Tarapith Temple

Story behind the Tarapith Temple begins with Vashishta’s desire to master the Tantrik Arts. When he doesn’t get success after long practices he visits Buddha who had a vision of Tarapith being the perfect location to worship Maa Tara. On Buddha’s instructions Vashishtha came to Tarapith and worshipped the goddess by the left-handed Tantrik ritual utilizing the 5 forbidden things (Panchamakara). Maa Tara pleased with his devotion appeared before him in the form of the Divine Mother suckling Shiva to her breast and then turned to stone. Since then, the image of Maa Tara in her motherly incarnation suckling Lord Shiva is worshipped at Tarapith.

The old temple of Goddess Tara is somewhat damaged. The present temple with eight roofs was built in 1225 by one Jagannath Ray of Mallarpur village. On the main gate of the temple the statue of Goddess Durga and her full family are carved. On the left, the war of Kurukshetra (Mahabharata) and on the right stories from Ramayana is depicted.

Tarapith is also famous for Bamakhepa known as the ‘mad saint’, who is worshipped in the temple. He resided in the cremation grounds as a mendicant and practiced and perfected Yoga and the Tantric art under the guardianship of another famous saint known as the Kailashpathi Baba. Bama Khepa dedicated his entire life to the worship of mother Tara. His ashram is also located close to the temple.

Unlike most Indian villages and towns, the smashan or cremation ground is not situated on the periphery of the village. As cremation grounds are seen to be polluting, most Indian smashans are located far from the center of town. Both the Tarapith mandir and smashan are very close (within 100 yards or so) to the center of the town. It is said that Tara Maa’s footprints are preserved in the smashan; this is a common theme in Hinduism, where deities or their especially holy followers are said to leave their footprints in rocks. Many Sadhus and Tantrikas live in the smashan, some with permanent huts as residences. The smashan is filled with dogs, traditionally polluting animals that were said to share food with the Vamamarga saint Bamakhepa, whose samādhi or tomb is located next door to the main Tarapith temple.