About three thousand acres of land of Chandranath Dham, a pilgrimage site for the world’s Hindus, were grabbed by some influential quarters at Sitakunda upazila under the Chattragram district in Bangladesh.
Chandranath Dham is located on top of the Chandranath hill and is a famous Shakti Peeth. According to Hindu sacred Granthas, the right arm of Devi Sati fell from the place. Sitakunda Chandranath Dham is a holy pilgrimage site. It’s alleged that some influential people have grabbed more than three thousand acres of land from this place in various ways.
In 2021, a young man climbed to the top of the temple and gave Azan and posted it on his Facebook ID. After a huge backlash on social media about this, the police arrested the two youths. Recently, the movement of non-Hindus has increased alarmingly in this Hindu pilgrimage site.
A post on Facebook about organizing a Beef barbecue party was reported on social media leading to an outrage among devotees. On 30 December 2023, A clash occurred between Hindu devotees and non-Hindus near the temple. At least 10 people were injured in the clash.
The Daily Chattragram Protidin and Amader Somoy covered the news in this regard, but top-level online news portals, print and electronic media remained silent to cover the report in this connection. At present, a section of religious fundamentalists have been spreading propaganda against the oldest pilgrimage site, Chandranath Dham, for the last few months to destroy communal harmony.
Hindu pilgrims alleged that some shops at the Dham premises had been set up illegally. Many Hindus expressed their concerns over the Chandranath Dham’s existence and raised questions about the shrine committee’s weakness and poor leadership.
On 1 January 2024, more than 150 Hindu Saints, led by Chinmoy Brahmachari, the principal of Chittagong Prandirik Dham, and later a group of leaders and activists of Bangladesh Hindu Mahajut, led by the General Secretary of Sri Gobind Chandra Pramanik, visited various areas of Chandranath Dham and spoke to the newsmen about this.
Sri Sri Chandranath Dham Raksha Parishad (Protection Council) and Barbakunda Thirtha Dham Development Committee organized a press conference at S Rahman Hall room of Chittagong Press Club on 3 February 2024 in protest against communal incitement campaigns on social media and attempts to desecrate the sanctity of the Chandranath Dham, a holy pilgrimage site for Hindus. Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, the convener of both organisations, read out a written statement.
A group of Hindus demanded a ban on tourists at Chandranath Dham in Sitakunda upazila of Chattogram. They said the area is a sacred pilgrimage site for the community, but nowadays, a large number of tourists are travelling there. They demanded that only devotees and worshipers be allowed to visit the area to perform rituals and for religious purposes.
They came up with a 10-point demand at a press conference organised by Shri Shri Chandranath Dham Rakhsha Parishad and Barabkunda Tirtho Dham Unnayan Committee at Chattogram Press Club. The Barabkunda Dham’s priest and worshipers came under attack by miscreants a few days ago, he said. He alleged that the attack was carried out to intimidate them as part of a conspiracy hatched by some influential local people to grab the land of the Barabkunda Dham.
When asked over the phone, Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, Convener of Chandranath Dham Raksha Parishad and Barbakunda Tirth Dham Development Committee and Principal of Pundrik Dham, said that some influential men have occupied about three thousand acres of land of the Chandranath Dham. He also blamed Jatiya Party Joint Secretary General Didarul Alam Didar for making an attack on the priests and trying to grab more than 1.5 acres of land from the debottar property of the Barbakunda shrine. There were about 18 acres of land in the Barabkunda shrine and about 10 acres of land were already grabbed, Chinmoy Bhrammachary alleged.
On the other hand, Some miscreants attacked and vandalized murties (Idols) of Agnikunda, Sri Sri Hanuman, Gagannath, Trinath and Shiva Temples of Barabnal Shrine and stole Hanuman murti in the dead of night on 8 February 2024. A few days ago, in this incident, a gang of land grabbers attacked the priests and worshipers of Barbkunda Jalamukhi Shree Vigraha Mandir and threatened the priests with a view to occupying the land. A case was filed with the Sitakunda police in this regard.
It is said that a king of Nepal was asked in a dream to build five Shiv temples in five corners of the world. These are Pashupatinath of Nepal, Vishwanath of Kashi in Uttar Pradesh of Bharat, Bhutnath of Pakistan and both Adinath of Maheshkhali in Cox’s Bazar district and Chandranath of Sitakunda in Chattragram district in Bangladesh.
Historical Rajmala states that about 800 years ago, Raja Biswambhar Sur, a descendant of the famous Adisur of Gaur, tried to reach Chandranath by sea. The Nigamkalpataru refers to the poet Jayadev living for a time in Chandranath. By the time of Dhanya Manikya, ruler of Tripura, Chandranath received numerous endowments. Dhanya Manikya attempted to remove the murti of Shiva from the temple of his kingdom but failed.
