Tarapith Temple

Tarapith Temple is situated on the banks of the north flowing Dwarka River, Birbhum, some 264 km from Kolkata, West Bengal. Tarapith Temple is regarded as one of the Mahapeeths and extremely holy place for all Hindus. It is believed that the eyeball of Sati fell down at Tarapith. In Bengali, the eye ball is called ‘Tara’ and that is why the name of the village was changed from the earlier Chandipur to Tarapith.

Tarapith Temple is quite renowned for being one of the few temples where tantric rituals of Hinduism are followed. Dedicated to Goddess Tara, a fearsome incarnation of the Divine Mother, this is the most important center for Tantrik worship in India

The temple is symbolic of Shiva’s destructive aspect in the form of Kali. Her bloodlust is said to be assuaged by an animal sacrifice each morning in the temple premises and the blood is offered to satisfy her. In Hinduism, Maa Tara is the second of the Dasa (ten) Mahavidyas or “Great Wisdom [goddesses]”.Here tara means “star” because eye ball of Devi Sati fall here. She is also known as Kalika, Ugra-kali, Mahakali and Bhadra-kali. She is the tantric manifestation of Durga or Mahadevi, Kali, or Parvati.

The main temple is a four-sided, marble block structure capped by a curved roof called a dochala, from which projects a smaller four-sided tower with its own dochala.

Tarapith Temple base is thick with thick walls, built of red brick. The superstructure has covered passages with many arches raising to the pinnacle with a spire (shikara). The image of the deity is enshrined under the eaves in the sanctum. There are two Maa Tara images in the sanctum. The stone image of Maa Tara depicted as a mother suckling Shiva – the “primordial image” (seen in the inset of the fierce form of the image of Tara) is camouflaged by a three feet metal image, that the devotee normally seen. It represents Maa Tara in her fiery form with four arms, wearing a garland of skulls and a protruding tongue. Crowned with a silver crown and with flowing hair, the outer image wrapped in a sari and decked in marigold garlands with a silver umbrella over its head. The forehead of the metal image is adorned with red kumkum (vermilion). Priests take a speck of this kumkum and apply it on the foreheads of the devotees as a mark of Maa Tara’s blessings. The devotees offer coconuts, bananas and silk saris, and unusually bottles of whisky. The primordial image of Maa Tara has been described as a “dramatic Hindu image of Maa Tara’s gentler aspect”.