcased Ramayana in the Persian language.

Fair Location: The Central Park Mela Grounds, Salt Lake, Now ‘Boimela Prangon’, Beside Korunamoyee Bus Terminus

Book Fair

Fair Timing: 12 pm to 8 pm

Click to Follow: Facebook and Twitter

You may also read: The International Kolkata Book Fair 2022 #1

05/Mar/2022

Loknath Baba Mandir, Garia:7, Pranobananda Road, near Kavi Nazrul Metro Station, Garia Bazaar, Valley Park, Garia, Kolkata, West Bengal 700084

Baba Loknath Bramhochari Mandir at Garia was established in 1950 by a family member of Nag’s of Baradi, named Bramhaprasanna Nag. Baradi was the place at Sonargaon, Narayangunj district near Decca where Baba stayed in an ashram in the days before he passed away.

The mandir was in a hut initially and then the mandir shifted to a new permanent structure besides the old mandir. A bedi (elevated square structure) has been made in the place of the old mandir.

The oil painting of Baba here in the temple is rare and original, painted from the picture of Baba clicked at Baradi by Bhawal Raja. Nobody other than Bhawal Raja clicked Loknath Baba’s photograph. No other authentic photograph is available.

The puja and rituals here follow the practice followed in Baradi. The mandir pujari still maintain relationships with Baradi as before.

An annual celebration on Magh Purnima (19^th Jaista) is organized every year as establishment day.

Mandir Timing: 8.30 to 12.00 in the morning

4.30 to 8.00 in the evening

A brief life of Baba Loknath Bramhochari

Loknath Bromhochari was born in the year 1760 (18^th Bhadra, 1137) at Village Chaurashi Chakla near Calcutta (now Kolkata, north 24 Parganas, West Bengal) in a Brahmin family. His Father’s name was Ramnarayan Ghoshal and his mother was Kamala Devi.

At the age of 11, he left his house and accompany his Guru Pandit Bhagawan Ganguli of Kalighat Tempel for spiritual practice. He stayed at Kalightat Temple for a short time where he was taught Vedic Shastras. Then he went to the forest for meditation with Pandit Bhagawan. He practiced Ashtanga yoga and difficult Hatha yoga there for 25 years.

Loknath Baba was almost 7 feet tall, skinny and he never slept, used to keep his eyes open all the time, never blink even.

Loknath Baba meditated in the Himalayas in the icy cold condition almost bare body for about 50 years. Then at the age of 90, he got self-realization.

After enlightenment, he went to pilgrimage on foot and traveled to many countries viz. Afghanistan, Persia, Arabia, Israel, China, Tibet, France. He also made three pilgrimages to Mecca.

At the end of his journey, he came to the town of Sonargaon near Decca in the Narayanganj district. He stayed with Nag family, zamindar of Baradi. Baradi was within Sonargaon town. A small mandir was built in an isolated place for Baba where he stayed. That place became his ashram. People of all works of life, Hindus, and Muslims, Rich and poor used to come to Loknath Baba to take his blessings. His age was then 136 years.

He preached to love and believe unconditionally in God. He said, ‘In Danger, Remember Me.’

In the year 1890, 3^rd June (19^th Jaistha, 1297) Baba Loknath while meditating sitting in the usual Gamukha yoga Ahsan, left his soul from his body. His eyes were open even then. His age was 160 years at that time. Before he passes away, he said, ‘whoever seeks my blessings, will always get it.’\

Click to Follow: Facebook and Twitter

You May Also Read:

Shiva Temples

The Srikanteshwara Temple, Nanjangud, Karnataka

Kalahasteeswarar Vayu Lingam Temple, Andhra Pradesh

Shakti Temples

Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir, Varanasi, Uttarpradesh

Hanuman Temples

Ganesh Temples

Krishna/Vishnu Temples

23/Feb/2022

This year International Kolkata Book Fair 2022 is going to happen. To refresh our memory, a few words about International Kolkata Book Fair 2022 are mentioned hereunder.

Chronology of Events

1974 – Some young publishers decided at College Street Coffee house in an adda or chatting session to organize a book fair at Calcutta by some young publishers. The objective was to bring all book lovers in one place and facilitate them to choose their books by themselves and also to the boost sale of books. The inspiration came from the success story of the Frankfurt Book Fair

1975 –The Publishers & Booksellers Guild was formed

1976 – The first Fair was organized by some young publishers. The venue was in the ground, opposite to Academy of Fine Arts It had a total of 56 stalls

1988 – Venue shifted from ground opposite to Academy of Fine Arts to Park Street and Outram Road crossing to accommodate a large number of stalls, books, and crowd

1991 – Concept of theme for the year was introduced. Assam was the first theme state for the year. The theme changed in each year of the fair

1997 – 33rd Kolkata Book Fair went International. France was the focal theme for this year. A mishap happened this year. A stall at Fair at Maidan caught fire and burned down one-third of the entire complex. More than 100,000 books were charred in the fire and one person named Jiten Seal died from a heart attack during the stampede. The fire broke out on the sixth day.

1999 – Bangladesh was the theme this year and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sk. Hasina came to the city to inaugurate the Fair ceremony

2007 – Venue once again shifted to Salt Lake stadium followed by a High Court Order pronounced In response to public interest litigation filed by a few environmentalists

2008 – International Kolkata Book Fair was postponed for the year due to litigation with environmentalists. The venue this time was supposed to be Park Circus.

2009 – Once again a new venue. This time at Milan Mela ground. The 33rd International Kolkata Book Fair was inaugurated at the Milan Mela Ground.

2018 – The venue changed yet again. This time for the 42nd event on 2018, the venue was The Central Park Mela Grounds.

2021 – Kolkata Book Fair this year canceled due to COVID – 19

2022 – 45th International Kolkata Book Fair 2022 was scheduled to be held initially from 31st January 2022, 13th till February 2022. But, due to the COVID situation rescheduled for February. Now it will be held from 28^thFebruary 2022 to 13^th March 2022. The venue is The Central Park Mela Grounds, Salt Lake. This year’s theme country is Bangladesh.

You may also read: International Kolkata Book Fair 2022#2