This temple is located at top of Kumari hill on the bank
of the river Rushikulya.
Motoreble road is there to climb up the hill to reach the
temple.
The road distance is 2.5 KM from foot hill to temple.
There is an entry fee of Rs 15 collected at foothill for vehicles. Parking
space is available at the top. There are 999 Steps available to reach top of the hill
and near the temple.
From the foot hill you can take rope way to reach temple
top within 5 minutes. Ticket both way will take Rs 40/ and one way is Rs 28/- .
You will get excellent view of river Rusukulya and the greenery around while
climbing. Ropeway timing is from morning 07.15 AM to evening 5.30
PM.
At the top of the hill you will get excellent view of the
surrounding green agricultural land and river Rushikulya.
Photography is not allowed inside the main temple but
outside you can take photos. The place is best for landscape photography with
green fields and river at background.
Be aware of Monkeys here. Close your vehicle windows and
cover food items. If you are holding Prasad then take care as any moment
monkeys may snatch them from you. Usually devotees come here after purchasing
vehicles and offer food to Monkeys. Take the help of locals shopkeepers selling
Prasad and other puja items near the temple. Coconuts and Deepa ( Candels ) are
to be offered outside the main complex.
HOW TO REACH:
NEAREST AIR PORT
: BHUBANESWAR, 174 Kms
NEAREST RLY.STATION : BERHAMPUR 32 Kms,
(EAST COAST RLY)
ENROUTE HOWRA – CHENNAI
TAXI SERVICES ARE AVAILABLE FRM BERHAMPUR TO TARATARINI
REGULAR BUS SERVICE FROM BERHAMPUR TO PURUHSOTTAMPUR,
POLSARA, KAVISURYANAGAR, ASKA, KODALA ETC. ARE AVAILABLE VIA TARATARINI
JUNCTION.
History of Temple:
TARA-TARINI : The Ancient
Shakti Pitha of Odisha
The tradition of
Shakti worship in India can be
traced back to the period of antiquity. Shakti is the mother of
Universe the highest primal power
transferred to powerful Goddess
representing the creative force, Matrika, later developed to Shakti or Prakriti
under various names of Sati or Devi (Durga / Parvati)ad
depicted in Purana-etihasa and Tantra
literature. Worship of Shakti , as
a pan -Indian phenomenon , predates
Sanskrit influences of every kind. There
are a number of
important Shakta centers in India Among those Odisha has been
considered to be one of the most important Shakti centre and Tara-Tarini at Kumari hills on the bank of
River Rushikulya near Purushottampur in Ganjam District is one of the most ancient Shakti pithas of Odisha.
Goddesses Tara-Tarini have been regarded as the presiding
deity(Ista-Devi)in almost every house in
South Odisha. This important and
famous Shakta Pitha is situated on a hill top at a distance of 30 Kms towards
north of Brahmapur on the south bank of river
Rushikulya. The height of
the hill is approximately 708ft. and the total area spreading over 180 Acres of land.
The hill is popularly known as Tara Tarini Hill(Parvata) and is surrounded by natural beauty . The picturesque scenery
of the temple,from the hill top
down to the bank of river Rushikulya gives immesse pleasure and a thrilling experience of nature and divinity
to each pilgrim - visitor and often
captivates its mind and soul. There are 999 steps on the
front side of the hill leading to
the temple and also a pucca road for vehicle
on the backside of the hill facilitating devotees to
reach at the Pitha.
Provisions of electricity, drinking water and
a small market complex at the site with articles
of puja /archana are additional features
of this Pitha.
At the hill top in a small but beautiful temple appears
the famous Shrine of Tara-Tarini.
Worship at this important centre of Shakta cult has been continuing since
time immeonial . Two stones anthropomorphized by
the addition of
gold and silver ornaments and
shaped to be seen as human faces are the main Shrine of
this temple which represents the Goddesses Tara and
Tarini.In between them are placed two fully celebrated and beautiful brass heads as their Chalanti Pratima. It has been said
that from a tribal cult Tara-Tarini have
been transformed into Shakti cult through the process of aryanisation.Of
couse the name Tara, the Primordial deity of the Mahayana Budhist Pantheon
, indicates Budhist influence of
element in the Tara - Tarini worship which seems to
suggest the incorporation of a tribal
cult and Buddhist
influence before its Hinduisation.