The legend says that Devi Sati was Shiva’s first wife and Parvati’s first incarnation. She was the daughter of King Daksha and Queen (the daughter of Brahma). She committed self-immolation at the sacrificial fire of a yagna performed by her father, Daksha, as she felt seriously distraught by her father’s insult to her husband and also to her by not inviting both of them to the yagna.
Shiva was so grieved after hearing of the death of his wife that he danced around the world in a Tandav Nritya (“devastating penance” or dance of destruction) carrying Sati’s dead body over his shoulders. Perturbed by this situation and in order to bring Shiv to a state of normalcy, Vishnu decided to use his Sudarshan Chakra (the rotating knives carried on his fingertip). He dismembered Sati’s body with the chakra into several pieces and wherever her body fell on the earth, the place was consecrated as a divine shrine or Shakthi Peeth with deities of Sati (Parvati) and Shiva.
These locations have become famous pilgrimage places known as Pithas or Shakthi Pithas and are found scattered all over the subcontinent, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, apart from Bharat. Sati is also known as Devi or Shakthi, and with the blessing of Vishnu, she was reborn as the daughter of Himavat or Himalayas and hence named Parvati (daughter of mountains). She was born on the 14th day of the bright half of the month of Mrigashīrsha, which marks the Shivarathri (Shiva’s night) festival.
The Chandranath Temple is considered a Shakti Peeth, the revered shrine of Shaktism. The Puranic tale of Daksha yaga and Sati’s self-immolation is the source of the origin of Shakti Peethas. Shakti Peeths are divine shrines of Shakti, due to the falling of body parts of the corpse of Sati Devi, when Bhagwan Shiva carried it and wandered throughout Aryavartha in sorrow.
Out of these 51 pieces, 51 Matripeeths (mother’s shrine) or Shaktipeeths (shrines of power) were created. The Shakti is known by the name Bhavani. According to Vishnu Purana, Bhagwan Shiva himself appeared here in the Kali age. It is mentioned in scripture that Sati’s right hand fell on the Chandranath Hill in Sitakunda which is now an important shrine of the Hindus of Bangladesh and other places of the world.
The Chandranath Temple is located at an altitude of 1300 feet on Chandranath Hill. In the eye of mountaineering, 1300 feet is a trifling matter but for devotees, it is a matter of devotion and emotion. The stairs are steep, and every stair is more than one foot high, which is very difficult to climb. Up to 300 feet, the stairs are fairly easy to climb, but after that, the stairs are directly steep. Stairs have been made from the base to the top of Chandranath Hill by different persons at different times. Names of the initiators have been inscribed on most of the stairs. Stairs are dedicated to the penance of sin or in the name of close relatives.
Millions of Pilgrims walk a long way up the hill to reach the Chandranath temple on the top of the Chandranath hill and perform their religious rituals. Pilgrims climb about 3500 stairs to the top of the hill, which is about 1300 feet high, and worship in the main temple.
According to information obtained, Sri Gangaram Biswas, a resident of 24 Parganas, was the first initiator to build stairs. His mother came to visit Chandranath Temple but could not reach the temple at the hilltop due to old age. For this reason, she asked her son to build stairs there. To carry out his mother’s order, Gangaram Biswas built 782 steps towards the mountain top in 1270 Bengali year. Due to different reasons, the stairs got damaged but were repaired in 1329 by Shri Suryakant Roy Chowdhury, the then zamindar of 24 Parganas.
Every year on Shiv Chaturdashi (the 14th day of the black fortnight, normally at the end of February or the beginning of March), millions of local and foreign devotees gather at Chandranath Hill. Although worship is held in different temples, the main attraction for the devotees is the Chandranath temple on the hilltop. Many devotees purify themselves by taking a bath before climbing the hill.
Swayambhunath Temple is situated a short distance away from the Bhavani temple. Twenty-five or thirty stairs lead to high hills and a little flat land in the middle. This eternal Shiva linga with Ashta Shakti Ashtamurthi is rare in Triloka ( World).
By visiting Him, the human race would be freed from all sins and gain wealth, wives and children, wealth, happiness and enjoyment, and would not take birth again in this world. Punyaprada Swayambhulinga darshan is the result of all tirtha darshan ( Pilgrimage site visit). The Swayambhunath temple premise contains Sri Sri Nava Bhairava Temple, Hargauri Shiva Temple, Annapurna Temple, Narayana Temple, Shalgram Shila of Sri Hari Vishnu and Annapurna Vasudeva, Rama-Lakshana Sita.
Many pilgrims demand that the management of the Chandranath Dham be handed over to Saints and monks who can protect the shrine with security staying at the said pilgrimage site and construct the stairs from ground to top hill, including cable cars, so that the pilgrims can climb to the top mountain where Bhagwan Chandrasekhar is existing.