Bageshwori Temple ( ne, बागेश्वरी मन्दिर) is one of the most important

Hindu temples A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hin ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

. It is at the center of

Nepalgunj Nepalgunj (), also spelled Nepalganj, is a Sub-Metropolitan City in Banke District, Nepal. It lies on the Terai plains near the southern border with Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh, India. Nepalgunj is 153 kilometers south-west of Ghorahi ...

, the biggest city in mid-western development region. It is dedicated to goddess Bageshwori-

Durga Durga ( sa, दुर्गा, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around c ...

. The temple area also houses another famous temple- the temple of

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

with mustache, which is one of the only two such temples in the country.

History

A miracle at the Bageshwori temple - In 1926 ( Nepali calendar 1983) Padma Kumari Devi Singh (11 yrs) who lived in Kailash Bhawan, Gharbari Tole road (Ward-2), Nepalgunj, went to pray at the Bageshwori temple as on that day she was very sad. The temple was empty and even the 'Bajes' (Brahmins) were not to be seen. She sat at the single open door of the temple closed her eyes and prayed. When she opened her eyes she saw a small child, very poor (like a beggar child) in a long ragged garment standing before her. The child said 'lah' (in nepali lah means take) and put something in Padma's palm and closed it. When Padma opened her hand there was nothing there and when she looked up, the child had disappeared. The incident had occurred in a matter of a second. It was with the blessings of the Goddess Bageshwori that the very next day Thakur Ananda Swarup Singh (father of Padma Kumari Devi) received a proposal for her marriage which he accepted and in 1930 at Singha Durbar,Kathmandu, Padma Kumari Devi was married to Maj-Gen. Mahabir S. J. B. Rana son of Late Shri Col. Maharajkumar Prakash S. J. B. Rana (who was the maker of the Junge Mahadev temple at Nepalgunj) and grandson of Cdg. Gen. Shri Tin Maharaj Sir Bhim Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana, Maharaj of Lamjanj and Kaski, who was Prime Minister of Nepal. Since then the number of visitors in the temple has increased at a very high rate. People believe that whatever they would wish for there, would be granted to them. With the blessings of the Goddess Bageswori, Maj. Gen. Mahabir S. J. B. Rana was Gov. of Ilam, Nepal, Gov. Dhankuta (he was the first to modernise the tea estates in the late 1930s & early 1940s), Mbr Advisory Assembly-1951, Minister for Planning & Development: 1951-1955, Mines, Electricity, Forest-1951-1953, Home-Affairs-1953-1954, Industry & Commerce-1953-1955, Agriculture & Food-1953-1955 and Civil Supplies-1953-1954, Nepal. In 1952 Maj. Gen. Mahabir SJB Rana was Special Ambassador at the Funeral of King George VI.

Temple complex

There are several other smaller temples inside the temple area including a temple of

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

, statue of

Ganesha Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped Deva_(Hinduism), deities in the Hindu deities, Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is ...

, and the temple of

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and on ...

. The Bageshwori pond that is situated within the temple area is also famous among the devotees, specially for the reason that the temple of Shiva with mustache stands at the center of it.

Attractions

Bageshwori temple is known to be one of the oldest in the region, and the oldest temple in

Banke District Banke District ( ne, बाँके जिल्ला , a part of Lumbini Province, is one of the 77 districts of Nepal. The district, located in midwestern Nepal with Nepalganj as its district headquarters, covers an area of and had a popul ...

. Every year it attracts a large number of devotees from around the country, as well as from the nearest border cities of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Especially in the festival of

Dasain Dashain or Bada'dashain, also referred as Bijaya Dashami in Sanskrit, is a major Hindu religious festival in Nepal. It is also celebrated by Hindus of Nepal and elsewhere in the world, including among the Lhotshampa of Bhutan and the Burmese Gur ...

, the biggest festival in the country, the temple receives a huge crowd of people wishing to pray the goddess and offer animal sacrifices. The temple receives huge number of devotee visitors on festivals such as Shivaratri, Teej, Magh Shukla Purnima. The temple's image can be seen in Nepalese one-rupees coins and postal stamps.

References

External links

{{Hindu temples in Nepal Hindu temples in Lumbini Province Hindu temples practicing animal sacrifice Buildings and structures in Banke District