Why is Modi going to this temple?
A little-known temple in a remote village in the country's southern district of Satkhira suddenly came under the spotlight when the itinerary of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi included the sacred place for the Hindus.
Located in Ishwaripur village in Shyamnagar upazila of Satkhira, Jashoreshwari Kali Temple is an ancient holy place where the remains of Goddess Sati or Shakti, the chief deity of power in Hinduism, are believed to have fallen.
Modi is scheduled to fly in on March 26 to join the ongoing celebration of "Mujib Borsho", the centenary of birth of Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman that coincides with the country's 50th anniversary of independence. On the side-line of his two-day state visit, Modi has two temple missions of his own: one is for politics in West Bengal and another for prayers.
According to political analysts, the Indian premier is to visit the sacred shrine of "Matua" community at Orakandi in Gopalganj district to woo hearts of the Matuas across the border ahead of the polls in West Bengal.
But why is Jashoreshwari Kali Temple so special for the BJP strongman? Maybe because it is the temple of the "God for Power" to devotees.
On the last day of his visit, the Indian premier will fly off to Ishwaripur village and offer puja at the temple, which is believed to have been built by a Brahman named Anari in the latter part of 12th century.
He created a 100-door temple for the Jashoreshwari Peeth (shrine) and later it was renovated by Lakshman Sen in the 13th century and finally Raja Pratapaditya rebuilt the temple in the 16th century.
The temple is one of the 51 Shakti Peeths, as per the Hindu mythology, scattered across India and neighbouring countries with six in Bangladesh. These are significant shrines and pilgrimage destinations in Shaktism, the goddess-focused Hindu tradition.
According to Hindu mythology, of the 51 Peeths, the temple at Ishwaripur is the place where the palms and soles of feet of Goddess Sati fell and the goddess resides there in the form of Devi Jashoreshwari and Lord Shiva appears as Chanda.
The story behind the Shakti Peeth is that after the self immolation of Goddess Sati, her husband Shiva picked up her remains and performed the celestial dance of destruction.
Vishnu, in an attempt to stop this destruction, used the Sudarshna chakra on Sati's corpse, causing her body to tear apart and fall in different spots across the world. Each of the spots where a part of her body fell is called a Shakti Peeth, according to Hindu mythology.
According to sources, wherever Indian PM visits, he goes to a temple there to offer puja and this time two Shakti Peeths came up for consideration -- Shikarpur of Barisal and Ishwaripur. Shikarpur is said to be the site where Nose of Sati fell.
Last time when Modi visited Bangladesh in 2015, he offered puja at Dhakeshwari national temple.
Ahead of the Indian PM's visit, the whole area has turned festive while security has been beefed-up with the deployment of additional police forces.
Talking to The Daily Star, Jyoti Chattopadhyay, Sabayet (caretaker) of Jashoreshwari Kali Temple said they were ready to welcome the Indian prime minister.
"We are overwhelmed as the Indian prime minister is coming to our temple. I was briefed that Modi is coming here only to offer puja," he added.
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