A well-known part of religious conduct is pilgrimage. Man has always travelled, sometimes in quest of food, shelter, serenity, and the truth, but as time went on, the reason for travel changed. He now travels for fun, as an adventure, to take in the natural beauty, and to delve deeply into the questions surrounding its historical and cultural studies. The most common type of tourism, however, is pilgrimage to revered holy sites. It is known as a Tirthyatra in Sanskrit, which is a pilgrimage to the home of a god or goddess in order to get their blessings. It is created out of religious fervour. The oldest and most fundamental kind of people migration, including political, social, cultural, and economic facets, is pilgrimage. It is a chance to cross geographical and cultural boundaries. Truth, forgiveness, self-control, kindness to all living things, and simplicity are all considered being qualities of tirtha in the Skanda purana. Pilgrimage therefore demands both physical presence and moral and mental discipline. One well-known facet of religious behaviour is pilgrimage.
A pilgrim, who links the internal process with the physical world outside sought purificationgrimage, is a ritual that creates a space around a sacred location and gives visitors of all faiths a place to come together around transcendental symbols. Every pilgrimage site has a unique historical background, especially in India, which has a long history of rich cultural legacy. The pilgrimage to Shakti Pitha, a tantric ceremonial site, is extremely significant in Hindu culture.
Tarapith of Birbhum, West Bengal, is one of them. This pitha is the subject of a legend as well as having historical and cultural significance. The process of the cultural phenomenon is one of change. As time goes on, tourism’s profanity is threatening the sacredness of the location. I want to talk about certain myths, some pilgrims’ tales, and some socio-cultural elements of this pilgrimage destination.
The goddess Tara, who is revered in the Tarapith temple, is mentioned in a number of legends about the history and significance of this location. The Shakti Piths have a well-known tale attached to them. When her father Daksha decided not to invite Shiva to the massive yaja “fire sacrifice” he planned, Sati, Shiva’s consort, felt belittled. Sati jumped into the yaja fire to end her life since she could no longer take this humiliation. Shiva lost his cool at this unfortunate turn of events.
Then, using his chakram, Vishnu devastated Sati’s body in an effort to appease Shiva. Parts of Sati’s body were scattered across the Indian continent. I have transformed the locations where the body parts fell into temples dedicated to the Goddess in her various guises. There are 51 of these sacred buildings, or “Shakti Piths,” and West Bengal is home to many of them, including the Kalighat.
Vashistha had witnessed this manifestation and had bowed down to Tara, the goddess Sati. According to a different narrative, Shiva drank the poison that the churning of the cosmic oceans had released in order to save the universe. Shiva was breastfed by Tara, a manifestation of Sati, to allay the severe burning in his throat caused by the poison. Another local legend claims that Vasishtha picked this location since it was already well-known as a Tarapith for Sati worship. Tarapith, one of the piths, is a siddha pith that bestows siddhis, wisdom, and enlightenment (“supernatural powers”).