Patan Devi Temple

Patan Devi also called Maa Patneshwari, is the oldest and one of the most sacred temples of Patna. It is regarded as one of the 51 Siddha Shakti Pithas in India. The ancient temple, originally called Maa Sarvanand Kari Patneshwari, is believed to be the abode of the goddess Durga.

Bari Patan Devi

The Bari Patan Devi Temple, Patna is facing the North, towards the Ganges river. The statues of the temple are all made up in black stone. At the entrance of the temple, there is a portico. After that, there is a room for gods namely, Mahakali, Maha Lakshmi, Maha Saraswati and Bhairav. All the idols are kept on simhasans (thrones) of about 4 squares in cross section and have a height of about 7 feet. First three goddesses are attired in sarees.

Devotees can go to the temple at any tie of the day. The temple does not distinguish between any caste or creed and hence is open for all religions and castes. The temple remains open from morning 6 am to 10 pm. Tuesday is a special day for the devotees and a large number of worshipers visit the temple. Promises are being made before the Goddess and on the fulfillment of the wishes, devotees offer gifts and sarees in the temple.

Chhoti Patan Devi

This temple is situated in the Chowk area of Patna City and once was considered as the main presiding deity of Patna. Over the years it has slipped to the second position of eminence, after the Bari Patan Devi temple, as city’s presiding deity, with epithet ‘Choti’ (smaller) to the more popular one, the Bari (bigger) Patan Devi. But a historian called Buchanan was very specific in stating that it was this very temple (Choti Patan Devi) which held the primary position as the city’s presiding deity during 18th and early 19th century.

The present temple does not seem to be of any great antiquity. The images inside the temple, if Buchanan is to be believed, were installed by Man Singh, the famous general of the Mughal emperor Akbar. The temple, however, houses a host of intact and severed Brahmanical images, including, Ganesh, Vishnu and Surya. Beyond the temple, but within its precincts, lie in open fragments of door lintels and yet another set of images. Of these, an impressive, but broken sun-image is the most prominent. According to many historians, it is very likely that some early medieval temple was built here sometime in 9th-11th Century A.D. and these fragmentary stray sculptural/structural relics are only its ruins. Probably, these were reinstalled in a new temple, built during the 16th-17th century by Man Singh. But authentic information on this count is woefully wanting.