Friday, May 10, 2019

Maya Tungri Mandir - The Mahamaya Temple, Ramgarh, Jharkhand

Location
Goddess Mahamaya at Maya Tungri Mandir
at Ramgarh, Jharkhand
         When you go to Ramgarh from Ranchi via Ormanjhi, you go through the Ramgarh Ghati. The four-lane road is good to travel. This Ghati is between Toll plaza, Ormanjhi and Ramgarh with about 6.5 km length. Just before entering Ramgarh you get a look of Maya Tungri hillock which is just beside the road. The temple at the top is visible from a distance.

Introduction of Goddess

Shivalinga in a cave at Maya-Tungri Temple
at Ramgarh, Jharkhand
          This is a very old temple. According to Pujari Ji, it is about 300 years old. Till ten years ago the temple was simple as a hut and there was no idol or statue, instead, there was a "Shira" (A small round lump like structure). Such "Shira"s are still prevalent in many small village Devi temples. The Devi here is Mahamaya Goddess. This goddess is so powerful that She can even take God Vishnu under her influence. As it is said in the first Chapter (Adhyay) of Sridurga Saptshati that when God Vishnu was sleeping on the Ksheer Sagar under the influence of Goddess Mahamaya, earwax from the ears of Vishnu fell down and they turned into two fearful Demons named Madhu and Kaitabh. These demons saw Brahma sitting on a lotus flower which was put on the naval of sleeping Vishnu. They ran to kill Brahma. Brahma expected Vishnu to save him but He was sleeping under the influence of Mahamaya. So Brahma prayed to Goddess Mahamaya to let Vishnu wake up to save him. The Brahma's prayers are known as "Ratrisukta". The Goddess pleased with Brahma's prayers allowed Vishnu to wake up. Vishnu then killed both demons and saved Brahma. This Goddess Mahamaya is known as Maya Devi among local people. The small hillock (Pahadi) is said Tungri in the local language, hence this place is locally known as "Maya Tungri" located at Kankebar area at Ramgarh.

Distance from Ranchi

Image Source: Google Maps
          It is about 38 km from Ranchi and about an hour's journey by a car. The road is fine and you can see the forest on both sides of the road when out of the town. There is a Toll-gate at Ormanjhi which takes Rs 100 for one way journey and Rs 150 for both ways within 24 hours. The car will go up to the one-third height of the hillock. The parking space is good and pucca but the approach road from the main road is still kuchcha and under construction. Rest to-third height has pucca steps up to the temple. Solar lights are provided for evening visitors. Water is pumped through pipes from the boring at the base to the temple.

The temple at present             

       Now the main temple is a pucca structure with three idols in it. In the middle is the Goddess Mahamaya. The idol is a Goddess' head. Another idol is of Durga riding a lion. The third idol is of Sri Hanuman. There is a small Kali temple in front of this main temple with a black Kali idol facing South.
        Since there must be a Shiva temple near the Devi temple, there is a Shivalinga here which is inside a natural Cave like structure. It is on the right side of the temple at a down level. The way is Kuchcha and rocky. Locals call it Naag-Baba because of a Nag snake which is seen occasionally here. Darshan of Nag (seeing the snake) is said to be fruitful. You can buy Prasadam here to offer to the Goddess.
Steps to go uphill
           The uphill going is tiresome for older people but once you reach the top it is very peaceful and beautiful around. One side you can see the highway in the Ghati and on the other is villages, fields and some chimneys which look smaller in size.
          People have much faith in the Mahamaya Goddess and believe that She will fulfill their desires. Have time and visit this temple. Jai Maa Mahamaya _/\_.
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Sunday, December 30, 2018

Tonti Jharna, Tuti Jharna Temple at Ramgarh, Jharkhand

Toti Jharna temple at Ramgarh, Jharkhand
Introduction
           Tuti Jharna is a very old Shiva temple in the district of Ramgarh in Jharkhand, India. Though it is not as famous as Chhinnamastika Temple it will get popularity very soon. The development of the temple is being taken up by the government. A unique feature of this temple is that a stream of water continuously flows down over a Shivalinga throughout the year. The temple is situated on a slope in the Bharech Nagar area of the Ramgarh town.
Shivalinga and the natural stream of water
at Tuti Jharna temple, Ramgarh
The small temple is very old and built in Bengal architecture. The floor of the temple is about two and a half feet down from the entrance level. Unlike other Shiva temples where the Linga is in the middle of the Garbh Grih (Sanctum Sanctorum), here the Shivalinga is in a corner. The level of the platform of the Shivalinga is about one foot deeper than the floor level. Over the water stream, the Vishnu statue is made on the wall and the stream water comes out from the Nabhi (Naval) of the Vishnu through a pipe and falls over the Shivalinga. In the local language, the small pipe is called a "Tonti", hence it got the name of "Tonti Jharna Mandir". Jharna means a stream of water. During this period, the "Tonti Jharna Mandir" was popularly called "Tuti Jharna Mandir". This stream here is called "Patal Ganga" which means a sacred river coming out of "Patal" (A mythological world situated below the ground).
A panoramic view of the Tuti Jharna Temple at Ramgarh, Jharkhand

 Area around
          After flowing over the Shivalinga the water gets out through the outlet in the adjacent wall. This water accumulates in a hilly Nala beside the temple which has a check dam. Thus it serves as a pond which is desirable near a temple. People either take a bath in it or take water (Jalam) to offer to Shiva.

