Tarapith is a 13-century
Hindu temple
A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hin ...
in Chandipur village
Rampurhat II
Rampurhat II is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Rampurhat subdivision of Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Overview
Birbhum district is physiographically a part of the ancient Rarh region ...
CD block in
Rampurhat subdivision
Rampurhat subdivision is an administrative subdivision of Birbhum district in the state of West Bengal, India.
Overview
The northern portion of Rampurhat subdivision is part of the Nalhati Plains, a sub-micro physiographic region, and the south ...
of
Birbhum district
Birbhum district () is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is in Suri. Other imp ...
of the
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n state of
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...
, known for its
Tantric temple and its adjoining
cremation
Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning.
Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre is ...
(Maha Shmashan) grounds where
sādhanā
''Sādhanā'' (; ; ) is an ego-transcending spiritual practice. It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.
Sadhana is done for a ...
(tantric rituals) are performed. The Tantric
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 ...
temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
is dedicated to the goddess
Tara, a fearsome Tantric aspect of the
Devi, the chief temples of
Shaktism
Shaktism ( sa, शाक्त, , ) is one of several major Hindu denominations, wherein the metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically a woman and Shakti ( Mahadevi) is regarded as the supreme godhead. It includes many goddesses, al ...
. Tarapith derives its name from its association as the most important centre of Tara worship.
Tarapith is also famous for
Sadhak Bamakhepa, known as the
avadhuta
''Avadhūta'' (IAST ', written as अवधूत) is a Sanskrit term from the root 'to shake' (see V. S. Apte and Monier-Williams) that, among its many uses, in some Indian religions indicates a type of mystic or saint who is beyond egoic-conscio ...
or "mad saint", who worshipped in the temple and resided in the
cremation ground
Shmashana outside Indian village
A ''śmaśāna'' (Devanagari: श्मशान) is a Hindu crematory ground, where dead bodies are brought to be burnt on a pyre. It is usually located near a river or body of water on the outskirts of a village ...
s as a mendicant and practised and perfected
yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...
and the tantric arts under the tutelage of another famous saint, Kailashpathi Baba. Bamakhepa dedicated his entire life to the worship of
Tara Maa. His
ashram is also located in bank of Dwaraka river and close to the Tara temple.
Geography
Tarapith is a village of Sahapur Gram Panchayet, Tarapith Police Station located on the banks of the
Dwarka River
The Dwarka River (also called Babla) is a tributary of Bhagirathi.
Course
The Dwaraka originates in Santhal Parganas in Jharkhand, flows through Deucha, and then through Mayureswar and Rampurhat police station areas of Birbhum district. It fina ...
in West Bengal. It is located in the flood plains amidst green paddy fields. It looks like a typical Bengali village with thatched roof huts and fish tanks.
[Dalrymple, pp. 210-211] The town is located 6 km from Rampurhat Sub-Division in the Birbhum district. "Rampurhat" and 'Tarapith Road' are the nearest Railway stations.
Legend and importance
![तारापीठ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%A0.jpg)
There are several legends narrated on the origin and importance of this place, all related to the goddess Tara deified in the Tarapith temple. A well-known legend relates to the ''Shakti Pith''s.
Sati
Sati or SATI may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Sati'' (film), a 1989 Bengali film by Aparna Sen and starring Shabana Azmi
* ''Sati'' (novel), a 1990 novel by Christopher Pike
*Sati (singer) (born 1976), Lithuanian singer
*Sati, a character in ''Th ...
, the consort of
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
, felt insulted when her father
Daksha deliberately did not invite Shiva to the great
yajña "the fire sacrifice" he organized. Despite of Shiva's refusal citing that they're not invited, when Sati however arrived to the scene, Daksha insulted Shiva by saying cuss words for him in front of all the attendants. Unable to bear this humiliation, Sati gave up her life by jumping into the yajña fire. Infuriated by this tragic turn of events, Shiva went wild. Then,
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" withi ...
, in order to pacify Shiva, decimated the body of Sati with his
chakram
Chakram ( sa, , script=latn; pa, , script=latn) is a throwing weapon from the Indian subcontinent. One of its major purposes is to protect the turban and the head from sword/melee attacks. It is circular with a sharpened outer edge and a diame ...
. Sati's body part fell all over the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
. The places where the body parts fell have become centres of worship of the Goddess in different manifestations. There are 51 such holy temples which are called ''Shakti Pith''s; in West Bengal, there are many such ''pith''s, such as the
Kalighat
Kalighat is a locality of Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India. One of the oldest neighbourhoods in South Kolkata, Kalighat is also densely populated — with a history of cultural intermingling with the various foreign incursions i ...
.
[
]Vashistha
Vasishtha ( sa, वसिष्ठ, IAST: ') is one of the oldest and most revered Vedic rishis or sages, and one of the Saptarishis (seven great Rishis). Vashistha is credited as the chief author of Mandala 7 of the ''Rigveda''. Vashishtha ...
had seen this form and worshipped the goddess Sati in the form of Tara. Another legend describes the following: Shiva had drunk the poison that had emerged by the churning of the cosmic oceans, to save the universe. To relieve the intense burning in his throat, Sati – in the form of Tara – breast fed Shiva to relieve him of the effect of poison in his throat. Another local narration is that Vasishtha chose this place for the worship of Sati as it was already known as a Tarapith.[Kinsely, p. 106] Among ''pith''s, Tarapith is a ''siddha pith'', which grants enlightenment, wisdom, happiness and '' siddhi''s ("supernatural powers").
