Basara temple also known as Gnana Saraswati Temple is a Hindu temple is dedicated to Goddess Saraswati. Basara temple is located on the banks of the Godavari River at Basar, Telangana, India.
Basar town is located in the Nirmal district in the state of Telangana. It is about 30 km (19 mi) from Bhainsa,15.5 km (10 mi) from Dharmabad, 34.8 km (22 mi) from Nizamabad, 70 km (43 mi) from Nirmal, and 205 km (127 mi) from Hyderabad.
Basara temple is one of the famous Saraswati temples in India. Goddess Saraswati is the Hindu Goddess of knowledge and learning. In Basara temple, children are brought from many parts of India for the learning ceremony called Akshara abyasam.
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History of Basara Temple
As mentioned in the Brahmanda Puranam, in Dwaparayuga, after the fierce Mahabharatha war, Vyasa Maharshi was disturbed and went on a pilgrimage for peace.
Vyasa Maharshi started meditating on reaching Kumarachala Hills on the banks of River Godavari. Vyasa Maharshi used to carry a handful of sand from river Godavari on each day and used to prepare sandhill at three places.
With his devotion, Divine Trinity were impressed and they self manifested at Basara in her three forms. The sand dunes were turned into trinity namely Goddess Saraswathi, Goddess Maha Lakshmi and Goddess Kali.
As Vyasa Maharshi has consecrated the three deities, this devotional place is also called as Vyasa Puram. Later, the town was renamed as Basara.
It was mentioned in the Puranas that Lord Siva, Ganapathi, Surya Bhagavan and Indra did penance on these hills. Also, Kumara Swamy Performed penance on this hills. So, it was also known as Kumarachala Hills.
In the temple, Goddess Saraswati and Maha Lakshmi deities are in the same shrine side by side. While, Goddess Kali deity is located close to this temple.
It is also believed that this temple is one of the three temples constructed near the confluence of the Manjira and Godavari rivers. As per the history, ‘Bijialudu’ a Karnataka king, who ruled Nandagiri with Nanded as his capital in the sixth century, constructed the temple at Basara.
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Speciality of Basara
Many parents come to Basara to perform the “Akshara Abhyasam” ceremony for the children before they start formal school education. Children perform the exercise of writing and they devote books, pens, pencils notebooks to the goddess Saraswathi.
The Puja at the Saraswathi temple usually starts at 4 am in the morning with Abhishekam which carries on for an hour. At 5 o’clock they start the Alankarana which means new sarees are decorated to the goddesses Saraswarhi.
At 6 am, after sun rise in the morning, the aarti starts at the temple after which the prasadam is given to the devotees.
The temple has Mahakali deity situated on the 1st floor in the main temple. Devotees go to the nearby mountain which has an Idol of Goddess Saraswati to offer their prayers. The deity of goddess Lakshmi stands beside the Goddess Saraswati in the sanctum sanctorum. Due to the presence of divine trinity, Saraswati, Lakshmi and Kali, Basara has gained such prominence and is worshipped by many devotees every year.
During Maha Shivaratri, special poojas and celebrations are held at the temple. The celebrations usually starts 15 days before (Vasantha Panchami) and continuing 3 days after the festival. Also, Devi Navarathrulu are celebrated in a grand manner at the Basara temple for ten days during Dasara.
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