Sri Chandranath Temple, Bangladesh

Address

Sri Chandranath Temple, Chandranth Hill, Sitakunda, Chittagong district, Bangladesh

Diety

Shakti: Bhawani Bhairava: Chandrashekhar, Body part or ornament: Right arm

Introduction

Chandranath Temple, Chandranth Hill, Sitakunda, Chittagong, Sitakund, Bangladesh located on top of the Chandranath Hill, is a famous Shakti Peeth located near Sitakunda in Bangladesh where, as per Hindu sacred texts, the right arm of Goddess Sati fell. Chandranath Temple is a pilgrimage site for Hindus. Its height about 1,020 feet (310 m) above sea level. There are two idols here, one is of Devi Sati and called as Bhavani. The other idol in this temple is of Lord Shiva Known as the Chandrashekhar. This particular word is depicted for all those individuals who have got a moon at the crown or at the top of their head. As per the belief of many local people, Lord Shiva himself has committed to visit Chandrasekhar Mountain during Kali Yuga. The temple is beautifully made with marble structures and art.

Puranic Significance

The Rajmala states that about 800 years ago, Raja Biswambhar Sur, a descendant of the famous Adisur of Gaur, tried to reach Chandranath by sea. The Nigamkalpataru refers to the poet Jayadev living for a time in Chandranath. By the time of DhanyaManikya, ruler of Tripura, Chandranath received numerous endowments. DhanyaManikya attempted to remove the idol of Shiva from the temple to his kingdom but failed ANOTHER STORY OF SATI: In Hindu mythology, the son of Brahma, King Prajapati Daksha had a daughter named Sati. Princess Sati grew up adoring the legends and tales of Shiva, and when finally her age of getting married came, she knew it was only the ascetic Lord Shiva of Kailash where her heart and soul resided. Soon enough, Daksha’s daughter left her father’s luxuries and palace and began her meditation to win Shiva’s heart. She performed intense penance in dense forests and renounced food completely. When she finally pleased Shiva through her austerities, the lord of Kailash appeared in front of her and agreed to marry her.The legend goes that Sati and Shiva were happy in their marital bliss, but their marriage had not gone down too well with King Daksha, who considered ascetic Shiva nothing short of an uncouth lad who lives a hermit’s life not worthy of his daughter. So when Daksha organized a great yajna, he invited all the deities, gods and sages–but consciously excluded his son-in-law Shiva to insult him. Hurt by her father’s decision, Sati decided to visit her father and demand the reason for not inviting them. When she entered Daksha’s palace, she was bombarded with insults directed towards the Shiva. Haughty and proud King Prajapati Daksha called him all sorts of names right from a dishevelled god who hung out in graveyard to the supposed ‘lord of the beasts’. Unable to bear anything against her husband, a devastated Goddess Sati threw herself in the glowing scared fire of yajna. When Shiva’s attendants informed him about the demise of his wife, he grew enraged and created Veerbhadra from a lock of his hair. Veerbhadra created havoc in Daksha’s palace and killed him. Meanwhile, mourning his beloved soulmate’s death, Shiva tenderly held Sati’s body and started his dance of destruction (taandav). To save the universe and bring back Shiva’s sanity, Lord Vishnu cut Sati’s lifeless body using Sudharshan Chakra into 51 pieces.