Badimalika Temple

Badamalika temple
Pooja at Badimalika temple Temple
Religion
Affiliation	Hinduism
District	Bajura
Deity	Shakti
Festivals	Ganga Dussehra, Shrwan Shukla chaturdashi
Location
Location	Kailashmandau, Bajura
State	Seti
Country	Nepal
Badimalika Temple in Nepal
Geographic coordinates	29.346916°N 81.477488°E / 29.346916; 81.477488
Architecture
Type	Pagoda Style

Badimalika Temple, located in Triveni Municipality of Bajura district of Sudurpashchim Pradesh, is one of the major temples in Nepal. It is a temple dedicated to Bhagwati. Malika Chaturdashi is the major annual festival held in this temple. It is served by two priests, one of them representing the Kalikot district, while the other priest is from the Bajura district .

Myth

See also: Daksha Yaga and Shakti Peetha

Shiva carrying the corpse of his consort Sati.

According to Hindu myths, when Sati Devi's father Daksha Prajapati was performing a yagya, he invited all the gods except for Mahadev to the ceremony. So, Sati went to her father's yagya ceremony and asked him why he had not invited her husband. Daksha Prajapati answered that Mahadev drank alcohol, smoked ganja, slept in cemeteries, wore a serpent around his neck, had dreadlocks, covered his body with ash, and wore tiger hide, hence he was not a suitable person to invite for such an important yagya. Unable to withstand such an insult to her husband, Sati jumped into the yagya fire and gave up her life. Mahadev was so angered by the news of her death that he sent Birbhadra and Bhoot gana to kill Daksha Prajapati and destroy the yagya. After extracting his vengeance, Mahadev started to mourn the death of his wife. Mahadev traveled all over the world carrying Sati's dead body. During this time, Vishnu released his Sudarshan chakra and wounded Sati's body so that it could be infested by insects and rot. As Sati's body started to rot and its parts began to fall off, the ground on which her body parts fell became Shakti Peethas, places of worship. In this process, her left shoulder fell on the Mallagiri mountain. This Mallagiri was then referred to as Malika.

Getting there

To reach the Badimalika temple, one has to make a difficult trek lasting 2-3 days from Martadi, the headquarters of Bajura district. The temple is at a remote location and since the route to the temple is not well developed, there is a lack of lodges and restaurants for the travelers to rest and eat. Thus, all the necessary amenities need to be carried by the travelers themselves. During the trek, one can witness various species of wild flowers, and various domestic animals like sheep, goats, horses, and buffaloes, grazing on the hills.