Located between Chabahil and Gaushala, the Jaya Bageshwori Temple is also a part of the Pashupati area. The temple is dedicated to three major Hindu goddesses: Maha Laxmi, Maha Kali, and Maha Saraswati. Though the exact time period as to when the temple was established is still shrouded in mystery, locals believe that the temple dates back to the Lichchhavi era.[break]
Mangu Lama, a local resident says, “Just as every temple in Nepal has some legend in the background, the temple of Jaya Bageshwori also has a legend of its own.” Lama adds that according to the local legend, the goddess appeased by a tantrik’s prayers appeared to him in his dreams in the form of a butterfly and told him to make a temple for her so that she could stay there. At her behest, the temple was then made where it stands till today.
The temple is a big red-bricked pagoda standing on a flagstone square, in front of which is a tall column with a brass peacock atop it. Behind the peacock column, on its left, is another column with a brass griffin. Below the peacock column are little stone idols of bulls, or ‘nandi’, the vehicle of Lord Shiva. Other remarkable things about the temple are its elegantly carved and colored tudals depicting beasts from Hindu mythology.
The temple has an elaborate brass design above its main door depicting Maha Laxmi, Maha Saraswati and Maha Kali. The idol of Bageshwori, except her stone feet, has to be changed every twelve years. This process of changing the idol is called ‘Kalevar Fernu’ in local dialect and this begins from mid-December. In this process which can take up to six months, the temple is covered in a white cloth and no rituals are carried out on the premises.
Apart from Bageshwori, there are the idols of Bhairav and Ganesh inside the temple. The most fascinating aspect about the idol of Ganesh in the temple is that it has no trunk. Tirtha Bista, a local, says, “The Ganesh inside the temple signifies the first Ganesh, the one with human head before it was cut off by Lord Shiva in a fit of rage.”
During the “Sati pratha,” a Hindu rite abolished in 1846 in which the living wife had to share the funeral pyre after her husband was dead, all belongings of the sati – the woman going on the pyre with her dead husband – including all her jewelries and clothes had to be offered at the Jaya Bageshwori Temple before going to the cremation ground – aaryaghat – at Pashupatinath, accompanied by a musical procession.
Bhaswor Ojha
Narottam Baidhya, a local resident whose ancestry lies at Jaya Bageshwori, says, “During the time when the Sati partha was followed, the temple was believed to be richer than Pashupatinath.” He says that the temple chests then had big collections of invaluable jewels and gems. Later, in 1945, every riches belonging to the temple was transferred to Pashupatinath due to security concerns. Baidhya adds, “During that transfer, it is rumored that those riches also contained the Kohinoor, a very rare and expensive diamond.”
The temple has no compound of its own and stands right at the side of the road. There is an ‘Aradhana Sangitashram’ which roughly translates as ‘the place where devotees go and sing praise to the lord’ at the temple’s side where every Saturday people come and sing and dance to Bhajans. The temple itself is most crowded during Thursdays. During the afternoons and evenings, the temple is a common place for the locals to gather around.
However, there are still things to be taken care of around the temple so that it can be restored to its original grandeur. The stone tap nearby the temple where the goddess is still believed to take bath before walking into the temple needs renovation. And with a little effort on cleanliness, the splendor of the temple could be maintained.
Also, as Baidhya says, it is extremely necessary that all the rich offerings made to the temple in the past to be properly documented and perhaps need to be showcased to the public in a museum. That way, people will be able to know about the temple and how time and culture had been different then from now.
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