Santhal Pargana (Ang Pradesh)
Contents |
Sources
i) Shri Nishikant Dubey, Member of Parliament
ii) AngDesh
Location, history
Today’s Bhagalpur (Bihar) ranked among the six best Indian cities at one time.
Legend, buttressed by a little hard evidence, has it that today’s Bhagalpur was the Champavati of 5th century BC. It was a period when India’s earliest republics were evolving around the Gangetic plains. Anga was one of these sixteen Mahajanapadas (republics), and Champavati its capital. It was also referred to as Malini, Champapuri, Champa Malini and Kala Malini
Foundation of this kingdom is attributed to a prince named Anga.
Karangadhi at Bhagalpur
Maharaja Karan was the King of Ang Pradesh and his castle is still present at Karangadhi. Also this is a known fact that Bhagaiyya in Godda district of Jharkhand near Karangadhi is the major hub for silk industry of India, the well known Bhagalpuri silk, famous for its unique silk fabrics called 'Tussah or Tusser' is produced at Bhagaiyya.
Deoghar
Deoghar is the unique and extremely revered site of one of the 51 Shaktipeeths and also of Dwadash Jyotirlinga in the country. This is a religious and, cultural capital of Eastern India which catapult the holy place to an International acclaim and is visited by over 5 crore pilgrims every year.
Maharishi Arvind had his ashram here. Mahatama Gandhi mentioned about this place in his biography. Swami Satyanand set up his Yoga Ashram at Rekheya , which is also visited by large number of foreign tourists every year.
Basukinath
Basukinath serves as a place of pilgrimage and The Basukinath Temple is a popular attraction. Basukinath is famous for the mela of Shraavana between July and August. Many devotees visit the place from various parts of India and offer holy water of Ganges to the deity collected from Sultangunj, which is almost 135 km from Basukinath.
Parasnath
Parasnath is a holy place to visit with innumerable temples, shrines and meditation halls in the midst of natural scenery and wildlife.The summit of Parasnath Hill can be reached either from the southern or the northern side. There are two recognized routes to Parasnath Hill. The hill is also known as Parasnath, a name derived from Parshva, the 23rd Tirthankara who attained Nirvana there.
His present temple is not very old, although the idol in the main temple is ancient. The Sanskrit inscriptions at the foot of the images indicate that they were put in the temple in 1678 A.D. Archaeologists believe some of the existing temple edifices on Parasnath Hill date from 1765 A.D. although the place is of greater antiquity.
Mandar Mountain
The Mandar Mountain of Samudra Manthan fame is about 700 ft high and approximately 45 km south of Bhagalpur city. The mountain is famous as Mandar Hill. Mandar Hill is a great place of pilgrimage and has many references in hindu mythology known as mandarachal parvat. As per references found from Puranas and Mahabharata this hill was used for churning the ocean to extract the nectar from its bosom (Samudra Manthan).
According to the legend commonly believed, it was here that Vishnu had defeated the notorious giant Madhukaitab in a battle that had lasted for ten thousand years, ultimately the Mandar Hill had been thrust over the body of Madhukaitab, so that the monster could not do any further harm to the earth.
Vikramsila
Vikramsila was founded by Pala king Dharmapala in the late 8th or early 9th Century A.D. Vikramasila was one of the largest Buddhist universities, with more than one hundred teachers and about one thousand students. It produced eminent scholars who were often invited by foreign countries to spread Buddhist learning, culture and religion. Vikramshila University is hardly 100 kms away from Deoghar.
Champapuri
This place is known as Champanagar or Champapuri and is situated near Champanala on the bank of the river Ganga near the Bhagalpur station. Here is installed an idol of Shri Vasupujya Bhagavan. It is said that Bhagavan Shri Adinath divided the country into 52 Janapadas; of these one was Anga and its capital was Champa.
There was a time when the town was very vast and very prosperous. Shri Adishwar Bhagavan, Shri Parshvanath Bhagavan and Shri Mahavir Bhagavan had come on a visit to this spot. The chief pupil Pattadhara of Prabhu Mahavir Shri Sudharama Swami and Shri Jambuswami also came here. Shri Bhagavan Mahavira undertook his third and twelfth Chaturmasas here. The fervent devotees of Shri Mahavira, Shravaka Kamadeva, Shri Sudarshan Sheth, emperor Shripala and Satee Chandanbala were born here. So many other heroic Jain kings and Shreshthsi were born and flourished here. In addition to the temple of the Mulanayaka, five other temples of his five Kalyanakas are also there.
Tarapith
Tarapith is a small temple town near Rampurhat in Birbhum district of the Indian state of West Bengal, known for its Tantric temple and its adjoining cremation grounds where Tantric rites are performed.
The Tantric Hindu temple is dedicated to goddess Tara, a fearsome Tantric aspect of the Hindu Divine Mother and is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas, the chief temples of the Goddess-oriented Shakta sect of Hinduism. There are several legends narrated on the origin and importance of this place, all related to the goddess Tara deified in the Tarapith temple.
Tarapith (related to Shaktism), Kalighat and Navadvip (related to Vishnu worship) are considered the most important pilgrims for Hindus.
Trikut Mountain
The famous Trikut mountain is also nearby. It is said that lord Rawan use to come here to worship lord shiva. This mountain has extensively talked about in Ramayana.
Sultanganj
Sultanganj is conspicuous for two great rocks of granite, one of which on the river bank is crowned by Islamic mosque. The second and larger one is occupied by a temple of Ghaibinath Siva, and is a place of great holiness in the eyes of Hindus. The river here impinges on a stone cliff and this is believed to be the scene of the love of River Nymph and Lord Shiva. Close to Sultanganj railway station are extensive remains of Buddhist monasteries, where a number of figures have been exhumed, and nearby is a fine old Stupa. Almost everyone who comes to bathe at Sultanganj visits Deoghar, and carries up a vessel of water to pour over Shivling.
Bateshwar Sthan
This is a famous place for lord Shiva Mandir. This is also famous for Dolphin in Ganges and visited by pilgrims and tourists.
Maluti
This is a location with 100 temples that date back to 1000 years. Located at Dumka, this is another fit case for development.
Sahabganj Fossils
This a pre-historic site that dates back to nearly 15-20 million years back and contains fossils that have been mentioned by famous anthropologist Birbal Sahni in his works.
Tapovan
Situated at Deogarh, this is the site where Guru Vashisht did Tapasaya during the Ramayan era.
