Dhanvantari Kali Bari, the temple which is worshiped for healing

There are countless Kalikshetras spread across Bengal, there is no end to legends surrounding each temple. Locals also believe that visiting any temple cures diseases. I will talk about one such temple in today's kali talk. The temple is located in South 24 Parganas, at Majilpur in South 24 Parganas. Take any train from Sealdah South Branch bound for Jayanagar, get down at platform no. 1 of Jayanagar-Mojilpur station and walk for five minutes. The reason for the name Dhanvantari Temple is that this 400-year-old temple is said to offer medicines obtained from the dream of the goddess. 

Devotees who are sick and suffering from diseases get cured. Devotees believe that many terrible diseases, from gas and heartburn, can be cured by taking the medicine found in the dream of the goddess. That is why the name of the goddess is Dhanvantari. He heals diseases like Vaidyaraja Dhanvantari of heaven. Devotees call the goddess as Dhanvantari. In the 16th-17th centuries, the areas along the banks of the Adi Ganga were deeply forested and quiet. As a result, Tantra monks built energy cultivation fields in those places away from the locality. Today's Dhanvantari Kali Bari is one such place of worship.

About the eighteenth century, in the early part of the eighteenth century, the original Ganges stream to the Gangesagar used to flow over the present Mojilpur village. Among the two villages of Jayanagar-Mojilpur, the village of Jayanagar, the seat of Moya, is very ancient. To the east of Jayanagar lies Mojilpur village, this village is younger than Jayanagar. It did not exist in ancient times, when Bhagirathi i.e. Adi Ganga flowed there. It is believed that the place was created by the Adiganga river and named Majilpur. Majilpur is also known as Padmapukur. Once upon a time there were cremation grounds at various places on the banks of Adiganga. 

Where the Dhanvantari Kali temple stands today, there was also a crematorium. At that time, a Tantric saint named Bhairbananda used to sit and meditate on Bhagirathi i.e. the ford created in the middle of the Ganges stream, where the Dhanvantari Kali temple of Mojilpur is located today, was the place of worship of Tantric Bhairbananda. One day he got a dream from the goddess, the goddess told him that he was lying in the nearby Padma pond, and the goddess ordered him to be rescued and worshiped. Searching the pond, the tantrik found a black stone black idol from a corner of the pond. As per his mother's orders, he started worshiping the idol in a thatched hut. The age of the stone idol is about three hundred years.

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Adi Shankaracharya Badrinath Murthy rescued from Alkananda established the temple

 

After a long wait, the doors of Badrinath Dham opened on April 27. Lord Vishnu is worshiped in this temple which is one of Chardham. After performing special Vedic pujas, the temple is opened to the general public. The temple will remain open till November 21. The temple is closed when winter begins.

Badrinath Temple is located on the Garhwal Hills of Chamoli district on the banks of the Alkananda River in Uttarakhand. Located at an altitude of about 10,200 feet above sea level. The distance from Joshimath to the temple is about 45 km.

In the sanctum sanctorum of the temple there is a one meter tall Shaalgram idol of Lord Badri. There are many folk tales around the temple. Badrinath temple is mentioned in Bhagavata Purana, Skanda Purana and Mahabharata. The temple is divided into three separate parts. Sanctum, Darshan Mandapa and Sabha Mandapa. The temple is also known as Brahmakpala. To Vaishnavas this temple is known as 'Divya Desam'. But the architecture of Badrinath temple is similar to the Buddhist architecture. It is said that it was originally a Buddhist temple.

Adi Shankaracharya rescued the idol of Badrinath from the Alkananda river and established the temple near the Taptakunda hot springs. He lived here for about six years. The name of this temple is mentioned in ancient Hindu texts Bhagavata Purana, Skanda Purana and Mahabharata. It is said in Mahabharata that rituals are organized in any shrine to gain merit. But devotees get merit when they come near Badrinath.

The Vishnu Purana mentions a story about the origin of Badrinath. According to this story, a man named Dharma had two sons named Nara and Narayana. They had chosen this place for preaching. Then while setting up an ashram in this region, they found a hot and cold spring with four badris. As Mahadev is worshiped in Kedarnath temple. That is how Vishnu is worshiped at Badrinath. Lord Vishnu is known as Badrinath in this temple. The Vishnu idol in the temple was made of granite.

According to mythology, the original form of this temple was seen only in Treta Yuga, which is believed by the people. Once there was an abundance of badri trees in this region. Then this land was hot land. Vishnudev was meditating here. His wife Lakshmi gave birth to a tree to shade him. Then Vishnudev named this land 'Badrinath'.

But the temple of Badrinath has been damaged many times. In 1803 the Himalayan earthquake caused extensive damage to the temple. Then the king of Jaipur built the temple in full. After that, the Uttarakhand government banned any construction work in the area adjacent to the temple.

The distance of this temple from Rishikesh is about 300 km. But on this route there are places of pilgrimage like Devprayag, Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag, Ukkatinath and Gopeshwara. Devotees visit Lord Badrinath through this route every year. Conch is not played in this temple.

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