Valmikeshwar Nath Mahadev Mandir ( Maithili: वाल्मिकेश्वर नाथ महादेव मंदिर) is an ancient temple of

Lord Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism. Shiva is known as ''The Destroyer' ...

at the outskirts of the Sursand town of

Sitamarhi district Sitamarhi is one of the districts in the Indian state of Bihar. Dumra is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district is a part of the Tirhut Division and is located along the border of Nepal. It is the part of the Mithila re ...

in the

Mithila region Mithila (), also known as Tirhut, Tirabhukti and Mithilanchal, is a geographical and cultural region of the Indian subcontinent bounded by the Mahananda River in the east, the Ganges in the south, the Gandaki River in the west and by the foothil ...

of Bihar. The temple is attributed to the Vedic sage Maharshi Valmiki.

Etymology

According to the legend, it is said that the

Shivalinga A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Upanishads and epic literature, wher ...

in the temple is believed to be originated from the ascetic site of Maharishi

Valmiki Valmiki (; , ) was a legendary poet who is celebrated as the traditional author of the epic ''Ramayana'', based on the attribution in the text itself. He is revered as ''Ādi Kavi'', the first poet, author of ''Ramayana'', the first epic poe ...

. Therefore, it became famous after the name of the sage Valmiki called as ''Valmikeshwar Nath Mahadev''. The temple is also known as ''Balmikeshwar Nath Mahadev Mandir'' or locally ''Baba Balmikeshwar Nath Mahadev Mandir''.

Description

Valmikeshwar Nath Mahadev Mandir is an ancient temple located in the

of Bihar. It is located at the outskirts of the Sursand town in the

of Bihar. It is very close to the line of Indo - Nepal Border. According to legend, it is said that the Shivlinga of the temple was established by the Vedic sage Maharshi

. The Shivlinga of Lord Mahadev in the temple is installed 21 feet below the ground. It is one of the major Shiva temples in the Mithila region for the devotees of ''Sawan Sombari'' pilgrimage. During the sacred

Sawan Sāwaṇ or Sāuṇ (Shahmukhi: ; Gurmukhi: , ) is the fifth month in the Punjabi calendar and the Nanakshahi calendar. Many Indian calendars started in different eras such as Shaka Calendar (national calendar of India) traditional Vikrama a ...

month in

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

, a huge amount of devotees of Lord Shiva come here for performing holy '' Jalabhisheka'' on the ''Valmikeshwar Nath Mahadev Shivlinga''. The sacred water from the Pahleja Ghat near

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

and Doodhmati River in Janakpurdham,

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

are also brought for performing Jalabhisheka on the Shivling. Similarly every year during the

Mahashivratri Maha Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually to worship the deity Shiva, between February and March. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is observed on the fourteenth day of the first half (night start with darkness - ...

festival, a grand celebration of the ''Mahashivratri Puja'' is organised by the management of the temple in its campus. The devotees perform religious functions and rituals of the Mahashivratri Puja at the temple. According to legend, it is said that during the Lord

Rama's Journey in Mithila Rama's Journey in Mithila is the part of Ramayana from the ''Vishwamitra Ashram'' at Buxar to the Kingdom of Mithila (region), Mithila. Background It is said that when Rama completed his Vedas, Vedic education from the Guru Vasishtha, Vashish ...

, the Shivlinga of Valmikeshwar Nath Mahadev Mandir was worshipped by the

Lord Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda'' ...

along with his brother Lord Lakshmana and Guru Vishwamitra. Lord Rama came here for worshipping Lord Shiva's Lingam before and after taking part in the

Sita Swayamvara Sita Swayamvara ( Maithili: सीता स्वंवर) is the ''swayamvara'' event, culminating in the wedding of the deities Rama and Sita, the protagonists of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. The event was related to a competition among the k ...

at the court of King Janaka. According to the president ''Pravin Jha'' of the temple, the present temple of the Valmikeshwar Nath Mahadev was built by the earlier King of the ''Sursand Raj''. The king also donated some lands for the temple.

Legend

There is a legendary story related to this temple about the enlightenment of ''Daaku'' Ratnakara as Maharshi

. In the ancient period this place was within the area of

Mithila Kingdom Videha ( Prākrit: ; Pāli: ; Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-eastern Indian subcontinent whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The population of Videha, the Vaidehas, were initially organised into a monarchy ...

governed by the King Janaka. The kingdom was terrified by the robber Ratnakara. It is said that once the robber Ratnakara was making plan to rob the treasure of the King Janaka. The King Janaka got the information of the plan by his ''Guptachar'' and decided to meet the robber Ratnakara. Then he took the form of a security guard of the treasury. According to the legend it is said that when the robber Ratnakara came to rob the treasure, he made the security guard hostage. After that the King Janaka in the form of security guard, asked the robber Ratnakara that if his family would share the sin he is doing. After that the robber Ratnakara went to his house and asked his family members about the sharing of the sin. But his family members denied to share the sin. After that he came to the King Janaka and asked the way of salvation. Then the King Janaka illustrated him the path of the salvation. It is said that after walking some distances he listened a strange ''Akashwani''. In the Akashwani, he was told to did a penance at the present location of the temple. There he did a tough penance for a period of more than sixty years. According to the legendary story, it said that his body got covered by mud mound having termites in the long and tough penance. Once again when the King went for excursion with his family, he took rest at place near the penance site to watch the beauty of the jungle. There his daughter while playing fingered into the mud mound, suddenly bleeding started from the mound. The king became astonished by seeing the bleeding. Then he ordered his securities to remove the mud mound and found that a hermit was doing penance in the mound. Then he told his daughter to look after the hermit till the end of the penance of the hermit. It is said that after a long and tough penance, the

appeared there and regained his beautiful physique. After that the robber Ratnakara got enlightenment and became famous with his new name

References

Shiva temples Mithila Ramayana {{Hindu-temple-stub