The Temple

The “Maa Tara Pith Temple” is dedicated to the worship Of Maa Tara, A Great Cosmic Wisdom Form Of Maa Maha Kaali. According to legends, The “Maa Tara Pith Temple” is where Maa Sati’s Eyeball Had Fallen. As the bengali word for eyeball is tara, The Temple was dedicated to the worship Of Maa Tara. Thus devotees venerate The “Maa Tara Pith Temple” As A Shakti Pith, A Divine Seat Of The Divine Mother Maa Aadi ParaShakti. Shakti Piths Are Revered As The Holy Sites on earth Where The Various Parts Of Maa Sati’s Holy Body Are said To Have Fallen during lord shiva’s rudra tandava.

The “Maa Tara Pith Temple” is also quite renowned for being one of the few temples where tantric rituals are practiced.

Origin

The origin of The “Maa Tara Pith Temple” can be traced back to vashishta’s quest to master the tantric arts. Despite his prolonged efforts, he failed to achieve success. Seeking guidance, he approached buddha, who had a vision that “Maa Tara Pith Temple” was the ideal place To worship Maa Tara. Following buddha’s advice, vashishtha came To “Maa Tara Pith Temple” and performed a left-handed tantric ritual, incorporating the use of the 5 forbidden elements (panchamakara). Impressed by his devotion, The Divine Mother Manifested As Maa Tara Nursing lord shiva At The Divine Mother's Breast And Then Transformed Into Stone. Since then, The Depiction Of Maa Tara In The Maternal Form, Nursing lord shiva, Has Been Venerated At “Maa Tara Pith Temple”.

History

After the original Temple had suffered some damage, a new Temple with eight roofs was constructed in 1225 by jagannath ray from the village of mallarpur. The Temple’s main gate features intricately carved Statues Of Maa Durga And The Divine Family. Additionally, depictions of the kurukshetra war from the mahabharata are showcased on the left, while stories from the ramayana are depicted on the right.

The gold outlined arch and carved relief Of The Temple — The carved arch Of The Temple, “TaraPith”

The Divine Vigraha Of The Divine Mother Maa Tara at tarapith, Adorned With a silk sari and marigold garlands, Crowned in silver — The Divine Vigraha Of The Divine Mother Maa Tara, “TaraPith”

The Sanctum

Inside the Sanctum, There Are Two Divine Vigrahas Of Maa Tara. The First Is A Stone Divine Vigraha Portraying Maa Tara As A Mother Nursing lord shiva, but It Is Concealed By A Three-Foot-Tall Metal Idol That Is Typically Visible To the worshippers. The Stone Divine Vigraha Depicts Maa Tara In The Divine Mother's Fierce Form, With Four Arms, Flowing Hair, An Extended Tongue, And Adorned With a garland of skulls. The Outer Metal Divine Vigraha Is Adorned With a silk sari, marigold garlands, and sheltered by a silver umbrella Above The Head.

Only after the evening aarti ceremony do the devotees have the opportunity to catch a glimpse Of The Original Stone Divine Vigraha.

The “Maa Tara Pith” Temple in birbhum, west bengal, with devotees before it — The “Maa Tara Pith” Temple, birbhum, west bengal

Documented History: The Temple Through The Centuries

The village that stands around The Temple was called chandipur before it took the Name of The Divine Mother. The Temple stands on the bank of the dwarka river, in the rampurhat subdivision of birbhum, west bengal, at the postal code 731233. The Temple standing today, with its eight roof slopes, is recorded as having been raised in 1225 by jagannath ray of the village of mallarpur, after an earlier structure had been damaged. Between 2021 and 2023 the west bengal state government carried out a restoration of The Temple, under which the flooring was laid afresh in marble, the interior walls were painted, the bedi was renewed and the bhog ghar was enlarged.

Documented History: The Shape Of The Temple

The Temple is built in the chala manner of bengal, whose curved roof lines were drawn from the thatched roofs of the countryside and then carried into brick. Its form is the at-chala, the eight roof slopes: a four sloped roof, and above it, resting on a short raised tier, a second and smaller four sloped roof. Eight slopes in all, which is the meaning of the eight roofs. The walls are thick and laid in red brick. Within, covered passages carry many arches upward to the pinnacle, where the shikhara closes the ascent. The at-chala is among the common Temple forms of bengal, and the “Maa Kali Temple” at kalighat, kolkata, is built in the same manner.

