Maa Tarapith (Rampurhat, Birbhum,West Bengal)

Tarapith is famous for the temple of Tara Ma and Sadhan Pith of Sadhak Bamakhyapa. Tarapith, a holy religious place, is situated in a village Tarapur under Rampurhat Police Station of Rampurhat Sub-Division in the district of Birbhum. It so called because the eyeball (Tara) of Sati fell here. Others say that Tarapith is not a pith but the place owes its sanctity to the fact that the Sage Basistha here worshipped the Goddess Sati in the form of Tara. The Goddess Tara is a form of Kali with two hands, garlanded with snakes and adorned in sacred threads. But the Temple is dedicated to the destructive aspect of Shiva, which takes the form of Kali. She requires sacrifice daily to satisfy her blood lust so every morning goats are sacrifices on the altar of the Temple.

The deity of Tara is enshrined inside the temple. It is a special temple for more reasons than one. The nearby cremation ground makes this a quite rare temple, especially considering its surroundings. The worship here includes blood offerings. The strong rituals, the hymns sung here also contribute to make this temple a very special one. The temple base is made up of red brick. There are two Tara images in the sanctum. The stone image of Tara is camouflaged by a metal image which the devotees see.

Ma Tara Temple is the main attraction of the temple town of Tarapith, which is located towards the town centre. Ma Tara Temple, in 1225, is a prominent tantric temple related to the Shakt sect of Hinduism. The main temple in the town is a small temple built of marble and terracotta, it has a curved roof called the 'dochala'. All the giant doors falling in the way to the main shrine are carved and made up of engraved metal with extremely intricate designs of various religious symbols carved on them

TARAPITH MAHA SASAN Tarapith Maha Sasan is an auspicious place, lies very near to the Tarapith Temple. It is pretty well known for the Tantric rituals performed here. Goddess (Goddess Tara) prevails here in the form of a twinkling of light, like a "Star" (meaning of Tara in Hindi, Sanskrit, Bengali and other languages), a fearsome Tantric aspect of Adhya-Shakti. Here the Third Eye of "Sati" had fallen and it is recognized as one of the 52 Peeths (where pieces of dead body of "Sati" had fallen) of "Sati", a place reflecting lots of supernatural and extraordinary powers. If we look back through the pages of history, we can find that Maharishi Vashistha (Guru of Ramachandra), performed rituals or rites over here in order to attain siddha ("perfection" in viewing the deity and obtain her blessing) from Goddess Tara and to get her blessing. In the later stage, the worship of Goddess Tara began with Tantric rituals following the order of Panchamakar Vidhi or Sadhana . Worshipping with five elements, namely, 1. Madya (Wine) 2. Goddessns (Meat) 3. Matsya (Fish) 4. Hasta Mudra (Parched Grain) 5. Maithuna (Sexual intercourse) is called a Panchamakar Sadhana. Worship of some Gods in Hinduism, basically those who have Taamsi or Tamo (destructive) qualities require this method of worship, to get rid of desire from within human beings. It is also said that it is pretty easy to attain accomplishment by worshiping here. Rituals of Tantrism practiced by famous 'Matri Sadhak' Shri Shri Bama Khepa aliasly renowned as Bam Dev.

BAMAKHEPA TEMPLE Sri Sri Bamdev Smriti, a pink color temple dedicated to Saint Bamakhepa. Often called the mad saint, Bamakhepa was a famous tantrik known for his divine frenzy. There is a tomb and samadhi right outside the temple where people offer prayers and offerings in the name of the saint.