Three holly temples of Sujata village(Part 2)

Have you seen the movie about 

“three holly Hindu temples in Sujata village” 

made by the Indian government?

If not yet, check the movie below.

I shared “Saraswati temple” 

as the first sacred temple in the last article. 

In this article, 

I introduce you the second one, 

“Matangvapi Temple” 

commonly known as Shiva temple.

There are many Shiva lingam indeed.

A column indicated by yellow arrow is also a lingam.

Flowers are left after pooja, Hindu worship.

According to legend…

Once upon a time, 

there lived a sadhu (monk) 

named Matang.

He kept meditating 

by the way in the holly books 

to meet and talk with God.

In times long ago, 

before Buddha appearance, 

Sadhus meditated 

not for enlightenment 

but for Meeting God.

One day, 

finally Brahma came out 

in front of Matang 

and his wish came true.

Brahma is a creator god in Hinduism 

and said to have created the universe.

 “Matangvapi temple” was named after this legend.

Next to the temple, 

there is a sacred pond.

  

It is believed that 

the water purifies your body, mind and soul.

That’s why people bring the water home 

and when they suffer misfortune or sickness, 

they sprinkle the water 

to their head or drink a little bit.

Furthermore,

 there is Buddhist Sujata temple

next to Shiva temple. 

This suggests that 

it is a power spot around here. 

This is a place 

where village lady Sujata offered 

Siddhartha(later called Buddha) 

milk rice. 

After 6-years extreme asceticism, 

Buddha was close to death, 

but the milk rice revived him. 

And he walked to forest of 

Uruvela(Bodhgaya now) 

and got enlightenment 

to became Buddha.

Sujata village holds 

both Hindu and Buddhist holy place.

From Meera