 Our Trip
Small Kali temple at Tuti Jharna campus
 at Ramgarh, Jharkhand
           When we reached here on the day of Christmas after a drive of one hour, it was about 11:00 AM and the temple was empty. Only two families of devotees were there. In the front, there was a small shop of Puja flowers and Prasada. On the right was a small Kali temple and its grill gate was locked. To reach the temple area we had to descend about 15 feet through the steps. In front of the temple are many Idols of Nandi kept in a steel cage-like temple. On both sides of the entrance gate, there are idols of Ganesha and Hanuman on the wall. But these were also kept in safety under steel grills. Inside the temple, the continuous water was falling over Shivalinga on the down platform. Above the outlet, there was an idol of Ma Parvati on the wall. We performed Puja there.
Shivalinga enclosed with heavy iron
grills at Toti Jharna Temple,
Ramgarh, Jharkhand
         The disappointing thing was that the down platform on which the Shivalinga is placed is enclosed in heavy iron grills and we could not touch it. It could be seen only from the top. We had brought Gangajal and we offered it and the flowers from the top. Even the Vishnu idol from which the stream was coming out was covered in iron grills. When we asked the Punditji there he said that the enclosure iron grill was for the safety of devotees. A Nag snake resides in a hole around the down platform and it occasionally comes out near the Shivalinga. Hence the enclosure. In Hindu mythology, Shiva is fond of snakes and He always keeps the king of snakes Basuki around his neck. So he is also called Baba Basukinath. There is a famous Baba Basukinath temple at Jarmundi, Dumka, Jharkhand.
The pond near the Tuti Jharna temple
at Ramgarh, Jharkhand
           The area around the temple is peaceful. There is an old and big Peepal tree on the campus. A big Champa flower tree is also near the temple which is on the upper level.
Nandi idols at Tuti Jharna Temple at Ramgarh, Jharkhand

 Location and Direction
Google Maps - Ranchi airport to Tuti Jharna Temple
The location of the temple is in Bharech Nagar which is the northern part of the Ramgarh town. When coming from Ranchi or from Hazaribagh, it is better to enter the town from the Hazaribagh end. If coming from Ranchi cover the whole Ramgarh bypass road and take a U-turn to enter the city. From this point, the welcome gate is about two km. From the welcome gate, the temple is about one and a half kilometers distance. The distance from Ranchi airport to the temple is about 62 km.

 The Stream - from the science point of view
A natural underground stream from the science point of view
Such streams are seen in the areas where the underground water-bearing layer is in a saucer shape. Above this layer, the clayey soil does not permit the water below it to permeate through it. So pressure builds in the water at the lower level just like a water-filled pipe in a U-shape. If at a point this water seeks a weak path above it, the water comes out as a stream. The Punditji also said that there are some hand pumps nearby in which the water continuously comes out without any effort. In school physics, such type of tube well is called Archimedes well.
           Thus a visit to this temple is not only important from a religious angle but it is also beneficial for school students to understand the functioning of such natural phenomenon and have a live demo.
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Friday, August 31, 2018

ISKCON Temple and The Birla Temple at Kolkata

The Birla Temple at Kolkata

         It was the near end of the Hindu month of Sawan when I was with my family at Kolkata but there was no rain for two days (for which Sawan is known), cloudy sky but a hot day. It was around 1:00 PM when we had the spare time for rest of the day. We decided to visit some places in Kolkata. Since at our last trip we had visited Kali Temple at Kalighat, Dakshineshwar Kali Mandir and Belur Math it was finalized that we will go to the famous Birla Mandir and the ISKON temple.  I tried to book an Ola cab but it showed about 18 minutes away from our New Town area hotel. The hotel staff suggested walking up to the main road (which is called Biswa Bangla Sarani) from where all types of communication were available. It was a 200 m walk and we walked up there in the hot day. Just when we reached there we saw a yellow cab. It came to my mind that some people call it a part of Kolkata's culture so why not take a ride in it. When we moved into it we realized that it was a mistake. It was even hotter inside because they do not have A/C. The old Ambassador car was lacking in cleanliness. Anyways we bore and reached Birla Mandir at about 1:50 PM. Then we realized another mistake of not checking the Temple timings. The temple was closed and was to reopen at 4:30 PM. We had still more than two and a half hours to spend. After a search on the Google map, we found that there was an eating place nearby and it was Haldiram's Food City. It was at a walkable distance. We saw that it was a big building. On the ground and the first floor, there were food courts. We decided to take lunch but for that, we needed a restaurant which was on the 2nd floor named Teekha. It was a good place with a big hall. After seeing the menu we decided to take "Thali" with a number of items in it. They took some time to serve our "Thalis" and we took our time to finish it. Even after we finished our lunch we had more than one and a half hour to spend. So we decided to visit ISKCON first. 
ISKCON temple Darshan at Kolkata

