Tarapith Temple

My Trip to Tarapith Temple, Birbhum District, West Bengal , India

In Hinduism and Buddhism, the goddess Tara, is the second of the Dasa (ten) Mahavidyas or Great Wisdom, and is a form of Shakti (primeval energy in female form), the tantric manifestations of the goddess.

Ma Tara's sacred murti (divinely-empowered image) is spectacular to behold. Her mask is made of silver and its finely-crafted face is graced with three eyes.

Tarapith is a small temple town near Rampurhat in Birbhum district of the Indian state of West Bengal, known for its Tantric temple and its adjoining cremation (Maha Smashan) grounds where sadhana (tantric rituals) are performed. The Tantric Hindu temple is dedicated to the goddess Tara, a fearsome Tantric aspect of the Devi, the chief temples of Shaktism. Tarapith derives its name from its association as the most important center of Tara worship and her cult.

An oral legend about the temple states that sage Vashishtha practiced austerities to Tara, but was unsuccessful, so on the advice of a divine voice, he went to meet the Buddha – an avatar of Vishnu according to some schools of Hinduism – in Tibet. The Buddha instructed Vasishtha to worship Tara through the practices of vamachara. During this time, Buddha had a vision of Tarapith as an ideal location for enshrining the image of Tara in a temple there. Buddha advised Vasishtha to go to Tarapith, the abode of Tara. At Tarapith, Vasishtha did penance by reciting Tara mantra 300,000 times. Tara was pleased with Vasishtha’s penance and appeared before him. Vasishtha appealed to Tara to appear before him in the form of a mother suckling Shiva on her breast, the form that Buddha had seen in his divine vision. Tara then incarnated herself in that form before Vasishtha and turned into a stone image. Since then Tara is worshiped in the Tarapith temple in the form of a mother suckling Shiva on her breast.

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Please watch: My Trip to `Ajodhya Hills`, Purulia, West Bengal - A beautiful hill forest, waterfall, dam

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Tarapith Mandir | Tarapith Temple West Bengal India

Tārāpīṭh is a small temple town near Rampurhat in Birbhum district of the Indian state of West Bengal, known for its Tantric temple and its adjoining cremation (Maha Smashan) grounds where sādhanā (tantric rituals) are performed. The Tantric Hindu temple is dedicated to the goddess Tara, a fearsome Tantric aspect of the Devi, the chief temples of Shaktism. Tarapith derives its name from its association as the most important centre of Tara worship and her cult.
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