The Gnyana Saraswati Temple at Basar

Manasi Bandyopadhyay ( Chakrabarti)

The  Saraswati Temple at Basar seemed to me very much interesting when I heard the legend of the Mahabharata. 

The Kurukshetra war was over.The earth became heavy with the cries of women . Maharshi Vyas Dev  felt very depressed and disturbed in  mind . He needed a peaceful place to reside , to meditate, . With his disciple Viswamitra , he started traveling to South from North. Finally he  reached Dhandakaranya region where on the bank of the Godavari river he found a suitable serene place for performing his meditation  to please Goddess Saraswati.

Daily he used to wake up by Brahma Muhurtha (early morning) and goes to holy Godavari  for sacred bath and returns to his meditation place and engaged in his  meditation till the sun set. 

The name Vasara ( Vasar) came from Vyas. Later, due to Maratha influence in this region it became Basara (Basar).

The ruler of  the province of Nandagiri , King Bijialudu with Nanded as his capital in the sixth century, constructed the temple at Basara  near the confluence of the Manjira and Godavari rivers.

There are two famous Saraswati temples in India, one is in Jammu & Kashmir and the other is on the left bank of Godavari River at Basar in Adilabad district , Telengana.  This temple at Basar is known as Gynana Saraswati Temple  where children in the age group of  two to six years are brought for Akshara avyasam , i.e., to write letters for the first time by sitting on the lap  of  the Purohit who holds the child’s hand and help the child  to write letters.

 This event is performed  inside the temple and only parents and siblings of the child are  allowed for this event . Akshara avyasam is daily performed here and ticket should be purchased from the ticket counter.

There is a dress code for this event. Fathers should wear white dhoti and upper cloth; mothers should wear Sari with blouse or Salwar kurta with dopatta.

Running water of the Godavari is preserved here to sprinkle on the head.

Other people also may visit the temple to pay their homage to the goddess. 

We were in a group and  reached there in the evening of a July and spend the night in a guest house of Temple Commitee. On the next morning we visited the Temple for Darshan.

It is a large and specious temple with many pillars inside . Here I scanned Saraswati's photo from a picture that I bought.

It was a calm and quiet atmosphere. Little girls and boys were coming for Akshar Abhyasam and did not make any noice at all. We collected  Prasadam from the counter in specified time.

After lunch, we started our journey back.