Where Sati’s Crown Fell
Kiriteswari Temple Where sati’s Crown fell obviously is one of the oldest and legendary temples which is about two and a many years old. It is located in the Azim Ganj municipality in the Murshidabad district of the Indian state of West Bengal. Here a stone block is worshiped in the main temple and a crown is placed on top of it. Behind the altar are red stone carved Buddhist designs and many temple motifs, and the upper part of this design is more of Muslim architecture, centered around the main altar in the shape of a Hindu house. That is, the inner part of the temple is made of Buddhist, Muslim and Hindu architecture. And outside the temple there are spires and many Buddhist Muslim and Hindu architects.
Adjacent to the temple is another temple which has an idol of the goddess in the form of Goddess Vimala which looks a lot like a Buddhist goddess. It is believed that the king of the Pala dynasty was a Buddhist at that time and this statue was made. There are two Shiva temples. A fair Mela is held here every Tuesday and Saturday during the month of Paush(Begali Month) every year and big festivals are celebrated here. Behind the temple is an old temple which was destroyed in 1405 BC and the new temple was built in the 19th century by Raja Darpa Narayan Roy of Lalgola. The first Kiriteswari body temple to be built was built by Queen Bhavani Devi of Natore in 1104 CE. Yogendra Narayan Roy remodeled this temple in 1337 B.C. After the temple was destroyed in 1405, the temple was rebuilt in the 19th century. Ray Gunakar Bharat Chandra’s Annada Mangal Kavya states that the village was earlier called Kit Kana. Kit kana means crown.
According to various Tantric, this place is one of the Sati Peth where the crown of Sati’s head fell. Since no part of Goddess Sati fell here, Tantric consider this place as Upa pith. Although many people think that this place is not a sati pith among the 51-sati pith. There is much disagreement about this. At present this village is called Azim Ganj. This temple is worshiped regularly. From the ancestors of the Brahmins, it is known that a Brahmin who lived here in the fifteenth century was a contemporary friend of Chaitanya Deva. The opening hours of this temple are 9 AM to 2 PM and 4 PM to 7 PM.
There is a system of daily distribution of Bhog which can be availed here according to certain minimum coupons. Goats are sacrificed here in many festivals. There are two Shiva temples in the temple premises these two Shiva temples were built by King Raja Vallabh. History has it that Mirza far conspired against Nawab Siraj Udd Daulah in the battle of Palashi, during which Nawab was killed, and Raj Ballabh was also killed. On the day when King Raja Vallabh was killed, a part of the Shiva temple was destroyed. Later, Mirza far died at the foot of the Kiriteswari temple due to severe cough. Kiriteswari Temple is a very popular tourist destination. The old temple here is called the Gupta temple.
How to get here – Kiriteswari Temple in Murshidabad is about 197 km from Kolkata. The nearest station here is Jaha para Dham. Available many Express from Sealdah If you come from Murshidabad station, the mode of transportation is through the river Bhagirathi. And the distance to this temple from Jaha Para Dham station is about five minutes.
