In my last hub I was talking about the city of Warangal, in Andhra Pradesh state. This is another wonder from the very same state, The Basar Saraswati Temple. This is the only temple dedicated to the Goddess of Learning. The other one is in Kashmir; but that temple is in almost ruins and dilapidated. This gives the Basar Saraswati temple a very unique place amongst the devout Hindus.

From the capital city Hyderabad, Basar is about 200-225 kms. Basar is idyllically on the banks of the river Godavari. A quintessential town in Adilabad district about 50km from Nizamabad, a place you have to cross to reach Basar. A little about the History or the etymology of this ancient temple and then my experience will follow. It is believed that the present structure of the shrine was built by Chalukya Kings. The Saraswati Idol is in Black stone and exceedingly beautiful. The temple is also famous for its Akshara Gnana ritual, which is celebrated for the formal start of a child”s education. History says that Maharishi Vyasa and his disciples and sage Suka came here after the Kurukshetra War, in search of some peace and quiet. The great sage used to bring three fistfuls of sand, from the river Godavari, where he used to go every morning for his regular chores; and place it in three small heaps and made images of Saraswati, Lakshmi and Kali with his mystic power. This idol made of sand has its face smeared with turmeric. A myth again is that eating a little bit of this turmeric paste will enhance one”s wisdom and knowledge. Since Maharishi Vyasa spent considerable time in prayers, the place was then called “Vasara” which later merged with the prevalent Marathi language and graduated to Basara as it is known today. However, according to the Brahmada Purana the poet Valmiki installed Saraswati and wrote Ramayanahere. There is a marble image of Valmiki and his Samadhi near the temple. It is also believed that this temple is one of the three temples constructed near the confluence of the Manjira and Godavari rivers by Ashtrakutas. A few other stories run parallel. But let me move on to my story and experience at this unique temple.

As I already mentioned, this temple is primarily dedicated to the goddess of learning. Many parents who seek an improvement in the academic performance of their children visit this temple to seek this deity’s blessings. For the ardent believers, they are asked to spend the night within the premises, closest to the sanctum sanctorum, in front of the goddess’s idol. She is very likely to come in the dreams of the sleeping devotees and bless them with intelligence and wisdom. Many parents have experimented and reported favorable results and raving reviews. So, we also decided to spend the night in the premises and ‘test’ the Devi! She may appear in my son’s dream and bless him was my propitious thought.

The place was so crowded that we could barely squeeze in and grab a place for ourselves, for the night’s rest. We lay down ram rod straight, my sister with her daughter, me with my son and tried to sleep. The kids complained incessantly of mosquitoes, noise, and no space to move, everything actually. We were drained trying to pacify them and knew that we would not sleep a wink even. When would the children dream and then what chance we had of the Devi appearing in their dreams! Very far-fetched the whole sequence seemed to both of usJ. At last somewhere around 3 am the noise, hustle-bustle subsided and all was quiet. I could see the children settling down and smiled to myself. Immediately I sensed someone rudely shake me up! Startled, I sat up and saw the time, 4 am; I looked around and the whole temple was alive again. I could see busy movement online casino everywhere, people up, packing their night gear and hurrying towards the common washrooms. I was crestfallen; barely one hour of sleep, how in the world could the Devi make her appearance to bless my babies! My children would remain as is, no luck of intelligent and wise children for us sisters. Very sadly I woke up my sibling and we went back to the room we had booked the previous night.

We were back after our ablutions and could perform the puja to our satisfaction. The Idol is mesmerizing and looks straight into you. As if she is literally talking to you and blessing you, individually. It was a much defined moment for both of us, my sister and me. She too felt very different and suddenly elated. The whole night’s circus and the futility seemed fruitful now. We were blessed with intelligence and wisdom, not the children! We needed some sense driven into usJand we could see the humor in it better after the puja.

It is a beautiful temple. Sleep wherever you want and enjoy the serenity of the place. Every temple in my country has a tale attached, we Indians are gullible and discerning in the same breath; a package of contradictions. If you want to be blessed you are blessed and if you feel cursed all the time then so be it, that is exactly how you will be. Blessings or otherwise are a mere reflection of your own thought process. You have to seek for whatever you wish to achieve or have for yourself. And the more awake and aware you are the sooner the realization. For dreams to come true, one needs to keep their wits about them and work towards achieving the dream. That is when the blessings will come true too, right?! Please visit this temple for its wondrous beauty. You will definitely be blessed with, without the dream, without sleeping in front of the deity.

There are many other places you can see in the vicinity. In case you are planning a tour it would be prudent to check the website and plan accordingly. We missed seeing the wild life sanctuary close by because of paucity of time and our unpreparedness.