01Chandraketu’s night
The katha of the temple goes back to the Treta Yuga. Chandraketu, son of Lakshmana, was crossing this country on a dark amavasya night when he lost his way in the forest by the Gomti. He prayed to the Devi, and moonlight spread over the forest though there was no moon; he named her Chandrika, she of the moonlight, and set up her seat. Ever since, amavasya is her day. In the old neem tree that stood here the Devi’s pindis are worshipped in the hollow of the trunk, nine forms of Durga together, and the shrine has grown around the tree.
02Mahisagar and the Barbarika gate
Beside the shrine is the Mahisagar Sangam tirtha, a sacred tank with its ghats, where pilgrims bathe before darshan. The complex has a Sudhanva kund and a gateway named for Barbarika, the grandson of Bhima, whom the temple’s tradition links with tapas at this place. On every amavasya, and above all in the two Navratris, families from Lucknow and the villages around crowd the road to Kathwara, and the night of the new moon is kept awake with kirtan in the courtyard. Couples come for the Devi’s blessing before a wedding, and many return to give thanks after a child is born.
The temple is near Kathwara village, north of Lucknow beyond Bakshi Ka Talab, off the Sitapur road. Amavasya nights and Navratri are crowded; weekday mornings are quiet.
