Moluti - Mouliksha Debi’s Temple Part II

Rituals :-
Special rituals are held during Poush – Sankranti (last day of the Bengali month –Poush), Mahalaya and on Deepavali. Goat sacrifices are held also. People and pilgrims from all around come to the temple for Puja and for the fair held at that time. At noon, Mother is offered ‘khichudi’ and ‘sabjis’. After ‘sandhyarati’ (evening prayer), she is made prepared to sleep.

Sadhak Byamakhyapa :-
The main attraction of the temple is that the great Sadhak Byamakhyapa came to be the priest here in His early life and stayed here for eighteen months. He was a great devotee of Mouliksha Maa. But as he could not memorise the Sanskrit hymns and chants for the Debi Maa, he was appointed as a cook here and cooked Debi’s ‘bhog’ daily and kept himself busy with the various rituals of Puja of this temple. His remuneration was Rs 2/ month and he had his food and lodging in Ramlal Babu’s house, a distant relative of Him. He spent his most of the time in the temple yard. On his own wish, he offered sweets to Debi, he worshipped Debi with flowers and leaves and even on nights, he fled from Ramlal Babu’s house to the temple. He attained his salvation here first and then finally went to Tarapith for the rest of his life to serve Tara Maa. He cried and shouted to her as ’Baro Maa, Baro Ma’ (elder Mother) so, some address Mouliksha Maa as the elder sister of Tara Maa of Tarapith.
There is an old Shiva temple, made of old red bricks, in the compound. Here Shiva is named ‘Kala Rudreshwar.’
History about the village and its temples :-
Other than Kashi, there is no such place where we can find so many Shiva temples. So, Maluti is also called ’Gupt Kashi.’ There is a keen relationship between the saints of the Sumeru Math of Kashi and the royal family. They are the ‘Gurus’ of the royal family descendants wise. Still now, they come to this village for some days on yearly basis.
‘Chala-mandir.’
The temples were made by up of lime, brick dust and thin layered bricks usually having a trident on top. The maximum and minimum heights of the temples are respectively 60 ft and 15 ft.
One can see Shankar Bagdi, an aged man of 87 years from whom many accounts of the temple can be heard. His father Late Joyram Bagdi was closely associated with the great saint Bamakhyapa, while his stay in the temple.
Sree Sree Anandamoye Maa, Bama’s Guru Kailashpati also had visited this temple.
Important places to see nearby,
1.In Maluti, there is another temple of Raja Basanta Roy, on the land given by Hossain Shah of Gauda. Constructed over a period of 100-150 years in 17th & 18th centuries, the village had earlier 108 terracotta Shiva temples which in course of time, has 72 erected now a days. These temples are under the supervision of Jharkhand Govt. It has also adjoining 3 Kali temples but with no deity inside. Constructed, they owe their existence to the tradition of family one-upmanship, but instead of mansions they constructed temples. Brick is the main building material. The spires take off from the thatched roofing common in the region. Thus Maluti — the capital of Baj Basanta dynasty — turn out to be a 'temple city'. Singha Bahini Durga is their ancestral deity. The remaining of the royal palace is to be seen in the Damra village.
2. Tumbani is a remote area in Jharkhand border with historic importance.
3. Tarapith, an important Sakti Peetha is only 10kms from Maluti.
Route :-
To reach through Railway route, one have to stop at Rampurhat Railway station and from there it’s a journey of 30 mins or more in local bus which goes to Dumka or Deoghar and then need to get down in Surichuya stop. On the other part of Suruchiya, stands the ancient and religious temple of Mouliksha Maa of Maluti in a distance of 4 kms. One can have a van or rickshaw from there. Better, if one can reserve a trekker, jeep or auto from Rampurhat station itself.
Better to take Ganadevta Express from Howrah to Rampurhat and visit the temple city and come back to Howrah via Rampurhat Express or Ganadevta Express on the same day. One can also stay at night in some local hotels in Rampurhat.
Nearest Bus Stand: Surichuya
Nearest Railway Station: Rampurhat Railway station.
Nearest Airports: Dum Dum, Kolkata.

