Gnana Saraswati Temple () is a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

of Goddess Saraswati located on the banks of Godavari River at Basara,

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is one of the two famous Saraswati temples in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, the other being Sharada Peeth. Saraswati is the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Goddess of knowledge and learning. Children are brought to the temple for the learning ceremony called as Akshara abyasam. Basara is a census town in the Nirmal district in the state of Telangana. It is about from Bhainsa, from Dharmabad, from Nizamabad, from Nanded, from district headquarters Nirmal, and from

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

History

According to Mahabharatha, Maharishi Vyas and his disciples and sage Viswamitra decided to settle down in a cool and serene atmosphere after the

Kurukshetra War The Kurukshetra War (), also called the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the Hindu Indian epic poetry, epic poem ''Mahabharata'', arising from a dynastic struggle between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, for the thr ...

. In the quest for a peaceful abode, he came to Dandaka forest and, pleased with serenity of the region, selected this place. Since Maharishi Vyasa spent considerable time in prayers, the place was then called "Vasara" and turned into Basara due to the influence of the

Marathi language Marathi (; , 𑘦𑘨𑘰𑘙𑘲, , ) is a Classical languages of India, classical Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra and is also spoken in Goa, and parts of Guj ...

in this region. It is also believed that this temple is one of the three temples constructed near the confluence of the Manjira and Godavari rivers. Historically, 'Bijialudu' a

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

king, who ruled the province of Nandagiri with Nanded as his capital in the sixth century, constructed the temple at Basara. In the 17th century, the idols of the temple were reinstated by a chieftain of Nandagiri (Nanded) subsequent to destruction caused by Muslim invaders.

Modern period

Many pilgrims come to Gnana Saraswati Temple Basara to perform the "Akshara abhyasam" ceremony for the children before they start formal school education. The children perform the exercise of letters, and devote books, pens, pencils notebooks to the goddess of knowledge. The Puja at the temple starts at 4 am in morning with Abhishekam which carries on for an hour. At 5 o'clock they start the Alankarana whereby the new sarees are adorned to the goddesses. The whole atmosphere is very pious and pure. At 6 am, in the rays of the morning sun, the aarti starts at the temple after which the prasadam is given to the devotees. Special poojas and celebrations are held at the temple during

Maha Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually to worship the deity Shiva, between February and March. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is observed on the fourteenth day of the first half (night start with darkness - ...

, beginning 15 days before (Vasantha Panchami) and continuing 3 days after the festival. Devi Navarathrulu is celebrated for ten days during Dasara. The temple also has a Mahakali idol situated on the 1st floor very near to the main temple. Devotees often go to the nearby mountain which has an Idol of Goddess Saraswati on the top of the rock. The image of Goddess

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvat ...

stands beside Goddess Saraswati in the sanctum sanctorum. Due to the presence of Saraswati, Lakshmi and Kali, Basara is considered as the abode of the divine trinity.

Transport

The temple is located about 210 kilometers (via road) from the nearest city

. It is well connected by district buses, run by TSRTC. MSRTC buses also run from Hyderabad, Nanded, etc. The nearest railway station to the temple is Basar (BSX) Railway Station, located about 2.4 km away.

References

External links

Wikimapia

BasaraTemple.org

Basara Temple Timings
{{Hindu Temples in Telangana Hindu temples in Adilabad district Saraswati temples Hindu temples sacked in the Muslim period in the Indian subcontinent

History

Modern period

Transport

See also

References

External links