| Introduction | Places of Interest | How to Reach |
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Mahishi TaraTemple
Seventeen km from Saharsa,Mahishi village is known for an ancient temple of goddess
Ugra Tara which is also believed to be a Shakti peetha.The legend has it that the right eye of
Sati had fallen here.The temple has a three-ft-Iong statue of Tara,accompaniedby two other
deities, Ekjataand Neel Saraswati,on the two sides.
The temple is associated with Tantrik cult where saints and other devotees from far and
wide acrossthe country assemble during the ten-day-Iong Sharadiya Navaratra for penance.
Although devotees from various parts of the country visit the place throughout the year,the main attraction of the temple is Dussehrain September-October during which more than one
lakh people come here to worship the goddess.
Mandan Dham
Mahishi village takes pride in being the birthplace of legendary 8th century scholarand
philosopher Pundit Mandan Mishra. He along with his wife Bharati made precious contributions to Indian philosophy. It is said Mandan was the senior contemporary of Adi Shankaracharya. During his ideological conquest for the propagation of sanatandharma, Adi
5 hankaracharya visited Mahishi for a philosophical debate with Mandan.
The birth place of Mandan is an upland, though barren where people from various states,
particularly those in south India, come to salute the scholar whose books Brahmasiddhi,
Meemansanukramanika and Vidhi Vivek,to namea few, are the gems of Indian philosophy.
Mandan's better half, Bharati,was also a scholar par excellence and sheis believed to have
once defeated Shankaracharya in debate.
Kandaha Sun Temple
About 13 km west to the district HQ of Saharsa,Kandahais a sleepy hamlet known for
antiquities.There's a temple of sungod here in which nearly three-and-a-half-feet-Iong and and
three-feet-wide statue of sungod is exquisitely shown riding seven horses with many other
deities on both sides.
The peculiarity of the temple is an
inscription on the marginal
threshold of the sanctum sancto-
rum which, already deciphered,
establishes that the temple dates
back to the 14th century. The
emple, built by the king of the
Oinwar dynasty, Narsingh Deo, a
contemporary of Maithili poet
Vidyapati, is the only sun temple
n Bihar after the famous temple
at Deo in Aurangabad district.
There are two wells on the temple
premises, namely Suryakoop and
Chandrakoop, the sacred water of
which is believed to have curative
effects for leprosy and other skin
diseases.
Bangaon
About nine km from Saharsa,
Bangaon is an ancient village
dominated by Maithil Brahmins.
But the village is better known as
the workplace of well-known
18th century saint poet laxmi
Nath Gosai. He was a yogi,a saint
and a poet who wrote and. sang
religious songs which are still sung by the people of the area with great reverence. The goddess Durga temple at Bangaonis also a centre of attraction where a large number of people
offer their prayers during the Navratrain September-October
Dewna Deeh
Close to Bangaon, Dewna Deeh is known for the lord Shiva temple situated here. There
are many other deities in the temple.
Karu Sthan
Situated on the bank of Kosi river and hardly two km away from Mahishi Tara Sthan is a
temple of folk-god Karu Khirhari who was a fighter, a yogi and a devotee of lord Shiva. He was
also a great lover of domestic animals, particularly cows. Out of his reverence for lord Shiva,
he had named his cows as Mahesri, Kusesri, Nakuchesri, Umesri etc. It is said Karu Baba had
sacrificed his life to save a cow from a tiger.
People from various parts of Bihar and Nepal visit this temple and offer milk, vegetable
and ganja to Karu Baba. On the day of Saptami during Navaratra, the temple is jampacked with
tourists from far and wide. Such a huge quantity of milk is offered to Karu Baba that day that
every one reaching there is fed 'tasmai', a special dish prepared by mixing rice in pure milk.
Biratpur Chandi Sthan
In ascetic circles, Tara Temple at Mahishi, Katyayaini Temple near Dhamar Ghat in Khagaria
district and Chandi Temple at Biratpur village under Sonbarsa block of Saharsa district form a
holy triangle (trikonyantra) which is of special reverence in the Tantrik cult of worship. Goddess Chandi is another form or incarnation of goddess Durga. Nearly 35 km away from Saharsa,
Biratpur is also associated with the Mahabharata legend of King Birat. There is a big mound near the temple which is believed to be the place where the Pandavas had lived for twelve
years during their exile.
Matsyagandha Complex & Raktakali Temple
A separate temple of 64 mahayoginis, believed to be rare in India and sacred in Hindu
pantheon, is the special attraction of the site where also exists a beautiful temple of Raktakali,
built on the pattern of monastery architecture. There's also a huge pond which offers water
sport facilities. The opening of a tourist hotel, Hotel Koshi Bihar, has added to the attraction of
this spot. People come from different places for offering puja to the goddess Kali during Diwali
festival. The state government celebrates the occasion as a state festival. |