Another oral legend about the temple states that the sage Vashishtha practised austerities toward Tara, but was unsuccessful, so on the advice of a divine voice, he went to meet the Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
– an avatar
Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...
of Vishnu according to some schools of Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
– in Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...
. The Buddha instructed Vasishtha to worship Tara through the practices of vamachara
''Vāmācāra'' ( sa, वामाचार, ) is a tantric term meaning "left-hand path" and is synonymous with the Sanskrit term ''vāmamārga''. It is used to describe a particular mode of worship or '' sadhana'' (spiritual practice) that is ...
. During this time, Buddha had a vision of Tarapith as an ideal location for a temple that would serve to enshrine the image of Tara. Buddha advised Vasishtha to go to Tarapith, the abode of Tara. At Tarapith, Vasishtha performed penance by reciting Tara mantra
A mantra ( Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ...
300,000 times. Tara was pleased with Vasishtha's penance and appeared before him. Vasishtha appealed to Tara to appear before him in the form of a mother suckling Shiva on her breast, the form that Buddha had seen in his divine vision. Tara then incarnated herself in that form before Vasishtha and turned into a stone image. Since then Tara is worshipped in the Tarapith temple in the form of a mother suckling Shiva on her breast.[Kinsely, p. 106]
Tarapith, Kalighat and Nabadwip
Nabadwip (), also spelt Navadwip, anciently Nadia or Nudiya, is a heritage city in Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is regarded as a holy place by Hindus, and is the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Famous for Rass fest ...
are considered the most important tirthas (holy places with a sacred water body) for Bengali Hindus
Bengali Hindus ( bn, বাঙ্গালী হিন্দু/বাঙালি হিন্দু, translit=Bāṅgālī Hindu/Bāṅāli Hindu) are an ethnoreligious population who make up the majority in the Indian states of West Beng ...
.
The shrine as a Sidhha Pith - Tarapith
The shrine gets its name being a Sidhha Pith. Sidhha Pith holy temples of Tara Maa. They are believed to have originated due to the falling of body parts of the corpse of Sati Devi, when Lord Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
carried it and wandered in sorrow. There are 51 Shakti Peeth all over South Asia is linked to the 51 letters in Sanskrit. The Shakti Peethas are associated with ''the mythology of Daksha yaga and Sati's self immolation''. These shrines are important place of worship for Tantra practitioners.
Tarapith temple
The Tara temple in Tarapith is a medium-sized temple in the rural precincts of Bengal. Its fame as a pilgrimage centre with the deity of Tara enshrined in it.
The temple base is thick with thick walls, built of red brick. The superstructure has covered passages with many arches raising to the pinnacle with a spire (''shikara
The shikara is a type of wooden boat found on Dal Lake and other water bodies of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir Shikaras are of various sizes and are used for multiple purposes, including transportation. A usual shikara seats six people, with th ...
''). The image of the deity is enshrined under the eaves in the sanctum. There are two Tara images in the sanctum. The stone image of Tara depicted as a mother suckling Shiva – the "primordial image" (seen in the inset of the fierce form of the image of Tara) is camouflaged by a three feet metal image, that the devotee normally seen. It represents Tara in her fiery form with four arms, wearing a garland of skulls and a protruding tongue. Crowned with a silver crown and with flowing hair, the outer image wrapped in a ''sari
A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include:
* as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO
* bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO
* gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std ...
'' and decked in marigold garlands with a silver umbrella over its head. The forehead of the metal image is adorned with red kumkum
Kumkuma is a powder used for social and religious markings in India. It is made from turmeric or any other local materials. The turmeric is dried and powdered with a bit of slaked lime, which turns the rich yellow powder into a red color.
In Indi ...
(vermilion). Priests take a speck of this kumkum and apply it on the foreheads of the devotees as a mark of Tara's blessings. The devotees offer coconuts, bananas and silk ''sari''s, and unusually bottles of whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden ca ...
.[Dalrymple, p. 211][Kinsely, p. 110] The primordial image of Tara has been described as a "dramatic Hindu image of Tara's gentler aspect".
The priests of the temple offer '' puja'' (worship) with great reverence, in order to reveal her motherly aspect to the devotees. Their worship blends the fierce North Indian depiction of the Sati myth of the goddess with the peaceful motherly visionary form of Tara, as seen by Buddha and his disciple Vasishtha of the Tantric tradition – the Buddhist Tara form.[Kinsely, p. 109] At Tarapith, though the softer motherly aspect of the fierce goddess is emphasized. The chanting of hymns or stotrams in her praise is also a part of the devotional appeal made to the goddess.
The devotees take a holy bath at the sacred tank(Jivita Kunda) adjacent to the temple before entering the temple premises to offer worship and even after the worship. The waters of the tank is said to have healing powers and even restore life to the dead.