Within The Temple Grounds

Beside the Sanctum Of The Divine Mother Maa Tara, the grounds hold the smaller Temples that have gathered around it: the chandrachur Temple of lord shiva, the bajrangbali Temple, a Temple Of Maa Shashthi, and the shrine kept in memory of sadhak bamakhepa at the place of his cremation. Near them lies the jivit kunda, the pond whose water is drawn for the bathing Of The Divine Vigraha, and at which devotees wash before and after they enter The Temple.

The Daily Pattern Of The worship

The day at The Temple keeps one unbroken order, and it has kept that order for generations. Before dawn The Divine Mother is woken with music, the shehnai sounding at the door of the Sanctum. The doors are opened, the Sanctum is cleaned, the night's bed is taken away, and The Divine Feet are washed. The Stone Divine Vigraha is then anointed with ghee, with honey and with fragrant oil, and bathed in the water drawn from the jivit kunda, the pond beside The Temple. The Divine Vigraha is adorned in cloth, and garlanded. Only then is the mangal arati offered, and the first food of the day placed before The Divine Mother. At midday the offering of rice is made. Through the afternoon The Temple is closed while the offering is served and the Sanctum is set in order. In the evening the sandhya arati is offered, and afterwards the bed of The Divine Mother is prepared for the night. devotees who remain until after the evening arati are Blessed to behold the Stone Divine Vigraha, which through the day stands veiled behind the Metal Divine Vigraha.

The Sacred Days Kept At The Temple

Certain days are kept at The Temple above the ordinary round of the year. The amavasya nights are kept, and among them the “Kaushiki Amavasya” of bhadra, which is the Great Night Of Maa Tara, and the Phalaharini Amavasya. The days of Ambubachi are kept. Maa Kali Puja and Maa Durga Puja are kept. The Rath Yatra is drawn at “TaraPith” on the same day as the Rath Yatra at puri, in the month of ashadha, and the chariot does not pass out of the grounds but is drawn around The Temple itself. Maa Tara Jayanti, the Sacred day Of The Divine Appearance, is kept on chaitra shukla navami.

Sacred Legend: The Living Pond

The tradition keeps a second telling of how The Temple came to stand. A merchant, whom the tellings name jay datta, halted at this place on the bank of the dwarka river, and there his son died. The water of the pond beside him was sprinkled upon the son, and the son rose living. The pond has been called the jivit kunda, the living pond, from that day, and the merchant, Blessed beyond his asking, gave the rest of his life To The Divine Mother and raised a Temple beside the water.

Some tellings name him jay dutta and call him a king of ratnakar; some say the son died of the bite of a snake. The tellings differ in the name and in the manner of the death, and agree in the Blessing.

Sacred Legend: The Sacred Seat

The Sacred seats are the places on earth where the Divine Body Of Mata Sati came down as lord shiva carried it across the world. “TaraPith” is held among them, and the tellings of what came down here differ in their words while agreeing in their meaning. The telling the Temple keeps is that the Eyeball came down here, and that tara, the bengali word for the eyeball, gave the place its Name, so that the village that had been called chandipur was called “TaraPith” from then. Some tellings say instead that the Third Eye came down here, and name it nayan. The Sacred texts themselves do not agree on how many the seats are: the count is given as fifty one, and as fifty two, and as sixty four, and as one hundred and eight, in different texts, and the shivacharita sets twenty six further seats beside the fifty one it lists.

The dwarka river

The dwarka rises in the santhal parganas of jharkhand and enters birbhum, running past deucha and through the mayureswar and rampurhat country before it passes into murshidabad and gives its water to the mayurakshi and so to the bhagirathi. Its course runs about 156 kilometres. It carries the brahmani, the mor, the banki and the gomvira. At “TaraPith” it runs beside The Temple and beside the great cremation ground, and its water is the water in which the pilgrimage of this place is set.