User:Sarangakrishnachetia/Buri Gosani Devalaya

Burhi Gosani Devalaya is situated in Dewal road,Jorhat,Assam,India .Burhi Gosani Devalaya is a temple of The Goddess Durga . It was established in 1794.Buri Gosani Devalaya is a Shakta Shrine .The location of the shrine 26°45'32"N   94°12'53"E.

History

The origin of this devalaya dates back to hundreds of years. It is believed that the ancestors of the priests of the Burhi Gosani Devalaya were originally from Bengal. A Brahmin family of the clan came with the idol of the goddess and began to worship it on the bank of the Burhi river in the Jayantiya Hills. The information of the worship reached the Jayantiya king and he invited the priests to the court. Being impressed by the scholarship and pedantry of the priests, the king offered land and property to them. Thus the worship of the ‘Gosani’ got momentum under the patronisation of the Jayantiya king. The Ahom Swargadeu Rudra Singha ( Sukhrungphaa ) invaded the Kachari and Jayantiya kingdoms. In the war the Jayantiya king Ramsingha was defeated . The Ahom king ordered his commander to bring the goddess to him. But the goddess appeared in the dream and said to the commander of Ahom troops, “I shall not leave the kingdom. If you want, you may fetch the statue and " Yoni " of the Gosani which is near the Burhi river”. When the Ahoms attempted to bring Jayanteswari, dysentery like disease broke out among the soldiers. Then the Ahom commander took the statue and yoni of the goddess who was near the Burhi river. The name Burhi Gosani was derived from it. This statue was of the goddess Durga, the goddess of power and might .

When Ahoms took the Gosani from the Jayantiya, they also brought the priest of the goddess, Sanatan with them. The Ahom king honoured him with the title Pujaghoria Boruah. The priests in the devalaya are the descendents of Sanatan. Since then they use the title Boruah after their names. The descendents of Sanatan are still offering worship in the devalaya following the tradition of their great grandfather.

During the last years of the Ahom kingdom, Swargadeo Gaurinath Singha ( Suhitpangphaa ) .following the advice of his minister Purnananda Burhagohain, shifted his capital from Rangpur (Ahom capital) to Jorhat . Though he shifted the Gosani, he could not build the Devalaya due to the instability prevailing in the country and the several mutinies during that time. Unfortunately the Tamrapatra (copper edict) of the Ahom kings, which was the proof of the donation of land and property for the devalaya was lost during the advent of the Burmese invaders. During the last Ahom king Swargadeu Purandar Singha, a temporary house was built to worship the goddess. The items required for the worship were supplied by the royal family even that time and the first portion of the ‘Naibedya’ was offered in the name of the king. When the Ahom kingdom come to an end, the worship was done with the donation from the public. Then onwards this tradition has been going on till date.

2. The Sentinel [1]