“The traveler has to knock at every alien door to come to his own, and one has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end.”
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!
We visited the Baidyanath Temple in Deoghar, Jharkhand after a long gap of 20 years. It was a plaseant experience this time. We felt blessed after completing thr rituals and praying at the temples of Lord Shiva and Maa Parvati.
Goddess Rankini is believed to be a manifestation of Goddess Kali. It is widely believed that during ancient times, people travelling through the dense forest used to worship Goddess Rankini at this temple, located near the Jadugora town in East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, for their protection and well being. Although the stone deity was originally worshiped by the local tribes, but later, through the passage of time transformed into Hindu Goddess Durga, probably when the Kings of Dhalbhumgarh took over.
The Mundeshwari Temple is located at Ramgarh village of Bhagwanpur block in Kaimur district in the Indian state of Bihar on the Mundeshwari Hills. It is an ancient temple dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva and Shakti. It is believed that rituals and worship have been performed here without a break, hence the Mundeshwari temple is considered as the oldest functional Hindu temple of India. The temple is an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected monument since 1915.
In Hindu mythology, Lord Ganesha is the God of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the most widely celebrated festivals of the country. The history of Shree Siddhi Vinayak Temple goes back to 1801 when a childless woman named Deubai Patil funded the temple so that the Lord may grant children to other childless women. Laxman Vithu Patil was the man behind the construction of the initial temple. The magnificent temple of Shree Siddhivinayak is definitely worth a visit whether you are looking to seek the holy blessings of Lord Ganesha and to soak into the spirit of holiness.
Located in the fabled ancient city of Babylon, adjacent to the Processional Way and the iconic Ishtar Gate, the Ninmakh Temple was rebuilt several times during the reigns of Esarhaddon, Assurbanipal, and Nebuchadnezzar in the sixth century BCE. Ninmakh is the Sumerian Mother Goddess and one of the oldest and most important in the Mesopotamian Pantheon. She is principally a fertility goddess. Ninmakh subsumed the characteristics of similar deities like Ki (earth) and others, and was later herself subsumed by the fertility goddess Inanna/Ishtar.
Mukteshvara means “Lord of Freedom”. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Located in the capital city Bhubaneswar, the Mukteshvara Temple is a regal monument that dates back to the 9th-10th century CE. Mukteswar temple is literally a dream realized in sandstone. The temple is said to be the structure, where sculpture and architecture are in synchronization with one another. The Mukteshvara Temple is the finest example of a perfect blend between sculpting and architecture.
Itkhori in Chatra district of Jharkhand state of India is situated at around 150 km from Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand, at the confluence of two rivers named ‘Mahane' and 'Baksa'. Bhadrakali temple complex is a symbol of religious tolerance for centuries. It is a wonderful place with abundance of historic reminiscences and archaeological remnants demonstrating a breath-taking saga of religious tolerance and cultural unity.
Shri Mangesh Temple is the most visited temple in Goa. This temple is visited by a large number of locals, domestic as well as foreign tourist every year. The main temple is dedicated to Bhagavan Mangesh, an incarnation of Shiva. Bhagavan Mangesh is worshipped here as Shiva linga. The temple has both historical as well as religious importance.
An ancient solahbhuji (sixteen-armed) Durga temple at village Deori, near Tamar, around 60 km from Ranchi, on the Jamshedpur-Ranchi Highway (NH-33). The original temple is made up of big stone placed one over another without using any cementing material in between, like many ancient constructions. According to some local beliefs, this Solah Bhuja Devi Prachin Durga Mandir is in existence since the Mahabharata times.
