Taratarini Temple
The Taratarini Temple on the Kumari hills at the bank of the River Rushikulya near Brahmapur city in Ganjam District, Odisha, India is worshiped as the Breast Shrine and manifestations of Adi Shakti. The Tara Tarini Shakti Peetha is one of the oldest pilgrimage centers of the Mother Goddess and is one of four major ancient Tantra Peetha and Shakti Peethas in India.
The mythological texts recognize four major Shakti Peethas: Tara Tarini, near Brahmapur; Bimala inside the Jagannath Temple, Puri; Kamakhya, near Guwahati; and Dakshina Kalika in Kolkata. There are 52 other sacred Shakti Peethas, which originated from the limbs of Mata Sati's corpse in the Satya Yuga.
Tara Tarini Shakti Peetha & Tantra Peetha
The shrine is considered as one of the most revered Shakti Peethas & Tantra Peethas and major pilgrimage centres of Shaktasect of Hinduism. It is believed that the shrine is a Shakti Peetha. Shakti Peethas are holy abodes of Parashakti. This is believed to have originated from the mythological story, of falling of the body parts of the corpse of Sati Devi, when Shiva carried it and wandered. There are 51 Shakti Peethas and 26 Upa Peethas spread across the Indian sub-continent. 51 Shakti Peethas are believed to be representing the 51 letters in Sanskrit alphabet. Sati Devi's breasts are believed to have fallen here in Tara Tarini. The Shakti of the shrine is addressed as Maa Tara Devi.The origin of Shakti Peethas are related to the mythology of Daksha yagna and Sati's self-immolation. The Shakti Peetha shrines lead to the development of Shaktism in India.
Four Adi Shakti Peethas
The great mythological texts including the Shiva Purana and the Kalika Purana recognize the four major Shakti Peethas. Like inside the Jagannath Temple, Puri, Odisha, Sthana Khanda, near Brahmapur, Odisha, near Guwahati, Assam and in Kolkata, West Bengal originated from the limbs of the Corpse of Mata Sati. In a hymn, the Kalika Purana clearly says:“Vimala Pada khandancha,
Stana khandancha Tarini,
Kamakhya Yoni khandancha,
Mukha khandancha Kalika
Anga pratyanga sangena
Vishnu Chakra Kshate nacha……”'
| Peetha | Body Part | Place |
| Vimala | Pada khanda | Puri, Odisha |
| Tara Tarini | Stana khanda | Berhampur, Odisha |
| Kamakhya | Yoni khanda | Guwahati, Assam |
| Dakshina Kalika | Mukha khanda | Kolkata, West Bengal |
Further explaining the importance of these four Peethas the Brihat Samhita gives the geographical location of these Peethas. For example:
“Rushikulya Tate Devi,
Tarakashya Mahagiri,
Tashya Srunge Stitha Tara,
Vasishta Rajitapara"'''
Thus, there is no dispute regarding these four Adi Shakti Peethas and their locations.
Location
The temple is at 19°29′N 84°53′E. The location of this shrine along the river Rushikulya enhanced its religious and cultural significance.The nearest airports are Bhubaneswar and Vishakhapatnam from the shrine. The nearest railway station is Brahmapur railway station, 32 km from the temple. Taxi services are available from Brahmapur, Bhubaneswar, Puri to Tara Tarini, and regular bus service is available from Brahmapur to the Tara Tarini Junction.
Deities
The goddesses Tara and Tarini are represented by two ancient stone statues with gold and silver ornaments. Two brass heads, known as their Chalanti Pratima, or Living Image, are placed between them.Abode of Maa Tara Tarini
Adi Shakti goddesses Tara Tarini have been regarded as the presiding deity in many parts of India and in most of the households in Odisha. This holy shrine is in the eastern coast, about 30 km from the commercial nerve centre of Odisha, Brahmapur. The historically famous Jaugada rock edict of Emperor Ashoka and the pious river Rushikulya, which has been described in Rig Veda as ‘Gangayah Jyestha Bhagini’, are also present near this shrine.Since time immemorial, Adyashakti is being worshiped here as Devi Tara Tarini on the blue capped holy mountain of Tarini Parvat/Kumari hills/Ratnagiri/Purnagiri. At the hilltop, a beautiful stone temple is the abode of Maa. Two stones anthropomorphized by the addition of gold and silver ornaments and shaped to be seen as human faces are the main shrine of this temple which represent the goddesses Tara and Tarini. In between them are two fully celebrated and beautiful brass heads as their Chalanti Pratima or their Living Image.