There are no historical and other records to exactly show when Tantrika practices entered into the Buddhist
faith before 1st Century B.C. Some correct inferences , however , can be made with available literature found in China,
Tibet, Sinhala (Srilanka)Nepal and India. The existing historical records do
not go beyond
the great Buddhist Councils successively convened upto
the reign of Kaniska. These great
Councils discussed the rise of
the new unorthodox canon , as upheld
by Maha Sangikas.The Mahavastu composed during this period show
how Mahayanism emerged in the
scene during the 1st Century B.C.
and accepted into its fold all the
prevalent religious doctrine ,
practices and belief of
Buddhism and Hinduism as well . Thus, Buddhism in its
historical philosophical and social aspects , in its thought and
resultant practices accepted and
incorporated Hindu Tantra relating to Shakti worship.
It is believed that by the time Ashoka conqured Kalinga
Empire he found it to be a famous centre
of Buddhism.Undoubtedly this part of Orissa, particularly Ganjam region on the
bank of river Rushikulya was very active in Buddhist
pursuits. It is evident from the
Special Rock Edit of Ashoka found at Samapa ( modern Jaugada) , the capital of Southern Kalinga of Ashokan Empire ,
at a mere distance
of 4 Kms. from Tara-Tarini
Hill. Though the Special
Rock Edit of Ashoka at
Jaugada has nothing to do with
Buddhism as it
especially addressed his officials , the propagation
of Buddhism in and around this
capital city of Ashoka can not be
ruled out .Hence , the probability of
worship of Tara , the
primordial deity of the Mahayana Buddhist sect
at Tara-Tarini Hill
and Tara-Tarini as a famous
Buddhist Tantra Pitha since
this time, can be established on
the basis of this hypothesis. Moreover till date it has been
considered as one of the
most important Tantra Pitha. Interesting a small image of of
Buddha in its meditating sitting
posture, present inside the sanctum
sanctorum of the main temple
corborates the claim of
this site to the ancient centre
of Shakta cult.
Besides the worship of Tara by the Buddhist Tantrikas
the maritime history
of Kalinga also suggest
the worship of
Tara by the
Sadhavas, merchants and sea-men before
launching their sea voyage. Once upon a time
river Rushikulya was conducive to navigation and probably the
worship of Tara has been a practice among
the people of this region involved in mari-time
activities . Even some
ruins of a brick
foundation at village Mukundapur on the south bank of river
Rushiklya at the bottom of Tara-Tarini
Hill and the so
called Ganda ( deep river )
adjacent to this points
to some flourishing maritime activities in this region through river
Rushikulya. Hence , on the basis of these evidences
the worship of
Shakti at Tara-Tarini can be
traced back to a very old age.
There are many interesting stories, myths legends and folklore
relating to the origin of the
Tara-Tarini Shrine at the
hill top. One of the legends of the
puranic tradition connects
the Shrine to the Daksha Yagyan from which the famous Shakta
Pitha of Tara-Tarini originated
from the limbs of the Corpse
of Devi or Sati. According to this legend once Daksha Prajapati
the father of Goddes Devi
or Sati performed a Yagyan to which he deliberately
did not invite his daughter and her husband Lord Siva . When Devi
knew this from Narada she took
the permission of her husband and
came to
the Yangyan site
to enquire why her father did not invite her husband
Lord Siva to the Yogyan. Daksha
spoke insulting words to Lord Siva which were not tolerable to Sati. As a result of this she
jumped into the
Yagyan Kunda and sacrificed her life. When Lord Siva knew
this he became very angry and taking
the dead body of Sati he started
tandaba nrutya which could have
caused Mahapralaya ( vast destruction).
On the request of the Devatas,
Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Sani
entered the corpse of Sati and disposed
it part
by part. Consequently Shakta Pithas originated on the places where
the organs of
Sati had fallen. It is said that
the breasts of Sati fell at the Kumari
Hills on the bank of river
Rushikulya and thus
the famous Tara Tarini Shakta
Pitha arose at
this place.
Some other legends
also associate Tara Tarini to their human forms as
two beautiful girls who used to live some times with their devotees (
who later became
their priests ) they
caused miracles to make the
devotees feel their presence and take
steps for their worship.One of such legend reveal that Vasu Praharaja , a
learned Brahmin of Kharida Vira
Jagannathpur Sasan near Purushotampur
had the opportunity to be the foster
father of the two sisters Tara-Tarini who in due course of time
by the divine order of Tara-Tarini did
the needful to perform
Yagyan and established
the Shrine at the hill top in a temple for daily worship.
From all these
historical evidences and fragment
of various legends it can
be concluded that Tara-Tarini is
one of the ancient most Shakta Pitha of
Odisha.
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