Sultanganj (25 km) is a real celebration of natural splendor that thrills our visual sense. Imagine a hill by the bank of the river capped by a mosque while another rocky elevation in the midst of water riddled with temples of Shiva, referred to as Ajagaibinatha. The legend of Ajagaibinatha is associated with Baba Harinath a regular visitor and fervent devotee of Shiva. On his way to Deogarh, he once emptied his pot of water to quench the thirst of a dying man. He was left with no water for Shiva at Deoghar. Consequently, he was returning to Sultanganj when he heard a voice telling him that Shiva was pleased by his devotion and he could now worship him at Sultanganj as well. The panorama can best be summed up in words of Abdul Latif, the Mughal Diwan of Bengal who passed by Sultanganj in 1608. He records, "It has two hillocks, one in the midst of the river and other on the bank, facing each other, so that there are few places on earth equalling it in airiness. How can I describe the moonlit nights, which exhilarate the spirit and freshen the life of man."If it is monsoon, it is time for the Shravani mela when Sultanganj is well flooded by the flow of pilgrims and the extra dash of water calls for the small boats to reach the temples high on hillock. The devotees of Siva gather here to collect the holy water (called Uttarbahini or where the Ganges run towards north, instead of usual south) to be poured on the various Shivlings at Vasukinatha and Baidyanath Dham.Between the two hills there are smaller granite formations with a number of interesting Gupta period carvings that are exclusive to Bhagalpur. These artistic etchings on the rock depict a variety of Hindu divinities, besides Buddha and Mahavira.Sultanganj shot to fame in 1861 when a railway engineer, during the construction of railway track between Calcutta and Varanasi, stumbled upon a stupa that yielded a mighty bronze statue of Buddha in Abhaya mudra. The seven feet high bronze dating back to fifth century is now in Birmingham city museum.
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Bihar-districts
araria aurangabad banka
begusarai bhabua bhagalpur
bhojpur buxar darbhanga
gaya gopalganj jahanabad
jamui katihar khagaria
kishanganj luckeesarai madhepura
madhubani munger muzaffarpur
nalanda nawada paschim-champaran
patna purbi-champaran Purnia
rohtas saharsa samastipur
saran sheikhpura sheohar
sitamarhi siwan supaul vaishali
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