| The haridhwani
or chanting of god's name that is frequently raised by the pallbearers and the other
environs of this crematorium by Bakreswar makes the place an ideal resort for the
Tantriks. The Samadhi of the famous Aghori Baba, a great Siddha Tantrik is right in
the middle of the crematorium and it is said that Aghori Baba used to sit at the very same
place for his meditations. There is another Samadhi of another Tantrik Sadhak named
Pramatha Chakravarthy. There are various stories of
Aghori Baba, some fantastic and some lurid, which are still prevalent throughout the area.
It is fondly but fearfully repeated that Aghori Baba would be surrounded by Bhairabis and
Bhairabis at the dead of night and would drink out of human skulls. In this place of
pilgrimage essentially for the Saivas we also find a ten-armed image of Shakti in the
Mahishamardini post. This image is not very old.
Some years back an eighteen-armed stone image of Shakti in
Mahishamardini pose was discovered embedded in a tank at Bakreswar. There appears to be
considerable force in the theory that this was the original deity at that temple. Now the
deity is installed in the house of pujaris at Delhi Bakreswar. On either side of the deity
and the top nine manifestations of Shakti are sculptured. It is a superbly executed image. |
