My Journey to Religious Places: Rajrappa the "Siddhpeeth" - Maa Chhinnamasta's Temple! jai Maa Chhinnamastika !

Maa Chhinnamastika with Jaya And Vijaya over lying Rati and Kamdev over a Lotus Flower

About 77 km from Ranchi in Jharkhand is Rajrappa where there is confluence of River Damodar and River Bhairavi. Locally Bhairavi river is called as Bhera (भेड़ा) which is a smaller river in comparison to Damodar. River Damodar has cut rocks in its course deeply and flows at lower level whereas bed of river Bhairavi is about 30 feet higher at the meeting point. It creates a waterfall as the water from Bhairavi falls down to Damodar. This waterfall is known as Rajrappa falls. The waterfall and the rock cuts of Damodar creates an amazing scene here.

Rivers Damodar and Bhairavi (On right, Dried) --Confluence
People draw water from Damodar with pump set and pipes
for their use in this Summer season

This confluence is an important religious place for "Tantrik" sect of "Shakti Upasana" (Worship of Goddess Shakti i.e. Power) like "Kamakhya" in Assam and "Tara-peeth" in Bengal. The main Goddess is "Chhinnamastika" or "Chhinnamasta". The word means beheaded. In fact this Goddess has beheaded herself with a "Khadag" (A small wide sword) in her right hand and kept her separated head in her left hand. Three streams of blood emerged out of her cut throat, two of the blood streams goes into the mouths of two other goddesses in Her service named as "Dakini (Jaya)" and "Shakini (Vijaya)" and the third blood stream goes into Her own mouth that is in the left hand of the Goddess. The Goddess is standing over a Lotus flower but beneath Her feet is the back of "Rati" (The goddess of love and sex) who is lying over her husband "Kamdeva" (The god of love and sex). "Kamdeva" is lying over his back facing "Rati" over him while "Rati" is lying over "Kamdeva " facing him. There are mythological stories behind this form of Goddess but the underlying message is still not very clear. Some say that cutting of self head symbolizes cutting down of ones ego i.e. "Ahankara" which is believed not good for a person. "Kamdeva" and "Rati" are symbol for growth of this creation but the Goddess over them means that She has not only created this world but can stop it. Some say that "Kamdeva" and "Rati" symbolizes the rivers Damodar and Bhairavi.

Maa Chhinnamastika's Temple at Rajrappa, Jharkhand

The original temple was very old and the figure of Goddess was said to be natural over a stone. Some believe it as old as the time of "Samudragupta", 380 BC. Only fifty years ago this place was a dense forest and few people could visit here. After the CCL's Rajrappa Project for mining of coal, number of visitors increased and the present temple was built by a "Tantrik Bengali Sadhak" as per "Tantrik" rules. The cross section of temple is Octagonal as the number Eight has special significance in "Tantra Sadhana".

Front Space of the Rajrappa Temple,
Buzzing with religious activities

The Goddess Chhinnamastika is in fact Goddess Parvati who is Supreme Power (Adishakti). The mythology says that once Parvati along with her two companions Jaya and Vijaya went to take a bath in the holy river Mandakini in Himalayas. It became late and both Jaya and Vijaya felt hungry like anything; so hungry that their color turned black. They asked Parvati for something to eat but she told them to wait for sometime. But both were so hungry that they said to Parvati, "you are mother of this world because you have created it. We are like your children and mother always gives something to eat to her hungry children". Parvati said,"OK, since there is nothing to eat here, drink my blood". And She cut off her head and put it in Her left hand. The three streams of blood fell in three lady's mouth as described above.

Sri Radha Krishna Temple near
Viraat Roop temple at Rajrappa,
Jharkhand

It is said that this place was shown to a king named Raj (रज) by Goddess Herself when the king was in this Jungle for hunting. He had come here along with his wife named Rappa (रप्पा). King had no child. When the king went walking near the confluence of the river, he saw a light at the middle of the confluence of rivers. It began to approach him and when it came near the bank of river it turned into a beautiful girl in red clothes. She told him that she was the Goddess of this Jungle and she knew that he was childless. The Goddess also said to him that if he would arrange for her daily worship of her image from tomorrow which is on a stone very near from here he would get a son in the eleventh month from now. But the worship should be performed daily by a Brahman pundit. The king was more than obliged. The Goddess went back in the same manner in which she had come. Next morning the king Raj and his wife Rappa got ready for worship after taking a bath in the river and went to the place told by the Goddess. They saw the image of Goddess and began worship. At the same time a Brahman Pundit too came there for worship of Goddess. The king performed the Puja (worship) with the help of Pundit and engaged him for daily worship. That image of Goddess is the image of Goddess Chhinnamastika as described at the beginning. The place came to be known as Rajrappa since then and the king and queen got a son on the time as said by the Goddess. That pundit's later generations became Pundas of this temple.

