India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
n state of
West Bengal
West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...
is dedicated to the goddess Tara.
Tarapith is also famous for Tantric saint Bamakhepa, who worshipped in the temple and resided in the cremation grounds. His
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' (< Dwarka River in West Bengal. Situated in the Tarapith Police Station circle, it is surrounded by the green paddy fields on the flood plains. It looks like a typical Bengali village with thatched roof huts and fish tanks.Dalrymple, pp. 210-211 The town is located 6 km from Rampurhat Sub-Division in the Birbhum district. "Rampurhat" and "Tarapith Road" are the nearest Railway stations.