Tilinga Mandir (Bell Temple)

On a trip to to my ancestral home, Guwahati, Assam, India, I took a side trip to the oil city of Duliajan to spend a few days with my sister and brother-in-law. On the morning of my return, I was persuaded to make a quick  pilgrimage to the Famous Tilinga Mandir , where if one pledged a Tilinga (Bell) with utmost devotion,  ones miseries will be mitigated and wishes fulfilled.  I vaguely remembered hearing about it, but the fable is well known in this area.

The story goes that a tea garden worker discovered a "Shiva Lingam" emerge from the ground at the base of a banyan tree in 1965. It became a place of worship and later a temple was built at the site. It became customary for worshippers to hang a tilinga on the  huge banyan tree, if their wish was granted. These days prayers at the temple, by devotees,  are associated with a "tilinga" offering.

My brother-in-law and I set off early morning to the little village of Bordubi, where the temple is located. After driving for a while on the dusty and potholed back country road we came upon the roadside temple, quite abruptly, after turning around a bend. It was unmistakable. Four gigantic bells adorned the small roof of the temple. And the banyan tree stands majestically, heavy with all sizes of tilingas, glimmering in the morning sunlight. The most amazing spectacle was the back wall of the temple  adorned with  thousands of bells, no longer shining, from decades of exposure to the elements, but occasionally tinkling in the wind as a silent reminder of the legions of pilgrims who have come here to seek the blessings of Lord Shiva.

There are numerous small roadside shops selling flowers, coconut and other religious offerings but the most striking items are the brass bells. It is customary to buy a couple of bells -- one to be hung at the temple and another to take home. After a prayer at the Lingam, and blessings from the priest, I hung a bell at the alter of the temple, and like legions of pilgrims before me I left with the other bell with a sense of  peace and fulfillment.