Construction of the temple

The construction of the Chattarpur Temple, one of the most visited temples and a wonder of architecture was started in 1974. The Shaktipeeth designed to the last detail under the passionate and skilful guidance of Baba, started taking shape and devotees started gathering around him. Baba’s charismatic personality and compassionate nature aided by his straight forward message of removing the veil of superstition and ignorance from the minds of the common man had a great effect on the masses of the area. Baba’s mission to reveal to them the Sanaatan Dharma in its true and undistorted form with a view to spread the message of brotherhood, tolerance and patriotism attracted more and more people, who were willing to provide not only the financial support but also the physical labour required for building of the temple.

With The Divine Mother’s grace, plots were purchased in phases (in some cases, some of the devotees gifted their small land holdings), all charges paid for along with requisite registration.

While the construction of the temple complex was progressing, Baba’s “Matri Parivar”, as he called the devotees, grew at a phenomenal pace. The Shaktipeeth soon became a popular place of pilgrimage, which devotees from all over the world started visiting and this tiny unknown village soon became a mini temple – town.

Baba was totally averse to personal glorification of any kind. As a result, nowhere in the temple precincts can one find any placard, label or indication mentioning any individual for contributions. Narrow considerations of colour, caste, creed, region, social and economic status, etc have no place in the temple precincts. The rich, the mighty, the poor, the down trodden all sit together, worship and eat together, as children of the Benevolent Mother, Katyayani Devi.

Any commercial activity or profit motive in any of the activities or services in the Shaktipeeth were totally banned by Baba. The worshippers are not required to pay any thing for devotional service (Pooja), nor are the priests permitted to accept anything for themselves or for the temple. The authorities encourage voluntary donations only in the form of cheques, drafts or credit card transfers. No one is authorised to take cash. Those who wish to give offerings in cash have to drop them in the donation boxes kept at various places to ensure the voluntary character and anonymity. These boxes are opened in the presence of a specified number of committee members and duly accounted for.

I was amazed to learn that despite the fact that large sums were required for the construction and upkeep of the Shaktipeeth, just before the commencement of Navratras, Baba used to send offerings to other temples for construction, renovation work. We were told that Baba provided financial and technical help not only to the temples like Jwala ji, The Chintpoorni Temple, Kangra ji, Baijnath, but also sent contributions to some of the well known Muslim places of worship. No wonder then Baba was revered not only by the Hindus but also by the followers of other faiths.

While the construction of temple was progressing and the throng of devotees was multiplying, the unending hard work started telling on Baba’s health. I was told that by the beginning of 1993, Baba had to be given oxygen for long durations and thereafter constantly. It was only through Ma Durga’s grace that despite such serious ailments, Baba, moving about a wheel chair, kept on monitoring the growth of the temple, till he breathed his last on mid night between December 15 and 16, 1998.