01Rahshu Bhagat and the raja
The temple’s katha is told at every Navaratri. Rahshu, a poor devotee of the Devi, kept his family alive in a famine by her grace. The raja of the place, Manan Singh, would not believe it and ordered Rahshu to call the Devi before him. Rahshu begged him to withdraw the order; the raja refused. The Devi came, from Kamakhya by way of other shrines, and appeared at Thawe, and as she came forth the proud raja’s house fell. Rahshu’s shrine stands near the temple, and pilgrims visit him too, for without the bhakta, they say, the darshan is not complete.
02The Hathwa connection
The ruined fort and palace near the temple belonged to the Hathwa Raj, the old zamindari house of Saran, and the rajas were the temple’s patrons. In the courtyard grows an old tree that pilgrims tie threads to. Chaitra and Ashvin Navaratri bring a large mela, and the temple is a stop for pilgrims on the way between Gorakhpur and Siwan.
Thawe is 6 km from Gopalganj on the Siwan road and has its own railway junction.
