Pages: 160 (all color)

Price: Rs. 300

When we think about Siddhpur, one of the most sacred places of Hinduism, we hardly associate it with Nepal. there is a giant 50-kilogram bell, made of eight precious metals, located in the Radha-Krishna temple inside Siddhpur’s Kardam Ashram has a unique Nepal connection. Five centuries ago, in 1544 AD, the then king of Nepal visited Siddhpur on his pilgrimage tour. He didn’t have any child and desperately sought an heir for his throne. To seek the divine help to fulfill his wish, he was on this pilgrimage. During this tour, he visited this temple. Interestingly, not only his wish for an heir had fulfilled, it rained heavily in his kingdom after a severe drought. Naturally, the king was elated and gifted this giant bell made of eight metals, which was brought here from Nepal on an elephant back. There are only three such bells, in Tirupati Balaji temple, Pashupatinath temple, and Siddhpur’s Kardam Ashram. Even after five long centuries, this bell rings perfectly every day and assures hundreds of couples who come here with unfulfilled wishes to become parents. A Nepal king also performed Matru Tarpan vidhi at Siddhpur.

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‘Matrushraddh Teerth Sthali: Siddhpur’, the book is written in Hindi and English by ex Gujarat minister Dr. Jaynarayan Vyas is full of such interesting information about this holy place.

The first thing about this book that catches our eyes is the superb production quality. this multicolor book has beautiful photographs of the various places of Siddhpur on almost every page. This gives a coffee table book feel to this book.

Shri Vyas begins the book ok with the etymology of the place which is known as Shri Sthal. according to the Garud Puran, Laxmiji and Parvatiji so much liked this place that they decided to live here with their respective husbands Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. So, Lord Vishwakarma built a beautiful city. The city was built on Shri Lakshmiji’s wishes, thus it was known as Shri Sthal.

Bindu Sarovar is at the heart of Matru shradh vidhi. The shraddh vidhi starts with the bath in the water of the pond. It is said that it was created with the drop of lord Narayan who was very pleased with sage Kardam’s very hard tapasya (worship).

There is one more mythological story about why Siddhpur was chosen for Matru shraddh. Lord Narayan who head incarnated as Kapil Avatar, did asthi visarjan of his mother Devhuti in the Bindu Sarovar. But the ashes didn’t dissolve in the water. To complete the task, the Ganga river emerged there and gave salvation to lord Kapil’s mother. The place is known as Gyan Ganga today.

This book is full of such interesting mythological references which makes it an interesting read. Such equally interesting information about river Saraswati is also there, with historical and geographical references.

One of the most interesting chapters is on sidhpur 450 years old Pothi Parampara. it is nearly unbelievable that more than 1000 purohits have the details of family trees and ancestors of thousands of people. right from the the detail about Bhakt Kavi Narsinh Mehta who performed shraddh for his mother here, to Maharana Pratap, Mahatma Gandhi’s father, Sardar Patel, Dhirubhai Ambani, Amitabh Bachchan to name a few. It is fascinating to know that you just mention your name and your native place, these purohits find the details of your ancestors almost with the speed of Google!

The different chapters in the book talk about Shiv temples, Vishnu temples, Devi Ma temples, temples of various sects and ashrams spread across the city. Each place has it’s on interesting mythological story to tell.

This book is a delightful read and it can be an ideal Diwali gift to the ones who are curious to know about the heritage of this ancient city.

However, some details about places to stay and transportation should have been there in the book. That would make this book a complete guide to visit Siddhpur.