Dukhiya Baba Mandir Karamdaha Barakar Jharkhand

Jharkhand: Dukhiya Mahadev Temple is 550 years old, it was built by the king after getting relief from famine.

There is about 550 years old Dukhiya Mahadev Temple in Karamdaha of Narayanpur block of Jamtara district of Jharkhand. Many mythological stories and legends are associated with this temple. This temple is on the banks of Barakar River on the border of Dhanbad and Jamtara districts. Local people believe that hundreds of years ago, the king of Ghanti Garh (in Narayanpur) used to come every year with his entire clan to the banks of Barakar river in Karamdaha and stay for a month. At that time this area was surrounded by dense forest. Where the kings of Ghanti Garh used to go hunting and have picnics. In his honour, small and big shopkeepers from neighboring villages used to come here and set up their shops and get engaged in the service of the king. This trend continued for many years and within no time these shops took the form of a fair, which is still going on and is known as Karamdaha Fair. This fair starts on 15th January i.e. first Magh according to Bengali calendar and continues for 15 days.

How did the temple get the name Dukhiya Mahadev?

It is said that when there was a famine in this area years ago, Bholenath himself appeared in the dream of the king of this area and asked him to plow. When the king did this, at the same time a heavy cloud appeared and Bholenath appeared in the form of Shivling and appeared before the king and it rained heavily. Due to this, crops started flourishing in the area and people’s suffering went away. After this the king built the temple. This temple was named Dukhharan Baba Temple. Later the name of this temple became Dukhiya Mahadev Temple.