Tarapith Temple, Rampurhat, Birbhum, West Bengal, India

Tarapith Temple, Tarapith, Rampurhat, District Birbhum, West Bengal, India

Location

[ Tarapith Main Temple ] 

Tarapith is a small village near Rampurhat town in the state of West Bengal. The temple here is dedicated to Maa Tara. It is a tantrik temple and deity of the tantric aspect is Maa Tara. The temple is a medium sized temple and situated adjacent to cremation ground ( Maha Smashan). It is among 52 Shaktipeethas of Sati cult. It is believed that this Sidhpeeth grants enlightment,wisdom, happiness and siddhees to her devotees. There are two idols of Maa Tara is installed in the temple which are in two forms.

[ Gentler Mother Form ]

One is mother some form and second is a fearsome form of Goddess. The stone idol is a mother some form in which Lord shiva as a child in the lap of Maa Tara, sucking milk from her breast. The other image is a metal image wearing garlands of skulls and protruding tongue. The forehead of the metal idol is adorned with red vermilion. The priest of the temple took a small amount of kumkum by his finger and apply on the foreheads of the devotees as a blessing of goddess.

[ Fearsome form ]

Legend

The legend behind the temple are many, but few are being described here.

1. It relates to the story of  Sati cult.  King Daksha Prajapati, father of Goddess Parvati, invited only his daughter in the Yagana organised by him. Lord Shiva was not invited. Parwati, the consort of Shiva felt it as her insult. Unable to bear this humiliation she gave up her life by jumping in to the fire of Yagna. Knowing about this tragic turn of events Lord Shiva went wild with anger.  Then Guardian of the universe, Lord Vishnu took the responsibilities to calm Lord Shiva. He decimated her body by Sudarshana chakra which fell on the earth in Indian subcontinent. It is said that the back (pitha) of sati fell here and this place became one of the Shakti peeth.

2. As per Hindu mythology, during the churning of the ocean the poison came out and no body was ready to consume it. Then to save the earth, Lord Shiva took the poison in his throat. By the intensity of the poison, burning started inside the throat of Lord Shiva. Then Sati in the form of Maa Tara, breast fed Lord Shiva to relieve him from burning sensation.

3. According to an another legend,  Sage Vshistha was her devotee and did deep meditation of her but not succeeded to please her. By the order of a divine voice he went to meet Lord Buddha. Buddha is supposed to be an avatar of Lord Vishnu as per Tibetan mythology. Buddha advised him to go to Tarapith , the abode of Tara and try to please Maa Tara by meditation. Then Sage Vashishtha did deep meditation by chanting  03 lac Tara mantra. Maa Tara became pleased from his devotion and appeared before him. But Sage told her to appear in the form of mother sucking her breast by Lord shiva. Tara then incarnated herself in that form as he wish and turned in to a stone idol. Since then this form of Maa Tara is being worshipped  in Tarapith.

In Bengal Kalighat, Tarapith and Nabdwip are known as pilgrimage of Bengali Hindus.

Puja and Rituals

This temple is an important place of worship forTantrik Sadhkas. The worship includes blood offerings and particular hymns sung and rituals of the cremation ground. The devotees offers coconut, banana, silk sarees, and whisky.

The mother form of Goddess is a soft and gentler aspect of Devi. The priests of the temple worship with great reverence to draw her motherly aspect from the fierce depiction for the welfare of devotees. For this they sung hymns and poems in her praise.

There is a tank very near to the temple, where the devotees took bath before and after entering the temple. The pond is believed to have a healing power and even can restore the life to the dead. A small quantity of blood of Goats in a bowl after sacrifice is offered to Goddess.

Animal Sacrifice

Animal sacrifice is a a daily procedure here. Generally Goats are sacrificed here at the place assigned for it and in the temple campus. The devotees who offer animal sacrifice seek blessings from goddess. They bathe the goat being sacrificed in the sacred tank over there. Then the goat after some rituals brought to the place of slaughtering. Then a small quantity of blood in a bowl is offered to Goddess and worshipped for happiness of their family

[ Slaughtering place ]

Cremation Ground (Maha Shmasan)

It is located on the river side and near to the temple. The cremation ground is believed to be the place of Tantrik Siddhi, hence an integral part of the Shaktipeeth. It is believed that Maa Tara in shadow form wanders in the cremation ground in night to fulfil her thirst of blood. Tantriks believe that cremation ground is the residence of Maa Tara who has attraction towards bones, skulls and skeleton.

[ Cremation Ground ] 

Bamakhepa, a Siddh tantrik

[ Bamakhepa ]

In 19 th century, a Sadhak named Bamakhepa was an ardent devotee of Maa Tara. There are two words in his name Bama and Khepa. Bama means a Saint who believed in left handed path ie Bammarg, a tantric way of worship and Khepa means ‘Mad’ in Bengali. He achieved many Siddhis by the grace of Mother Tara. He was perfect in yoga and Tantric Sadhana. People in distress came to him for blessings.in this way Bamakhepa can truly be said to have been a Holy mad man with supernatural power. A film in his name was also made and released in Bengal on his life history.

Where to Stay

Tarapith is a small town but due to the importance of this place as a pilgrimage the devotees visit this temple in good numbers on regular basis. There are many budget hotels are available there in Rampurhat town for a comfortable stay. Some of them are namely Amantran hotel, Sonar Bangala hotel, and hotel chakra nayan tara.

Places to Visit Nearby

Shantiniketan

A famous place of education Shantiniketan is located in Birbhum district of Bengal and easily approachable from Rampurhat. The university here is named as Vishwa Bharti University established by Rabindra Nath Tagore who called it the university that communion of the world with India. One should must visit this place.

[ View of Shantiniketan ]

How to Reach

By rail

Rampurhat is a railway station on eastern railway and well connected by railway network of India. From Howrah. and major   cities of Jharkhand, Bengal and Bihar direct trains are available to reach Rampurhat. .

By road

From Jharkhand and Bengal Rampurhat is well connected by good roads. But from Bihar public transport is not available frequently.but can reach here by his own car or hired taxi.

By air

There is no airport nearby. Hence journey by air is not is troublesome.