Barahachhetra (also Barahakshetra or Varahakshrata; ne, वराहक्षेत्र) is a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

and

Kirat The Kirati people, also spelled as Kirant or Kiranti, are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group. They are peoples of the Himalayas, mostly the Eastern Himalaya extending eastward from Nepal to North East India (predominantly in the Indian state of Sikkim ...

piligram site which remains between the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of Koka and

Koshi Koshi or Kōshi may refer to: Places *Koshi River, a river in Nepal *Koshi District, Niigata, a former district in Niigata Prefecture, Japan * Koshi Province, a historic province of Japan *Kōshi, Kumamoto, a city in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan *Ko ...

rivers in

Barahakshetra Barahachhetra (also Barahakshetra or Varahakshrata; ne, वराहक्षेत्र) is a Hindu and Kirat piligram site which remains between the confluence of Koka and Koshi rivers in Barahakshetra, Sunsari of Province No. 1, Nepal. ...

, Sunsari of Province No. 1,

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

. This place is one of Nepal's oldest shrines mentioned in

Puranas Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

including

Brahma Purana The ''Brahma Purana'' ( sa, ब्रह्मपुराण or ; ) is one of the eighteen major Puranas collections of Hindu texts in Sanskrit Language. It is listed as the first Maha-Purana in all the anthologies, and therefore also called A ...

Varaha Purana The ''Varaha Purana'' ( sa, वराह पुराण, ) is a Sanskrit text from the Puranas genre of literature in Hinduism. It belongs to the Vaishnavism literature corpus praising Narayana (Vishnu), but includes chapters dedicated to prais ...

and

Skanda Purana The ''Skanda Purana'' (IAST: Skanda Purāṇa) is the largest '' Mukyapurana'', a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text contains over 81,000 verses, and is of Kaumara literature, titled after Skanda, a son of Shiva and Parvati, w ...

and even mentioned and glorified in the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

epic. In Barahachhetra, the Varah, an incarnation of

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

is worshiped. Barahachhetra is one of the ''Char Dham'' in Nepal. This place is located at about 5 km North West from

Dharan Dharan ( ne, धरान) a sub-metropolitan city in Sunsari District of Province No. 1, Nepal, which was established as a fourth municipality in the Kingdom in 1958. It is the third most populous city in Eastern Nepal after Biratnagar and ...

in Sunsari district. The present appearance of the original temple of Barahachhetra was made in 1991 BS. The temple was rebuilt by Juddha Shamsher for the last time in 1991 BS after the temple was demolished by the earthquake of 1990 BS. There are 9 temples including that of Laxmi, Panchayan, Guruvarah, Suryavarah, Kokawarah and Nageshwar and many hospices in Barahachhetra. Statues of more than 1500 years old have been found in this place. Pilgrims come all seasons but special fete is organised in occasions of

kartik purnima Kartika Purnima is a Hindu, Sikh and Jain cultural festival that is celebrated on Purnima (full moon day), the 15th (or 30th) lunar day of the month of Kartika. It falls in November or December of the Gregorian calendar and is also known as ...

and makar sakranti. People from India prefer to come Barahachhetra in kartik purnima and people from hilly Nepal generally come at makar sakranti. Except this, huge number of pilgrims arrive at

rishi panchami Rishi Panchami is the fifth day, the next day after Ganesh Chaturthi day in Bhadrapad month of the Lunar calendar. It is a traditional worship of Sapta Rishi. The seven sages – Kashyapa, Atri, Bharadwaja, Vishvamitra, Gautama Maharishi, Jama ...

byas panchami Vyas (Byas), is a municipality of Tanahun District located in Gandaki Province in Nepal and incorporates the village ''Damauli'', the district headquarters, for which the municipality is also often referred to as Damauli. The municipality was es ...

, fagu purnima and other

ekadashi Ekadashi () is the eleventh lunar day (''tithi'') of each of the two lunar phases which occur in an Vedic calendar month - the '' Shukla Pakṣa'' (the period of the brightening moon also known as the waxing phase) and the ''Kṛṣṇa Pakṣ ...

s or other fasts and festive days. Each day seems like a fete due to regular flow of people. Lord

, by taking the incarnation of

Varaha Varaha ( sa, वराह, , "boar") is an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, in the form of a boar. Varaha is generally listed as third in the Dashavatara, the ten principal avatars of Vishnu. Varaha is most commonly associated with the leg ...

or Baraha protected the

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

from being submerged into

Patala In Indian religions, Patala (Sanskrit: पाताल, IAST: pātāla, lit. ''that which is below the feet''), denotes the subterranean realms of the universe – which are located under the earthly dimension. Patala is often translated as un ...

(underworld) with his long tusk. Then the Lord sat with his wife Laxmi at the bank of Koshi River in the lap of

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

and hills. So, the place bore its name after that event. There is a big and beautiful image of the Baraha incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

Kumbha Mela

Nepal is the World's Fifth Destination of Kumbha Mela. In every twelve years, a semi-

Kumbha Mela Kumbh Mela or Kumbha Mela () is a major pilgrimage and festival in Hinduism. It is celebrated in a cycle of approximately 12 years, to celebrate every revolution Brihaspati (Jupiter) completes, at four river-bank pilgrimage sites: Allahabad (G ...

has been organizing since 2058 B.S. in Chataradham, Sunsari. The second event was held in 2070 B.S. for the duration of a month. More than 600,000 people visited for ''Kumbha Asnan'' in the

in the year 2070.From Dr. Narad Bharadwaj by Subhmanish ''Website:therisingnepal.org.np'' Retrieved 24 February 2020
/ref> Chatara Dham Kumbha Mela

References

External links

Populated places in Sunsari District Char Dham temples in Nepal {{Hindu-temple-stub