Malooti is a historical, archaeological and religious place

Malooti capital of Dumka district is associated with historical, archaeological and religious importance.

Introduction and Importance

Malooti Rajdhani, located in Dumka district of Jharkhand state, is a historical, archaeological and religious place. Which falls in Shikaripara block under Rampurhat of Dumka district. Malooti Rajdhani is located at a distance of about 55 kilometers from Dumka district headquarters.

Malooti Rajdhani was built in 1860 as a tax-free capital by the then King Basant Rai alias Basant. Its beauty is linked to religious and archaeological importance.

Historical Importance

This village is discussed at national and international level due to the amazing architectural style of the temples here. The serial Surabhi telecast on Doordarshan in the 90s gave this village recognition at national and international level.

People like Dr. Surendra Jha and Gopaldas Mukherjee introduced the world to its historical importance. Malooti is also called the village of temples. Till 300 years ago, there used to be a total of 108 temples here. There were the same number (108) ponds also.

Time passed and the ponds kept filling up. The existence of temples also started to disappear. There are still 72 temples left here. All the temples have their own specialty. Those interested in art, craft, religion and spirituality must visit Malooti once.

The story of the establishment of Malooti

In 1860, the then King Basant Rai alias Basant made Malooti a tax-free capital. This Malooti is associated with a place of archaeological and religious importance for natural beauty.

Important historical events

Malooti temple is located in Shikaripara of Dumka district of Jharkhand state, right on the border of West Bengal. Due to the amazing temples established here, this temple is also discussed in the country and abroad.

This temple is famous internationally. When the Surbhi serial was aired in the 90s, this temple and this village got its recognition at the national level.

Contribution of kings

Malooti temples were built by the Basant king here. This capital was made free of any kind of tax. The doors of all the temples here were made very narrow, so that only one person could enter the temple at a time to visit the temple. The structure of each temple here is the most amazing.

The figures that were made resemble the Mahabharat. Which is still present today. The design of the temple was almost the same. The height of the temple is kept from 15 feet to 60 feet.

Panch Sui Trishul is placed on the peak of each temple. There are 13 Kota panels in front of it. These have not been destroyed even after 300 years. The 13 Kota panels have been joined very intricately.

Archaeological importance

Different religious scenes have been depicted in different shapes in the temples of Malooti. In which you will get to see the scenes of the war between Rama and Ravan. Then there are many examples of Sita Haran, Marich Vadh, Jatayu Vadh, Krishna Leela, Ramayana and Mahabharata.

---

Shivalinga is installed in another temple. The temples of Kali, Durga are built in a flat roof style. Kali is worshipped in one temple. The special thing about the temple with octagonal shape is that the rituals going on in the temple can be seen from any direction.

Generally, such a stage has been created to install the Radha Krishna Raas idol. Here Maa Kali is worshipped. There is also a temple of Maa Moliksha here. Where people worship and have darshan of Maa Moliksha. The idol of Maa Moliksha is a single-faced Trinaini and a head with three eyes.

Ancient temple construction

The temples were constructed by the descendants of King Vaj Basant. There is a story about how Basant became a king from a shepherd. It is important to know how the word Vaj got attached to his name.

A king between 1493 and 1525, Alauddin Hussain Shah was returning to his capital Gaur from Odisha via Birbhum. For rest, his army put his royal palace on the banks of Mayurakshi river. The husband of Bhadshah Alauddin Shah’s Begum was with him. The hawk flew away from the cage.

The hawk had a gold chain tied to its leg. The Begum fell ill due to the flight of her beloved hawk. When the Begum fell ill, the king announced that whoever catches and brings that hawk will be rewarded. A poor Brahmin herder named Basant caught the hawk in a net.

This information was received by Dandi Swami Nigamana Nand Maharaj who was passing through the area. He took Basant along with him to the king. Seeing Basant’s financial plight, Nigamana requested the king to give him a little land to earn his livelihood.

The king called for a horse and said that whatever distance he covered from sunrise to sunset, that much land would be paid without any tax. Basant was able to travel only 20 miles in the whole day. That much land was given to him as a donation by the king.

Due to this land received in exchange for the hawk, Basant was named Baaj Basant. He made Damra his capital. It is said that in the 17th century, in a war, King Raj Chandra, a descendant of Basant Raj, was defeated by Khwaja Kamal Khan, so the entire royal family made Malooti their capital.

And they settled here. After that, the series of construction of temples started here. Gopal Das, who studied the Malooti temple, argues that the temple was built by his four descendants.

The place where the elder brother built temples was called Rajarbari. The second brother’s temples were called Madhyam Bari and the third brother’s temples were called Sikir Bari. This was also a fourth part.

Nearest Place:

• Baba Sumeshwar Nath Temple religious & historical importance
• Baba Basukinath Dham, major place for religious & spiritual travel

Religious significance

Generally people know that Vama Khepaku got Siddhi in Tarafeet. But it was not so. It is said that Vama Khepaku got Siddhi not in Tarafeet but in Malooti during the worship of Maa Mauliksha.

The reality is that Vama Charan, the ardent devotee of Maa Rata, got Siddhi not in Tarafeet but during the worship of Maa Mauliksha. After the death of his father, Vama Charan became very weak financially.

Fate Chandramukhi of Malooti took pity on him and appointed Vama Charan as his servant to help him in the worship of Maa Kali. At that time Vama Charan had no knowledge of Tantra-Mantra. He also did not know anything about the method of worship.

Seeing that Vama Charan did not have any interest in worship, Fate Chandra Mukherjee gave him food to cook. He did not perform well in this work also. Then he was put to the work of picking flowers for worship.

In this sequence, it was seen many times that while plucking flowers, he was found hanging on the tree in a state of meditation. He was seen flying many times above the ground of the Molisha temple.

It is said that due to the powers of Mother Molisha, he became so engrossed in Sadhna that he came to be known as Vama Khepa. Later he went to Tarafeet and there also he attained Siddhi in Tantra Sadhna. His trident and conch are still present in Malooti.

Tourism and Travel

This place is getting ruined for tourists day by day. Many temples worth seeing are starting to fall apart. The government is doing the work of repairing the temples here.

But at a very slow pace. Due to which the citizens here are unhappy. Although there are still many temples to visit here. But due to lack of proper care, these too can fall apart in a few years.

Travel Guidance and Facilities

This area is far away from the city and hence you will not get many facilities here. You have a good place for camping, but there is no facility of a hotel to stay here. Shops are available for food and drinks. You can use small vehicles to reach this place. You can also go by bus.

Local Food

The local food of Malooti is Pitha, Sattu, and Litti-Chokha. Apart from this, the people of Malooti consume traditional beverages like Mahua and Hadiya and breakfast which also includes pakodas.

FAQ’s for Malooti