        When we reached ISKCON, Kolkata we found that it did not look like a usual temple. It was in a general building with a door on the right when you face it. Most of the front was used for ISKCON's sweetshop and restaurant. There was some open space in front of the sweetshop. On the right, there was a fireplace with a lot of wood stacked. 
The Sweet Shop at ISKCON, Kolkata

I asked the guard near the entrance if it was the main entrance and he replied with affirmation. He asked us to put off the shoes at the nearby shoe-stand on the footpath. We did so and entered the temple. The door opened into a corridor. Through it, we reached a staircase which took us to the reception on the first floor. On the right is the entrance gate to the hall of the Radha-Govind temple. On both sides of the entrance gate, there are two life-size statues of gatekeepers (Guards) of Baikunth (Vishnu's Lok) whose names are Jai and Vijay. 
Fireplace near the Sweet Shop
ISKCON, Kolkata
The life-size statue of one of the gatekeepers of Baikunth,
whose name is Jai. 

      At that time this gate was closed and we entered the temple hall through another gate behind the reception. Devotees were sitting on the floor waiting for the curtain to be removed and the Darshan of the Radha-Govind be available. We too sat on the floor. About ten women were making garlands for the God in the hall. Ten minutes later the curtain slid and we got darshans of Radha-Govind and Jagannath Ji (Krishna, Subhadra and Balram statues like in Jagannathpuri).
Devotees making flower garlands at ISKCON, Kolkata
and the statue of Srila Prabhupada

           A priest worshipped with incense sticks and flowers & Tulsi. then fanned with a "Chanwar" and blew a conch shell (Shankh). Tulsi and flowers were placed nearby to be taken by the devotees. Taking pictures were allowed and devotees snapped pics of beautiful statues. On the opposite of the statues, there is a statue of Swami Prabhupada the founder of the society. The ISKCON, Kolkata temple is not as gorgeous as at Ahamadabad but the statues and ambiance are great. It is also important because it is the birthplace of Srila Prabhupada.

         (ISKON Tulsi mala at Amazon ISKON books at Amazon)

    (Flipkart - Beautiful Religious Idols - Religious & Festive Decor)


The entrance gate of Birla Mandir, Kolkata

         After the Darshan, we took the taxi to Birla Temple. When we reached there it was 4:40 PM and the temple was open. We took pictures from the main gate but the guards asked us to switch off the mobiles and cameras when inside because taking pictures are not allowed. I do not understand this prohibition but we followed the rules. There is a shoe-stand on the right. The temple is great. Good and clean campus and a marvelous main temple building which is quite attractive. The main temple has three Sanctum Sanctorum and three "Shikhar". The middle one is the highest. It has Radha-Krishna statues. When you enter the temple here is the first Darshan. On the left is Goddess Durga and Shivalinga on the right temple. These three are on the same platform but in separate rooms. In the entrance hall is a big chandelier which is eye-catching. There were priests in each room who gave "Prasadam" (White Mukund-dana) to devotees. Guards or Sevadars keep eyes on the people. After the Darshan, we came down to the open campus. On the right side of the campus, there were idols depicting scenes from Krishna-Leela. One scene had a moving Vasudeva (Krishna's father) from the Jail of Kansa to Gokul through Yamuna river with newborn Krishna in a basket over his head. Another scene was the "Makhan-Chori" (The theft of butter by Krishna and his friends). Butters was made of cotton. There was Jhoolan scene by Krishna and Gopees in a hut nearby.
Just behind this tree is the entrance gate of ISKCON, Kolkata

      Near these huts and at the right front corner there is a small Ganesha Temple. In the same style and size, there is a Mahavir temple at the front left corner. Near this temple and along the left side of the campus ten avatars idols of Vishnu (including the Kalki avatar) are placed. And finally, in a hut near the main temple, the Samudra-Manthan scene is depicted with the moving snake. Now we saw everything and sat near the temple but the weather changed and a drizzle started. So we decided to return back. When we were getting out of the main entrance the Sevadars asked for some money for themselves. While I was collecting our shoes, my wife gave them some money. On the road, we got into the Ola cab and returned back to the hotel room. It was evening and the temperature was mild now. After a hot day, it was a soothing evening.

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