My Journey to Rajrappa

Though I had been here two or three times earlier, when I got some spare time on this Saturday, a plan for family trip here was quickly made. It was a very hot Summer day and no rain from last thirty days made it worse. We tried to leave our house as early as possible but as it always happens we could not do it before 9 AM. We took the road from Morabadi, Ranchi towards Tagore-hill to reach Ormanjhi Chowk which was about 26 km. The road was good except that there were four to five diversions for ongoing works of bridges. Crossing the Ranchi-Hazaribagh Highway we were on the NH 23 to reach a place Gola on the Ramgarh-Bokaro road. Since we needed fuel for the car urgently at Ormanjhi, so before entering NH 23 we turned right towards Ranchi and about a km from the Chowk near Madhuban Hotel saw a Fuel Station and filled the tank of the car.

This part of NH 23 was in good condition. The interesting part on this road is the hilly road near Sikidiri. Ranchi is situated on a plateau, so wherever you go towards North a sudden fall in elevation takes place. Like at Chuttu-Palu, Ramgarh and at Patratu. Similar is the case at Sikidiri. These hill-sides are called "Ghati" area. Driving on this valley road, I was too cautious as the slopes were steep and turnings sharp. So sharp that some of them are known as 'Hairpin bend'. But the positive part was the scenic beauty of the vast land below. Even on such a hotter day the landscape below was fascinating.

Wish Trees ! After worship devotees tie colorful threads,
round pebbles or chunri to these trees to remind
the Goddess about their wishes.
After the fulfillment of wishes they again come to worship
and untie it.

The traffic on this route was less and driving was smoother. At Gola, we took a left turn on Bokaro-Ramgarh highway. About 200 m ahead we saw the welcome gate on Rajrappa road on our right. After a drive of 11 km we reached our destination. But the place we reached did not look familiar to me. In my front was a narrow road that was very steep downward while on my right there were vehicles, a bamboo drop gate and some space. So I turned right and blew horn at the drop gate. A boy came out from the shop on the side and allowed to enter the parking space. Parked the vehicle in front of a shop from where we purchased items of worship like coconut, flowers (including Hibiscus -अड़हुल), bael leaves (बिल्व -पत्र), incense sticks, Peda (local milk cake sweet), cotton threads etc in a wooden basket. Till then I felt that we had reached the other side of the Bhairavi river and this bank of river was opposite to the temple. I confirmed it from the shopkeeper. He said that the way to temple was that very narrow and steep road just before the parking. Through that road we crossed the Bhairavi river and reached the other side where temple and series of shops are situated. This was the familiar place where I had earlier visited. The reason why I reached the other side this time was now clear to me now. There are two roads off Ramgarh-Bokaro highway that go to Rajrappa, one is near Gola while other is about 7 km towards Ramgarh at Chitarpur. At the entrance of both roads there are similar welcome gates. The Chitarpur-Rajrappa road takes you near the Chhinnamastika temple while the Rajrappa road near Gola takes you to the opposite side on the Bhairavi river. Earlier I used to come here taking the Ranchi Ramgarh highway and then turning to right towards Gola. So the welcome gate to Rajrappa I used to see was at Chitarpur and through it we reached near the temple. Now the Gola road is good and it is shorter, so this time I decided to take the Ormanjhi-Gola road. So the welcome gate I found this time was at the entrance of Gola-Rajrappa road and through it we reached the bank of Bhairavi river that is opposite to temple.

Viraat Roop of Durga and Vishnu on left and right sides of walls of this temple
facing each other. Between them on the front wall is Eight Lakshmis and Gouri-Shankar

Crossing the Bhairavi we reached near the temple. The time was more than 11AM. So the number of devotees were few though it was Saturday when people come more in numbers than the other days. Entrance to temple is on East direction towards Bhairavi river while the Goddess Chhinnamastika is on the northern wall facing South. Temple is on a higher level and before reaching the steps there are open spaces on both sides. On the left space goats are sacrificed while on the right space there are places for coconut sacrifice, trees where threads and stones are tied for fulfillment of wishes and wrapping of holy tread on the wrist by a Pundit. Goats are sacrificed on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Before the sacrifice it is washed with river water and taken to Goddess where "Sankalp" (oath) is performed by the Pundit. Vermilion, flowers, akshat, Bilvapatra is put over its head and a small garland of 'Genda' flowers is placed in its neck.

