Thirty miles
northwest of Calcutta in the state of West Bengal, this city and holy site
(tirtha) is the most visited pilgrimage destination in the state due to its
proximity to Calcutta.
The shrine of Baba Tarakanath, who is the deity Shiva in his
incarnation as the "Lord of Liberation," is famed in Tarakeshvar.
Shiva is present in Tarakeshvar in the form of a linga,
Shiva's symbolic form, a pillar-shaped item.
The Tarakeshvar linga is said to be a "self-manifested"
(svayambhu) image that was created by divine self-revelation rather than by
human hands.
The site's founding story relates how Shiva's linga is
hidden in the dirt and only uncovered when a cow drops her milk on the area
above it as a gesture of adoration.
A man suffering from agonizing hemorrhoids receives relief
by drinking the water that has been poured on the linga as a gift, and
therefore is blessed by Shiva's touch, according to the founding myth.
The charter transmits the picture of a god who is present
and receptive to his followers (bhakta) as well as the feeling of a location
where humans might go to receive healing from their afflictions via these two
tales.
The ritual of dharna, in which pilgrims fast (upavasa) on
the temple's outside porch for as long as it takes the god to communicate with
them, typically in a dream, is one of the more bizarre manifestations of this.
E. Alan Morinis, Pilgrimage in the Hindu Tradition, 1984, is
a good source of knowledge.