History
According to the Puranas the origin of Maa Tara Tarini is directly attributed to Daksha Prajapati’s Jagna in Satya Yuga. The famous Shakta Peethas of Bimala, Tara-Tarini, Dakshina Kalika and Kamakshi originated from the limbs of the divine corpse of Devi Sati. Sacred texts like the Shiva Purana, the Kalika Purana, the Devi Bhagabat attest this fact.It is known from the Mahabharata that before the commencement of the Mahabharata war Lord Sri Krishna had advised Arjuna to offer prayer for victory at Shridevi Kupa or Bhadrakali. Bhadrakali originated from the limbs of Sati like the other four major Adi Shakti Peethas, which existed during the time of the Mahabharata or around 6000 years ago. This is the oldest data/information we get till date, regarding the existence of the shrines originated from the limbs of the divine corpse of Devi Sati.
According to available historical sources the fall of Kalingan Empire and its capital Sampa in the Kalinga war around 2300 years ago by Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, strengthened the grip of Buddhists in this part of India. The then Sampa was hardly 7 km from Tara Tarini Hill Shrine. So, scholars believe that Tara Tarini was worshiped as the principal deity of the mighty Kalinga Empire. After Ashoka conquered Kalinga scholars found it a famous centre of Buddhism. The region of Ganjam near the bank of river Rushikulya was an active Buddhist site as shown from the Special Rock Edicts of Ashoka found at Jaugada at a distance of 4 km from Tara-Tarini Hill Shrine. The name Tara, an important deity of Mahayana Buddhist Pantheon, is suggestive of Buddhist influence. An image of Buddha in meditation, present inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple lends credence to the claim of this site as an ancient centre of the Buddhist Shakta cult.
According to the texts of Mahayana Buddhists, in the initial days, the Buddhists didn’t believe in the worship of Goddesses or in Pratimapuja. But, the ecclesiastical texts of Mahayana’s reveal that from 1st century AD after the fall of Kalinga, for the first time the Mahayana Buddhists accepted the worship of Mother Goddess ‘Tara’. So there is seldom any doubt that the Buddhists have learned the ‘Tara’ Puja concept from this shrine. The Bouddha Tantrik texts, texts of Vajrajani sect and Hindu Tantrik texts also attest these facts. Scholars believe that in the primary days the Buddhists worshiped Taratarini, the principal seat of Tantrik sect in Hinduism at that time, as Bouddha Tara, and later on included ‘Tara’ as the Tantrik deity or spouse of bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara in their belief system. Gradually this ‘Tara’ worship spread to different parts of the world.
Besides the worship of Tara by the Buddhist Tantrikas, the maritime history of Kalinga suggests the worship of Tara by the Sadhavas, merchants and seamen before launching their sea voyage from the great sea ports like Dantapura, Pallur near Chilika Lake, Kalingapatna and river Rushikulya. All these major sea ports of the ancient world were very near the Tara Tarini hill shrine.
It is known from the available sources that till 17th century this place was out of the sight of the common man. But, according to a folk story, once Maa Tara Tarini appeared as two sisters in the house of Shri Basu Praharaj. He was a learned Brahmin of Kharida Vira Jagannathpur village in Ganjam District and one of the great devotees of the Mother Goddess but child less. After staying for some years one day the sisters disappeared suddenly from the house of Basu Praharaj. According to the account of the villagers the sisters traveled up to the Tarini Parvat/Ratnagiri and disappeared there.
Basu Praharaj searched these girls but did not find their tracings. His heart broke down with grief and pain. On that night he saw a dream where the Tara and Tarini informed Basu Praharaj that they were not his daughters; they are the Adi Shakti, Tara and Tarini. The goddesses ordered Basu to come out of the grief and said that the time has arrived and with full devotion renovate the temple on the hilltop of Tarini Parvat and establish the deities according to the Vedic tradition.
After that divine direction Basu discovered the tracings of ancient most presence of Adi Shakti Tara Tarini on the sacred hilltop and immediately took steps to reconstruct the temple and the shrine. Since that time for its magnetism and sanctity this Sthana Peetha of Mata Sati, became a centre of faith and reverence for countless people, in search of peace, tranquility, guidance and spiritual energy and its fame spread like wild fire to become one of the popular religious destinations for millions of devotees.
Festivals
This Chaitra Parba/Chaitra Mela/Chaitra Yatra is the most important among the festivals, celebrated at the Tara Tarini Hill Shrine.It takes place on each Tuesday of the month of Chaitra, i.e., during mid-March to mid-April. Lakhs of devotees come from every corner of world to have darshan of the Tara Tarini and perform their Manasika after fulfillment of their desires. Grand congregations take place on the first, second, third and fourth Tuesdays. On Tuesday, the shrine remains open for the Darshan of the deities from 1.00 AM till 11 PM. During that period, Pahada of the deities is confined to night-time only. Devotees come to offer the first bunch of hair of the newborn babies with the belief that goddesses Tara Tarini will protect the newborns from all evils and ensure their well-being.
Also in each sankrati, special pujas are done in temple.