On the final day of his two-day visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today, offered prayers at the Jashoreshwari temple in Satkhira district in the Khulna Division of Bangladesh.
In a video shared by DD National, he was seen wearing a mark and offered a hand-made, gold-plated silver crown to the goddess. After it, PM Modi sat down to recite sacred hymns and bowed his head to the deity. He said he prayed for a coronavirus-free world as India believes that the world is a family (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam).
Adding to it, he also said that he feels fortunate to visit the goddess just ahead of the Chaitra Navratri.
“Ahead of Chaitra Navratri, I got the opportunity to visit one of the 51 shakti peethas. When I came to Bangladesh in 2015, I offered my prayers to Maa Dhakeshwari. Today, I was fortunate enough to bow my head before Maa Kali,” PM Modi said, adding that he wished to visit all the shakti peethas if he gets the chance.
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According to Hindu mythology, the Jeshoreshwari temple is one of the 51 Shakti Peeths, scattered across India and neighbouring countries with six in Bangladesh. These are significant shrines and pilgrimage destinations in Shaktism, the goddess-focused Hindu tradition.
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 appeared 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.
Since this is the spot where the Devi’s hand is placed, it is believed to be a place of immense spiritual power for it is with her hand that the Goddess bestows her gifts.
The Shakti Peetha is open to all, despite the many sectarian divisions in the faith. Each year the temple is visited by thousands of pilgrims who congregate from all around Bangladesh and beyond, from the Indian subcontinent. The temple has an annual Kali Puja which is celebrated with much pomp and reverence.
According to ‘’SHAKTI: 51- Sacred Peethas of the Goddess” book authored by art historian Dr Alka Pande, The Jashoreshwari temple is an historic web site constructed within the fifteenth century below the patronage of the ruler of Jessore, Maharaja Pratapaditya.
If legends are to be believed, it is said that one day when Maharaja Pratapaditya was out surveying his kingdom when he discovered a luminous ray of light from a woodland bush. When the Maharaja went to discover the source of the light, he found a piece of stone carved in the form of a human palm. His advisors told him to create a shrine for the engraved stone since it had to be Devi’s blessing for him to find. Maharaja Pratapaditya, who was a worshipper of Goddess Kali, built a 100-door temple for the Jashoreshwari Shakti Peetha.
