April 10, 1917, Mahatma Gandhi visited Patna Junction (formerly known as Bankipur Junction) for the first time on his way to Champaran from Kolkata.

Mahatma Gandhi reached Patna Junction on the morning of 10 April 1917 with Rajkumar Shukla, the great freedom fighter of the ‘Neel Movement‘, being run against the British rule, and went to Champaran via Muzaffarpur to find out the facts related to indigo cultivation.

In March 1934 AD, Mahatma Gandhi visited Patna for the second time. He had come with a pious resolution to visit the earthquake-prone areas of Bihar and serve the suffering people. In the same year, he established the All India Village Industries Association so that India’s rural economy could be strengthened. In 1947, he again came to Patna, this time with a pious aim, to visit the riot-affected areas to express ‘repentance’ for the establishment of communal peace.

On 30 March 1947, Mahatma Gandhi received an important message when he was in Patna to meet Viceroy Lord Mountbatten, but Mahatma Gandhi did not accede to the Viceroy’s request for the use of his personal vehicle. He traveled to Delhi in the third class of the special train.

Click to learn more about ‘Patna Junction’.

Years ago, I visited Maa Sheetla Temple and the mysterious gigantic well at Agam Kuan near Mahatma Gandhi Setu, but during that time, I was unaware of the history. But this time during the visit, I met Shubham Sanyal – the third-generation priest of Maa Sheetla Temple, and following is what he narrated about the History of Maa Sheetla Temple and the mysterious well.

Once our ancestors were doing mining work, the idol of Sheetla Mata and the nine Pindis (the mass of energy) were found.

There are nine Pindis in total here. 7 in the form of Sheetla Mata, one of the Badi/Chandi Mata, and one of Bhairon Devta.

Earlier, mostly the villagers of Tulsimandi village used to come to worship in the temple.

Since 80+ years, devotees from all over the place have started visiting the temple.

Navratri and Sheetla Ashtami (after Holi – the festival of colors) are the most auspicious days of the year. Prayers and Rituals are done especially by the Mali Samaj during those days.

It is a Siddha-Peeth. The temple attracts maximum devotees in the month of Ashadha (June – July).

Timings: 6 am – 2 pm / 4:30 pm – 9 pm (365 days open).

There is an unfathomable ancient well situated next to the Maa Sheetla temple. It is believed that Ashoka (an Indian Emperor of the Maurya Dynasty) to obtain his throne, killed his 99 half-brothers and threw their bodies into the well.

Numerous efforts to find the depth of the well had been unsuccessful.

The well water never dries and is constant even during drought and floods. It changes its color to green/yellow/black in a day/season.

The water from the well is used to perform all the rituals and cleaning at this temple, 3 times daily.

It is believed that having a bath with well water cured skin diseases such as smallpox as well as chickenpox. It is also visited by devotees for wish fulfillment. As it is a part of a temple complex, devotees consider Agam Kuan as a sacred well.

Recently, in the year 1997, the temple was rebuilt by the former Chief Minister of Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Knowledge enhanced. Thank you for sharing the history – said I. Obeisance offered wholeheartedly.

Readers, whenever you happen to be in Patna, don’t forget to visit Maa Sheetla Temple and the mysterious well.

Golghar – The granary was erected by Captain John Garstin Engineer completed on the 20th of July, 1786.

Timings: 10 am – 6 pm

Entry Ticket: Rs. 10 per head.

Monday closed.

Ramdhari Singh Dinkar‘s Poem on Gandhi – This photo was taken at Gandhi Sangrahalaya in Patna (Bihar).

Rabindranath Tagore‘s Quote on Mahatma Gandhi – This photo was taken at Gandhi Sangrahalaya in Patna (Bihar).

Shri Vidyapati 1360-1450, Shri Sir Fakhruddin 1868-NA, Shri Ali Imam 1869-1932, Shri Mohammad Abdul Aziz 1885-1948

Shri Anugraha Narayan Singh 1887-1959, Shri Bhikari Thakur 1887-1971, Shri Raja Radhikaram P. Singh 1890-1971, Shri Shivpoojan Sahay 1893-1963

Shri Rahul Sanskritiyan 1893-1963, Shri Benipuri 1899-1968, Shri Sardar Harihar P. Singh 1900-1988, Shri Baldev Narayan 1903-1989

Shri S.H. Razi 1906-1995, Shri Ramdhari Singh Dinkar 1908-1974, Shri Nalin Vilochan Sharma 1916-1961, Shri Ahad Fatmi 1918-1980

Shri Col. Mahboob Ahmad 1920-1992, Shri Phanishawar Nath Renu 1921-1977, Shri Nawab Ismayeel NA, Shri Khawaj Mohd. Noor NA

Sri Maulana Mazharul Haque 1866-1930, Sri Hasan Imam 1871-1933, Dr. Sachidanand Sinha 1871-1950, Pandit Raj Kumar Shukla 1875-1929, Sri Safi Dawoodi 1875-1948, Sri Deep N. Singh (Bhagalpur) 1875-1935, Sri Brij Kishore Prasad 1877-1946, Sri Ram Dayalu Singh 1888-1944, Sri Swami Sahjanand 1889-1950

Sri Mohammad Yunus 1844-1952, Dr. Rajendra Prasad 1884-1963, Sri Ram Charitra Singh 1885-1966, Shri Vindeshwari P. Verma 1886-1969, Sri Krishan Singh 1887-1961, Shri Janakdhari Prasad 1888-1966, Sri Prof. Abdul Bari 1889-1947, Sri Gursahai Lal 1889-1942, Sri Syed Mahmood 1889-1971

Acharya Badrinath Verma 1889-1972, Sri Bipin Behari Verma 1892-1974, Sri Shambhu Sharan Verma 1893-1931, Sri Dip Narayan Singh 1894-NA, Sri Jaglal Chaudhary 1895-1975, Sri Krishna Ballabh Sahai 1898-1974, Pandit Vinodanand Jha 1900-1971, Sri Mungeri Lal 1901-2001, Sri Ganga Sharan Singh 1904-1988

Sri Abdul Qayum Ansari 1905-1973, Smt. Prabhavati Devi 1906-1973, Sri Jai Prakash Narayan 1901-1979, Sri Jagjivan Ram 1908-1973, Sri Karpoori Thakur 1924-1988, Sri Bhola Paswan Shastri 1914-NA, Sri Mahamaya Prasad Sinha 1909-NA, Sri D.P. Sahu, Sri Sivanandan P. Mandal

(Some Builders of Modern Bihar – These photos were taken at Gandhi Sangrahalaya in Patna (Bihar).

Tribute to Gandhi by Martin Luther King Jr. – This photo was taken at Gandhi Sangrahalaya in Patna (Bihar).