01The linga in the forest
The temple tradition tells that a cowherd’s cow emptied her milk every day over a black stone in the jungle, and that Shiva revealed himself in a dream to the local raja’s family, asking to be worshipped there. The linga is swayambhu, self-born, and sits below floor level in a sanctum of the atchala Bengal type, with a natmandir in front. Beside it is the Dudhpukur, the milk pond, where pilgrims bathe before darshan. The temple has been in the care of a line of Dashanami mahants since its founding.
02The walk from Sheoraphuli
On Shravan Mondays the road from the Ganga at Sheoraphuli to Tarakeswar, nearly forty kilometres, fills with devotees in saffron carrying bhaar, pots of Ganga water slung from bamboo poles. They walk through the night calling “Bhole Baba paar karega” and pour the water at dawn. Chaitra Sankranti, the Gajan and Neel Puja of the Bengali year’s end, is the other great season.
The life of this place
- 1729The present temple is built.
Tarakeswar is the end of a branch rail line from Howrah, about 1 hr 45 min; Shravan Mondays are extremely crowded.
