Naxal Bhagwati

    Located at the center of the Naxal Township in the vicinity of Pashupatinath, Dillibazar and the Narayanhiti museum, sits the temple of Naxal Bhagwati. Sited at an intersection, the temple stands erect and distinct despite the encroachment of nearby shops, concrete buildings and busy traffic. It never fails to draw devotees who keep moving in and out of the temple all day. The features of Naxal Bhagwati are remarkably the same as other ‘Devi’ (goddess) temples—its’ three tiered roof, two of which are copper plated, and carvings of other deities surrounding the temple.

    The history of Naxal Bhagwati dates back many centuries to the year 1050 of the Kaligat Sambat, when Bikram Kesari was the king of Nepal and his wife Navasagar handled the country’s administration. The queen was greatly impressed with a grand idol presented by one of her subjects. She founded the temple and named the idol after herself: Navasagar Bhagwati. It is believed that the priests and mystics of the time had laid a solid foundation of the temple through tantric rituals and mantras so as to empower the goddess. Gradually, the power of the goddess increased to such heights that her idol began to emanate strong radiations that were deemed catastrophic. In 665 BS (607 AD), King Shankherdev placed the idol inside the temple and covered it. Then he established another statue replicating the original one and initiated a chariot procession or jatra on the day of Preta Chaturdashi (chaturdashi, the 14th day of the lunar fortnight) to commemorate the ceremony.  It is still celebrated every year by the name of Khat Jatra on Preta Chaturdarshi and lasts for three days.

    The Naxal Bhagwati is considered to be one of the nine manifestations of the goddess Durga and is believed to have been crafted by the same artisan who constructed the idols of Palanchowk Bhagwati, Shobha Bhagwati and Nala Bhagwati. As a Shakti peeth, literally a place of worship of the goddess ‘Shakti’, devotees swarm to the temple during Dasain, especially on ‘Asthami’ (the eighth day of Dasain). A water buffalo sent by the Singha Durbar (the Nepalese Parliament) is sacrificed there on ‘Nawami’, the ninth day of Dasain.