Blood sacrifice of goats is the daily norm in the temple. Devotees who offer such goat sacrifices seek blessings from the deity. They bathe the goats in the holy tank near the temple before the sacrifice. They also purify themselves by taking bath in the holy tank before offering worship to the deity. The goat is then tethered to a stake, the designated post in a sand pit, and the neck of the goat butchered with a single stroke by a special sword. A small quantity of the blood of the goat is then collected in a vessel and offered to the deity in the temple. The devotees also smear their forehead with a bit of blood from the pit, as a mark of reverence to the deity.[Kinsely, p. 110]
Cremation ground
The cremation ground (maha smasan), amidst dark forest surroundings, is located on the river side at the end of town limits, away from the village life and practices of the Bengali social order. In Bengal, the cremation ground of Tarapith is also considered integral to the Shakti pith. It is believed that goddess Tara can be seen in shadows drinking blood of goats which are sacrificed every day at her altar, to satiate her anger and seek favours.[Dalrymple, p. 205]
Tantric practitioners believe that Tara is attracted to bones and skeletons and the cremation ground is her preferred residence. Goddess Tara's iconographic depictions show her amidst cremation grounds. Tantric practitioners have, therefore, been flocking these grounds for generations for performing their Tantric '' sadhana'' (spiritual practice); many Sadhus permanently reside here.[Kinsely, p. 111] The cremation grounds are flowed by the "dread locked ash-smeared sadhu
''Sadhu'' ( sa, साधु, IAST: ' (male), ''sādhvī'' or ''sādhvīne'' (female)), also spelled ''saddhu'', is a religious ascetic, mendicant or any holy person in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism who has renounced the worldly life. ...
s". Sadhus have built their hutments, amidst banyan trees and embellished their huts with red-painted skulls embedded into the mud walls. In addition, calendar pictures of Hindu goddesses, saints of Tarapith and a trishul (trident) decorated with marigold garlands and skulls at the entrance are a common sight in front of the huts. Human as well as animal skulls like those of jackals and vultures – which are unfit for Tantric rites – and snake skins decorate the huts. Good skulls used for tantric rituals and for drinking purpose by the Tantrics are cured before use; skulls of virgins and people who have committed suicide are said to be powerful.[Dalrymple, p. 206]
Bamakhepa
A saint, held in great reverence in Tarapith and whose shrine is also located in the vicinity of the Tara temple, was Bamakhepa
Bamakhyapa ( bn, বামাখ্যাপা, Bamakhæpa, mad saint; 1837–1911Kinsely, p. 111), born Bamacharan Chattopadhyay, was an Indian Hindu saint who is held in great reverence in Tarapith and whose shrine is also located in the vi ...
(1837–1911) popularly known as the "mad saint". Bama-khepa, literally means the mad ("khepa") follower of "left handed" ("Bama" or "Vama" in Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
) path – the Tantric way of worship. Bamakhepa, goddess Tara's ardent devotee lived near the temple and meditated in the cremation grounds. He was a contemporary of another famous Bengali saint Ramakrishna. At a young age, he left his house and came under the tutelage of a saint named Kailsahpathi Baba, who lived in Tarapith. He perfected yoga and Tantric sadhana (worship), which resulted in his becoming the spiritual head of Tarapith. He also went to Devi Moulakhsi Temple at Maluti
Maluti (also Malooti) is a village in Shikaripara CD block in the Dumka subdivision of the Dumka district of Jharkhand, India. It was built under the Baj Basanta dynasty. The area has 72 old temples, which are edifices to the kings of the Pala D ...
village for worship. People came to him seeking blessings or cures for their illness, in distress or just to meet him. He did not follow the set rules of the temple and, as a result, was once assaulted by temple priests for having taken food meant as an offering for the deity.Tara Ma appeared in the dream of Maharani ("Queen") of Natore
Natore district is a district of Rajshahi Division located in northern Bangladesh. It borders the metropolitan city of Rajshahi, and used to be part of Rajshahi district.
History
Natore was the District Headquarters of Rajshahi from 1769 to 182 ...
- Rani Annadasundari Devi
''Rani'' in Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, sometimes spelled ''Ranee'', is a Hindu/Sanskrit feminine given name. The term is the female form of the term for princely rulers in South and Southeast Asia and applies equally to the wife of a ...
and told her to feed the saint first as he was her son. After this incident, Bamakhepa was fed first in the temple before the deity and nobody obstructed him. It is believed that Tara gave a vision to Bamakhepa in the cremation grounds, in her ferocious form, before taking him to her breast.
References
Bibliography
*
*
Further reading
*Tarapith Vairab By Susil Kumar Bandopadhyay
*Tirthabhumi Tarapith By Probodh Kumar Bandopadhyay
*Mahapith Tarapith by Bipul Kumar Gangopadhyay
External links
Tarapith website
*
{{Shaktism
13th-century Hindu temples
Cities and towns in Birbhum district
Hindu temples in West Bengal
Shakti Peethas
Shakti temples
Pilgrimage in India
Hindu temples in Birbhum district