A huge Shivalinga named Mahakaleshwar
at Rajrappa, Jharkhand

We went up the steps and stood in queue. Only ten persons were ahead of us. So within ten minutes we were inside the temple. A dim bulb inside was the only source of light. The image of Goddess Chhinnamastika is carved on a black stone and for safety a brass pipe gate covers it. Inside this gate the full image of Goddess is hardly visible in the dim light but you can touch it by putting hand inside it. The Pundit asked our Name-Gotra and read a few 'Shloka' which we repeated in the praise of Goddess. The money as 'Dakshina' was put by the Pundit in a box near him. He put 'Tilaks' on our foreheads and we came out of the temple. Goddess Chhinnamastika is "Adishakti" Parvati and her worship is only complete if worship of Shiva is performed. Nearby a Shiva temple is made which is not so old but it is unique in the sense that rarely such a big Shivalinga comes to the sight in temples. It must be more than fifteen ft high and six feet in girth. Here very few people were present in comparison to 'Devi's Temple'. We began our worship when an old Pundit started his 'Ashirvaad mantra' by putting flowers on our heads. He was doing so to every devotee that came there.
From there we again came to front of 'Devi's Temple' to sacrifice the coconut. On the both side of the entrance there are "Bakul" trees. We got the holy thread wrapped around our wrist by a Pundit sitting beneath one of the 'Bakul' tree.

Our main worship was complete but we went to say "Pranam" to other temples nearby. There is a temple in which God and Goddess are in their "Viraat Roop" on opposite walls. And in the front is Shiva-Parvati. In front of it is a Radha-Krishna temple. On the right is a Hanuman temple in which Hanuman has lifted the throne with Sita-Ram overhead with both hands.

Ashtmatrika Temple at Rajrappa

There is another set of temples in a line situated on a mild slope and pucca channels are made on both sides of the temple-line. A stream of Damodar river is made to enter at upper end of channels which flows down to the lowest temple and then exits. This set of temples are called "Ashtamatrika" temple. At it's entrance two concrete elephants are made on both sides. "Ashtamatrika" temple was built by Sri Bipin Bihari Sharan who was an engineer in PWD and a devotee of Maa Chhinnamastika. Opposite these temples there is a pond but it was dry in this hot season.

Lotus Temple of Sun God
at Rajrappa

Next to the "Ashtamatrika" temple is 'Siddha Panchavati Batika' and a Sun Temple with its upper part in a Lotus Shape. It is clad with white marble tiles.

Shops and Restaurants at
Rajrappa, Jharkhand

It was half past twelve at noon and Sun was torturing us. We were hungry and thirsty because until worship is complete we do not eat and drink water. So after visiting "Ashtamatrika" temple we decided to take "Prasad" and something to drink. It gave us temporary relief. Now we looked for a hotel for good food. In a lane there were many hotels but the first one named "Chatterji Hotel" had more customers. So I decided to sit there. Luckily the food was better than our expectation. As is our custom that after 'Puja' and food we take "Paan" (Betel leaf) in 'Devasthal' (Place of God), we munched it happily while my wife was busy in buying small gifts from local shops.

'Pyar Paakad' Fruits, Love Fruits in leaf plates
At Rajrappa, Jharkhand

I was standing outside shop while I saw a local lady and her daughter selling some berry like fruits in a basket. I asked her about it and she told me that its name is ''Pyar Paakad" and found in the jungle only in this season of the year for a short time. The shopkeeper who was hearing our conversation too confirmed it and added that it tastes good. She was selling the fruits in Sal-leaf plates which is called "Dona" (दोना). I decided to taste it. So I bought two plateful fruits for Rs 10. Since we were enjoying "paan" so kept the fruits for return journey. The name ''Pyar Paakad" means 'Love Figs', I would like to call it just 'Love Fruit'.

A holy place of Santhal Tribe, at Rajrappa

Now it was time to return back, so we crossed the Bhairavi river to come to the vehicle parking. Coming up from the river bed was a more laborious job. We paid the bill of shopkeeper from whom we had purchased "Puja Samagri" and sat there for some time drinking more water. About 100 ft from the shop I noticed a holy place for Santhal Tribal people. In fact this confluence of Damodar and Bhairavi is a very sacred place for this tribe. They bring the ashes of their near relatives after funeral to immerse in the confluence just like many "Sanatandharmi'' Hindus do at Haridwar. And they are doing it from time unknown. Even during the big festivals the first goat sacrifice is performed by a Santhal person.

A Sand Devil, घूर्णी

After some sitting and rest we started our journey back home. After a few km drive on the Rajrappa-Gola road we saw a sand-devil spinning and moving. It was about 100 m off the road. Such a hot condition is favorable for its formation. In local language sand devil is called "Ghurni" (घूर्णी) which means 'spinning'. We tasted the ''Pyar Paakad" fruits. The small berry like fruits had big green seed in comparison to its size and the upper edible layer purple-black in color was thin. It tasted like sweet and sour.
About two hours journey and we were back in Ranchi. Near Morabadi we took green coconut water (नारियल पानी) and then came back home.