Moluti - Mouliksha Debi’s Temple Part I

Goddess Mouliksha, Moluti :-
The Idol of Goddess “Mouliksha” at Maluti, Jharkhand. Goddess “Mouliksha” is said to be the elder sister of Goddess ‘Tara’ of Tarapith. A Trident of yogi Bamakhyapa still exists in his temple.The term Mouliskha has come from union of two words – Mouli (head) and iksha (to view). The Goddess does not have a body, but a red coloured gorgeous head fixed on to the wall of the temple. The idol is sculpted out of laterite stone covered with a mask of ‘gala’. The idol was worshipped by royal families of Maluti as their Main Goddess. The idol has a Buddhist influence which is not surprising as Buddhist Monks used to stay here decades ago .
Location :-
The Moluti village is just fifteen kilometers from Rampurhat railway station, where the Mouliksha Debi’s Mandir is situated. It is one of the oldest temples of this area, dated nearly 300 years ago. Though geographically, the village is in santhal oriented Dumka district of Jharkhand but people are habituated and regularized with the nearer Rampurhat of 15 kms than of their sadar district of Dumka with the distance of 55 kms. Previously, Muluti was within Birbhum only but now also the 500 families of villagers speak Bengali language and not the local language of Dumka. One third of the permanent villagers belong to backward class and the rest to the Hindus, of which Brahmins are of major class. The village is sanctified by the river Brahmani and Maa Mouliksha, the Holy Goddess. It has become a good pilgrimage for many from far around.
The village is Moluti. It is accepted that the name has derived from the old word ‘Mahulati’. This name is found in the will which was written between 1865 and 1881. This hilly terrain area of santhals, is full of Mahul trees and there were many villages named Mahul Pahari, Mahul bona etc and so it is also thought that Maluti has also come in that way, after Mahul trees. The village is situated on a high terrain. In the north flows the tiny Chumre River and on the east flows the Chandannala River. These two rivers join together in a place called Maltara and are renamed as ‘Chile’ and finally flows to Dwarka River, near Tarapith. Some hills in a wave like form and the terrain seen in the west side of the village.

The Deity :-
Vedic gods like Narayana, Shiva Lingam and goddess like Durga, Kali and also Lakshmi and Saraswati are worshipped with great awe and respect in this village. Manasa and Dharmaraj, the local two gods are also being worshipped here. Debi Mouliksha, the custodial deity of royal dynasty receives the highest latria from all around.
The main temple of the village is that of Maa Mouliksha’s temple. ‘Mouli’ means ‘head’ and ‘iksha’ means ‘to see’. These two words combine and make us see the well curved stone head fixed on the wall. Rest of the body is absent. The lustrous icon has smiling face and is made out of laterite stone. The idol is facing westward. Her colour is red. A lotus-designed halo is present behind the icons. She is the ancestral deity of the royal family. The deity is offered ‘angaraag’ (morning Holy bath) on daily basis. She is seated on alter which was made up of some old tiles. Due to daily water usage, the brick dust and lime were on the verge of broken. So, when for replacing the tiles, they were opened, mysteriously it was found that there is a deep well beneath her alter. Keeping the well intact, the place was shouldered with cement. But till date, the reason of the existence of that well is not known.
Kala Rudreshwar.
In a temple nearby the main temple, there lies the marbled statue of this great devote and beside it are kept His trident and the conch. It is that trident with which he plucked flowers from the high branches for Mouliksha Maa and that particular conch was used by Him during the Puja. He kept these two in the request of the family holders of the deity, where he was appointed. We can see these two still now.
Temple:
The temple is situated in the southern part of Maluti. The temple is of Bengal’s famous ‘do-chala’ (two-roofed) design, with a ‘verandah’ in front. The tranquility prevails all around. The temple is surrounded by a vast wall. There are numerous deciduous and evergreen trees around the temple. . The atmosphere around the temple is very calm and tranquil and is far away from din and bustle of the city. Unlike others, there is no shop for sweets and flowers to offer the deity even. The temple is situated amongst a vast land, far off from any locality except for the temple servers. The original temple was destroyed. The current temple was constructed on the original foundation.