Makarchandi Temple মাকড়চন্ডী মন্দির

My grandfather worshiped here everyday. Every time I go here, I think of him. It's a small rural temple, surrounded by a large market. Very lively.

Legend is that the idol of Makar Chandi was once as tall as the temple itself. A Hindu priest would climb up every day to perform the religious rights. One day, he expressed his fatigue with having to climb so many steps. Hearing this, Makar Chandi started to sink into the temple floor. Once the priest realized what was happening, he ran down the steps, begged forgiveness and grabbed what remained of the idol. This is all that remains above ground at the temple today.

One of the oldest temple in West Bengal.....

You can see the Goddess just from her neck portion, it is believed that long time ago the Goddess statue was very long near 10 feet or so. The" purohit " or the worshipper was very unhappy with that. He had to climb stairs to worship the Goddess with garland . One day he was so unhappy ,then he suddenly found that the statue of the Goddess going under the ground gradually,he was very astonished with this, he grabbed the Goddess with his two hand before she totally going under the ground .So till now we can only she the Goddess from her neck portion only..

Wikipedia :-

"The temple of Makarchandi is the main attraction here. The original temple is believed to have been built by Srimanta Sadagar, who received the command of the goddess in a dream while sailing along the once mighty Saraswati River. Three pieces of stone lying in the present temple complex are believed to be the remains of the old temple. The present temple, along with a Shiva temple, natmandap etc., was built in 1743 by Ramkanta Kunduchoudhury, zamindar of Mahiari. The temple with a height of about 40 feet (12 m) was renovated by the Birla Trust. A fair is organised on the occasion of Panchamdol.[3]"

Inside a market place, so too much conjested. But the temple campus is peaceful and also with CCTV facility, so it's not that bad.

This temple organizes Durga Puja as well as Kali Puja however no separate idols are made for the separate pujas; The established idol is worshipped for the pujas. The legacy of this temple goes as such, this temple has been established by the merchants. Although there is no clear date of establishment for this temple, the famous bengali poet Kavi Kankan Mukundaram Chakraborty has mentioned about this temple in his poetry which was in the year 1577 AD. This gives us all a bit of an idea about the age of the temple.

Another legacy says that, this temple had been built by Mr. Ramkanta Kundu Choudhuary after seeing it in his dream. Controversy is also there regarding the name of the deity. Some says the deity got its name from goddess Chandi of Markandaya Purana. Some says this place during old times was situated beside river Saraswati (presently dried) was the habitat of large number of crocodiles (locally called Makar), and they caused tremendous disturbances for the merchants using the river. The merchants in order to get rid of this problem based on their beliefs started this Makar Chandi puja. A stone mound is idolized here as the deity. There once was a time when no puja was organized till the distance the sound of prayers and drums reached. However till date the surrounding puja committees and organizers take permission from here before organizing their puja.

Mararchandi Temple is famous temple in makardah. It's located in market. Every day devotee visit to see their idols. It's close to makardah bus stand. This is legendary temple they have a story when this Goddess idol size too huge to reach. Temple is so neat and clean.

From the name Makarchadi, the name of our village Makardah is originated.