“Your daily life is your temple and your religion.”
I visited Ghum and Darjeeling with my family. It was a wonderful trip. We enjoyed the scenic views of the Himalayas, the tea gardens, and the toy train ride. Ghum is the highest railway station in India and has a famous monastery. Darjeeling is a charming hill station with a rich cultural heritage. We had a memorable time there.
The Gregorian New year is already upon us, and I wish for all to have a healthy year ahead. I had an awesome journey to the new year and will like to share my experience with you. We went to Ghatshila on 3-day bike trip to celebrate the journey of time from 2022 to 2023. This was my exhilarating adventurous new year celebration. I even felt a hangover from the bike road trip for the next few days. Just one thing repeating in my mind- NEED TO DO IT AGAIN!
We were travelling from Prayagraj to Varanasi. Due to some last moment changes in the programme, we visited Sitamarhi a.k.a. Sita Samahit Sthal, which is in between Prayagraj and Varanasi. In Varanasi, we went to worship at the Kashi Vishwanath temple in the morning. This is the first time I visited since the renovation of the place. It's awesome. But, I was missing the emotional connection, which is lost in the renovation and reorganisation of the system at the temple.
Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, spent three months in Baghdad with his associates Bhai Mardana and Bhai Bala on his return to India from Mecca. The holy site is in the backyard of Baghdad railway station surrounded by graveyards. War, insurgents or looters have wiped any trace of a historical footnote that had preserved the memory of the Sikh Guru’s 16th-century journey through Arabia and his stay in Baghdad. There is no trace of anything Sikh on the site now.
Maa Tara Chandi Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Maa Shakti or Maa Durga. Maa Tara Chandi Shakti Peetha, also called Maa Tarachandi, is the oldest and one of the most sacred temples of Sasaram. It is regarded as one of the 51 Siddha Shakti Pithas in India. The temple is very ancient. The mention of this temple can be found in ancient manuscripts.
The Nalateshwari Temple is situated in the Nalhati town of Birbhum district in West Bengal. The town Nalhati is named after Nalateshwari temple, one of the 51 Sakti Peethas. It is around 25 km from Tarapith. The Shakti Pitha (Sanskrit: शक्ति पीठ) are significant shrines and pilgrimage destinations in Shaktism, the goddess-focused Hindu tradition. This temple is believed to be erected at the spot where the ‘Nala’, (Vocal chord with part of the tracheae), the throat of Goddess Sati (Sakti) had fallen. In Bengali, the larynx is known as 'Nala'. This is the source from which the deity is known as Maa Nalateswari and the place is also named Nalhati, for the shrine.
Groves, which are being worshipped since times immemorial are a cluster of trees where gods, goddesses, spirits are believed to reside. No one really knows for sure when and how humanity embarked on the veneration of trees and groves. The sacred groves are significant spots of biodiversity too are a priceless heritage of our nation that should be preserved for posterity.
Tarapith is a small temple located on the banks of the Dwarka River that flows in the Birbhum district. The temple is ancient and is considered to be extremely auspicious by the Hindu community. The regal temple, one of the 51 Shakti Peeths in India, is one of the most important places where tantric rituals are followed even today.
There is a very ancient and wondrous temple of Lord Shankar in Ramgarh, Jharkhand. It is believed that Goddess Ganga herself pour water on the Shivalinga. And the most interesting thing is the water, runs down the Shivalinga, for twenty-four hours, seven days a week, and three hundred and sixty-five days a year. The special thing is that this stream falls directly on Shiva. This is the reason why people say that here Goddess Ganga performs the jalabhishek of Lord Shiva. Where is the original source of the water stream? No one has been able to find the source till today.
The most striking feature of the Angrabari temple; near Khunti, Jharkhand; is the shivling, which is believed to have originated on its own under a mango tree. The temple site also houses several other Hindu deities including Ganesh, Ram, Sita, and Hanuman. Shankaracharya Swami Swarupanand Saraswati, having been captivated by serene, placid and celestial beauty of Angrabadi rechristened it as Amreshwar Dham. Har Har Mahadev!
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