Maa Mundeshwari Temple:The oldest surviving temple in the country

Efforts are on to develop Maa Mundeshwari Temple atop the Kaimur hills in Bihar -- believed to be oldest in the country -- on the lines of the famous Vaishno Devi temple.

Every year lakhs of devotees throng the temple to pay obeisance to the Goddess. Its history dates back to the first century A.D.It is the oldest surviving temple in the country where the devotees have been worshipping uninterruptedly for the last 1900 years. Even the documents preceding the British Raj contain details of this temple.Different proofs unearthed after excavations had established the fact that it was the oldest temple in the country, which was constructed around 180 A.D. when Samudragupta of the famous Gupta dynasty was ruling the country. Sri Lankan excavations had also thrown light on this temple.
Many unknown facets of this temple will come to light if historians do further research on it. A temple of Lord Shiva existed there before the temple was constructed. The people used to worship the Shiva-linga of Mandaleshwar Mahadev.

Corroborating the facts about the temple, Prakash Charan Prasad, former director of the archaeology department, said that there was a reference of the temple in the Atharva Veda. Prasad informed that its 3-foot-nine-inch-long Shiva-linga was once stolen which was recovered later.
Interrestingly, the caretaker of this temple, Azimuddin, happens to be a Muslim. He says that he has immense faith in Maa Mundeshwari who gives him enough strength to work for the temple.

1 comment:

  1. Hi i have visited this place many times i belive on this temple deeply. And really in near future MAA's temple glowry will spread everywhere like maa vaishno devi.

    Thx
    Chandan Sharma
    Bhabua

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