Basistha (Pron: bəˈsɪsθə) temple, located in the south-east corner of

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

city,

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

, India, is a

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

mandir. The history of the Basistha Ashram where the temple is located dates back to the

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed ...

age. According to legend the ashram was founded by the great saint Basistha (

Vasishtha Vasishtha (, ) is one of the oldest and revered Vedic rishis or sages, and one of the Saptarishis (seven great Rishis). Vasishtha is credited as the chief author of Mandala 7 of the ''Rigveda''. Vasishtha and his family are mentioned in Rigve ...

). Temple in the ashram stands on the bank of the three mythical mountain streams-Sandhya, Lalita, Kanta- originating from the hills of Meghalaya, which becomes the rivers Basistha and Bahini/Bharalu flowing through the city.

Basisthashram

This

ashram An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

, on the outskirts of Garbhanga reserve forest which has a population of elephants. This Garbhanga reserve forest is also a proposed butterfly reserve. Although the ashram has a temple but still the cave in which the

Muni Muni or Munni may refer to: Municipal * A common US abbreviation for municipal, municipal services, and the like *Municipal bond *Municipal Bridge, the former name of the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge in Louisville, Kentucky *"Muni", slang ...

Vasistha is believed to have meditated is located 5 km inside the ashram. The ashram also has a waterfall.

History

The site has evidence of a stone temple which once stood at this spot around 1000-1100 CE. A brick temple was built in mid 18th Century upon the remains of the stone temple of an earlier period. It is an octagonal shaped temple at the base with a polygonal sikhara over it. The temple has a sunken garbhagriha which is believed to have the foot impression of the sage Vasistha, who is believed to have had his asrama in this area in the remote past. The existing octagonal brick temple was built by Ahom king Swargadeo

Rajeswar Singha Suremphaa (reign 1751–1769), or Rajeswar Singha, the fourth son of Rudra Singha, became the Ahom Dynasty, king of the Ahom kingdom after the death of his brother King Pramatta Singha. Rudra Singha's third son, Mohanmala Maladev Gohain, Mohanma ...

during his period of reign from 1751 to 1769.

References

Shiva temples in Assam Hindu temples in Guwahati Tourism in Northeast India 1764 establishments in India Dispur {{India-Hindu-temple-stub