Banda

Maheswari Devi temple Banda- Center of Devotion, spirituality, and positivity

Maheswari Devi temple is the spiritual center of Banda. It always has been the center of attraction among people from banda and nearby towns and villages. It is located in the center of the heart of the banda city (Choti Bazar). Maheswari Devi temple is the most visited temple in the city and people from every gender and age group come here to pray to the goddess Durga. It is the most crowded place in the whole city during Navaratri as people from in and out city come for darshan in the morning and evening.

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Maheswari Devi temple lighten up Banda during Navaratri

Navratri bring new energy to the city and suddenly the city’s atmosphere change and every soul turn into a devotee, and Maheswari Devi temple becomes center of devotion.
Maheshwari Devi temple which is also known to be one of the Shakti peeth, is part of Tradition in the Banda district, everyone prefers to visit this temple for good luck before doing any significant work.

I remember my school days when i used to go to the temple at 4 am in the morning. while coming back, mom used to get us toys and balloons. I used to go to the temple again with my friends for prayers. The funny thing about boys at that age, we used to go in the evening to check out girls, we were teenagers doing teenage things.

Newly wedded brides come here to do Hatha tradition( Tradition where newlyweds bride apply color on her hands and put both palms on the wall, imprinting hand marks, it’s a symbol of good luck in Hindu culture) with her husband. As part of the tradition, every groom must come to this temple before he goes to marry his better half.

When Maheswari Devi temple was built and who built it

The temple is constructed in conjunction with multiple people who contributed to making the temple what it is today, as per one inscription on the wall, Late Shree mati Rajarani Bedi in samvat 2048 constructed the temple hall. Some people donated for the Flooring of the temple, some donated for the front gate. There are multiple small temples within Maheswari Devi that were built by individuals of the city.

Chitragupt temple was built by Hryadesh Kumar Nigam and Santosh Kumar Srivastava.
Panch Mukhi Hanuman Ji murti was established by the Purwar family nad lala baba

Today this temple is the tallest building in the whole city and it’s visible from every corner of the city. This tall skyscraper building represents the soul of Banda city where every resident believes in a standing tall attitude during all circumstances. we could spot this grand temple from Bhuragarh Fort which is out of the city.

9 blissful days of devotion during Navaratri (Durga Puja) celebration

Things people do at Maheswari Devi temple

During Navaratri, people come here in the morning and evening for Devi’s darshan
People do Kanya bhoj where they feed teenage girls, it’s a form of devotion to god and people consider unmarried girls as Goddesses and worship them and feed them sweets and food made of pure ghee.
People come to do Badhayi puja before the first night ( Shuhag rat), its a tradition in banda that married couple must come here and pray in front of the goddess to ensure a happy married life ahead.
Boys and girls meet here for their marriage propositions. people use Maheswari Devi as a neutral place where both families meet each other and they show their daughter to the probable groom and his family
People organize the Ramayan path here in the month of Shravan and Navaratri.
Ladies do “Sankata” and “shuhagli” here where they feed married women sweets after the Prayers.