Rajrappa Mandir –A spiritual Abode
Rajrappa Mandir stands at the confluence of the Damodar and Bhairav (locally called Bhera) rivers. Rajrappa is near NH 23 connecting Ramgarh and Chas, 28 km from Ramgarh , 65 km from Hazaribagh , 78 km from Ranchi and 60 km from Bokaro Steel City.
The Rajrappa Mandir is one of the oldest mandirs in India. It is said that it is over 6000 years old. A temple to a headless deity, Chinnamasta, at Rajrappa, Jharkhand, is a place worth visiting .It is a temple of a goddess who cut off her own head and held it in her own hand and drank her own blood.
From her neck three jets of blood are spurting out. The severed head is held in one hand and a scimitar in another, she is drinking the blood from one stream, while her two attendants – Dakini and Shakini – drink from the other two. With her blood red body, the deity is indeed fearsome. But she has a dual character – a life-giver and a life-taker. She stands over the copulaing bodies of Rati and Kamdev, the eternal symbols of love.
History
Being one of the oldest Temples in India it is very popular among tourists. It is over 6000 years old. It is a result of history and has great importance in Hindu culture, especially in the Shakti sect of the Hindu religion.
The construction of the temple started before the time of the Vedas and Upanishads. It is mentioned in the Puranas and various Hindu scriptures and those are said to be penned thousands and thousands of year ago.
In Hindu culture, it is a practice for children to be shaved bald before the age of two; this practice is called the mundan and most families choose to do their children’s mundan at a temple. The Rajrappa Mandir happens to be an important site for the mundan, with hundreds of young children getting their heads shaved in this temple. It is said that goddess Chinnamastika evolved here all by herself. Her representation on stone shows her with three eyes, a snake garland around her neck with another garland of severed heads and bones. Her unclothed body is decorated with ornaments.
There is also a place in front of the temple where goats are sacrificed. Strange as it is there are no flies in that place of sacrifice. The doors of the temple are closed in the evening but on purnima and amabashya days, these remain open till midnight. There is a kund (water pool) nearby where sick people take bath to get rid of their ailments.
Timing
The temple offers the sacred darshan from 5:30 A.M. to 9:30 P.M. in the winters; and 4:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. in the summers. Aarti darshan happens at 6:00 A.M. and 8:00 P.M. Aarti is an important puja where a holy flame or fire is offered to the goddess for her blessing and then is distributed amongst the devotees so they can receive the blessing.