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Tarapith Shaktipeetha

Tarapith is an ancient temple on the banks of the Dwarka River in Chandipur village near Rampurhat in Birbhum district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a holy religious place and considered as an extremely fortunate to the Hindus. It is a Tantric temple dedicated to the goddess Tara, a fearsome incarnation of the Devi Sati. It has an adjoining cremation (Maha Shamshan) grounds where sadhana (tantric rituals) are performed by Shakta Sage. Tarapith is situated about 6 km from Rampurhat and 264 km from Kolkata.

Most of the devotees believe Tarapith as a Shakti Peetha. It is said that the third eye of Maa Sati had fallen at Tarapith, which symbolized the anger with destruction. Others believe that Tarapith is not a Shakti Peetha, but the great Sage Basistha had worshipped Maa Shakti here in the form of Tara.

Tarapith is also famous for Sadhak Bamakhepa, who dedicated his entire life to the worship of Maa Tara. He mendicant and practice yoga & tantric arts in the nearby cremation grounds of Tarapith temple.

Tarapith Temple History

As of the Hindu religious scripture and mythology, Tarapith has an ancient history, which may lead back to Maharishi Vashishta. After several failures of Maharishi Vashishta (Guru of Sree Ramachandra) on the Tantrik Arts, Lord Budha advise him to worshiped Maa Tara at Tarapith. And he started the left-handed Tantrik ritual following the order of Panchamakar Vidhi at Tarapitha and succeed. Panchamakar Sadhana is a process of Tantric Arts with five elements started with Sanskrit Ma namely, madya (wine), mansa (meat), matsya (fish), mudra (Parched Grain) and maithuna (sexual intercourse).

Attractions of Tarapith

Tarapith is famous to Hindus for the Tantric temple, which is dedicated to Maa Tara and worshiped as Ugra Tara, an incarnation of Maa Sati (Goddess Kali). It is a Shakti Peetha out of 51 Peethas. Many believe it is not a Peetha, but Maharishi Vashishta gains Shidhi in Tantric ritual here, after several failures at Kamakya, Assam. So, it recognized as an important tantric center to the Shakta followers. But, the local people believes it as a Shaktipeeth and say that Maharshi Vashishta had selected Tarapith for his sadhana (pray and meditation) because it is a Shaktipeeth. Whatever the devotee thinks, Tarapith has a completely different environment, which creates several myths, due to its type of worship (animal sacrifices is a common activity), the hymns sang every moment, myths of the powers tank, and the inhabitants and rituals of the adjoining cremation grounds.

Tarapith Temple Pooja Timings: Tarapith Mandir (temple) remain open between 6:00 am to 9:00 pm every day.

Transportation

Tarapith is a major Hindu pilgrimage center in Birbhum District of Indian state West Bengal. Thousands of devotees visit the temple every day. To visit Tarapith follows the routes describe bellow,

By Air:
Tarapith does not have any airport. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (CCU) at Dumdum, Kolkata, West Bengal is the nearest airport, which is about 222 km driving distance from Tarapith. After arrival at the airport, one can follow the road or rail journey to travel Tarapith.

By Rail:
Tarapith Road is the railway station at Tarapith. There have one train each from Sealdah and Howrah - Sealdah-Rampurhat Express leave Sealdah at 07:20 am and Viswavarati Passenger leaves Howrah at 04:40 pm every day and arrives at Tarapith Road at 11:48 am and 9:03 pm respectively. Rampurhat is another nearby railway station, at a distance of about 9 km from Tarapith. From Rampurhat taxis are easily available to reach at Tarapith, with a fare of indian rupee150.00. Rampurhat is well connected with Howrah and Sealdah. You can easily get regular trains to Tarapith from other major cities of the country. But, if you travel from another cities and the train have no any stop at Rampurhat, then you may arrive at Bolpur- Santiniketan or Durgapur. There have passenger train between Bolpur- Santiniketan and Rampurhat. Or follow the road journey.

By Road:
Tarapith is situated at a distance of 222 km from Kolkata, 60 km from Bolpur-Santiniketan, 110 km from Durgapur, 141 km from Deoghar and 144 km from Mayapur. The state owned buses connect Tarapith with Esplanade (Dharamtalla) bus stand of Kolkata or with other neighbouring cities. Taxis are available to reach at Tarapith from Kolkata and other major cities. Kolkata to Tarapith reserve Taxi may charge you indian rupee2,500.00 to indian rupee3,000.00.