Mundeshwari Temple: The World's Oldest Temple With Colour Changing Shivling

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Perched atop the Mundeshwari hill ranges, the Mundeswari Devi temple actually is situated in Kaura in Kaimur district in Bihar. It is the oldest functional temple where in from the time it was built, continuous pujas without a break have been going on. It dates back to more than 2000 years and dated to 108 AD. Since 1915 this has been a declared monument which is dedicated to Shiva and Shakti. This temple also houses Lord Ganesha, Lord Surya and Lord Vishnu.

The architecture of this temple is as per an octagonal plan. Four faced SHivlinga and Devi Mundeshwari are the only two main deities. Built on the piwara hill at an elevation of about 600 feet, the Mundeshwari temple has so many archaeological relics of interest and importance. this Temple is unique for its two significant occurrences. hey are the colour changing Linga and the animal sacrifice that is done without bloodshed.

Architecture

Essentially built of stone, this temple represents the Nagara style of architecture. All the four sides have doors or windows and small niches on the remaining four walls. The shikhara that had been destroyed earlier, has been replaced with a roof. Stone carvings date back to Gupta period. Mundeswari idol is facing the East inside the temple. The Goddess appears to have the form of Vaarahi Devi whose vehicle is mahisha. Eastern side of the temple The mother is in the form of Vaarahi, whose vehicle is buffalo. Out of the four entrances one is closed. There are four entrances to the temple, in which one has been closed and one half open. Panchmukhi Shivaling which is installed in the central portion is known to change its colour as per the position of the sun, Nandi statue can be spotted at the west side of entrance.

Worship

During Ramnavami and Shivratri, you can see huge crowds. A mela annually is held during Navratri and draws crowd of devotees. Shakti worship done here, reminds one of tantric tradition, which is widely followed in Eastern part of India. Union Ministry of Culture is guiding and supervising the Archaeological survey of India in renovation of this temple at an allotted fund of 2 crore to attract more devotees to the temple.

Animal Sacrifice

The most remarkable thing about this temple is that goat is sacrificed but not slaughtered in the process which is a rare event anyhow. A goat is brought to the altar and it is sacrificed there. But it is not killed. Surprising thing is that the priest throws rice on the goat, and instantly the goat falls unconscious and then dies then and there. After sometime, the priest throws some rice again on the goat and the goat immediately springs to life and only at this stage it is freed for life. This does not ring true as a 21st century incident. But it is true because it happens this way.

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