Badi Durga Temple
– Photo: Amar Ujala
Expansion
The public Badi Durga temple located at Madhepura district headquarters has a very old history. Durga Puja is held here since 1853 AD. Initially, Maa Durga was worshiped by installing an idol in the hut. After a few years, the temple was developed with the help of local people.
The construction of a grand temple was started here in the year 2005. Now there is a grand two-storey temple here. This temple is one of the oldest temples of Madhepura. Committee Chairman Harishchandra Sah said that Navratri worship is done in the Badi Durga temple according to Mithila tradition. The specialty of the idol here is that after the Patrika Pravesh Janma Puja on Saptami night, it automatically transforms into the form of a mother. The statue of the mother looks different on that day as per the form given by the sculptor. In this temple, Aarti is performed regularly from the installation of the Kalash till Mahanavami. There is a huge crowd of devotees here especially in the evening.
Munger sculptors make statues
Committee members told that every year the idols of Maa Durga and other Gods and Goddesses are made here by the sculptors of Munger. This tradition has been going on since the beginning. Sunderkant Jha, the priest of Ranipatti, performs puja for 10 days during Durga Puja. However, the regular priest of the temple is Anil Pathak. He told that there is a crowd of devotees here throughout the year. A government primary school also runs in the name of this temple.
Temple President Harishchandra Sah said that every year the wishes of hundreds of people are fulfilled. Devotees from Madhepura, Saharsa, Supaul and even Nepal come here for worship after their wishes are fulfilled. The last three days of puja in Badi Durga temple have special significance. The biggest crowd in this temple is of women filling Goichha on the day of Ashtami. Being adjacent to the main road, there is limited space, due to which there is difficulty in making a grand pandal. However, better combination of lighting is done here. This time, lighting has been arranged up to 100 meters on the road on both sides of the temple.
Durga Puja is held at four places in the district headquarters.
Apart from the public Big Durga Temple in Madhepura city, the fair is organized grandly in Bengali Durga Temple, Railway Durga Temple and Gaushala Durga Temple. Ravana Dahan is performed on the tenth day in the Durga temple located in the railway station premises. It was told by the committee that the tradition of burning Ravana has been going on here since 1986. The effigy of Ravana is made by local artists here. A crowd of thousands of people gather to watch Ravana Dahan.
