With the increase in the number of tourists, the temple's collection of offerings has also increased. The temple management committee has stated that an annual fund of Rs 15 million is currently being collected for offerings. The income is being spent on the development of the village and the educational sector.
What you should know
The number of pilgrims who visit and visit the Supa Deurali Temple, a religious tourist destination, is estimated to be around one million annually. Tourists enter the temple by reserving vehicles from various parts of Nepal and India.
‘The number of tourists who come to visit the temple and visit the nearby Narpani is more than one million every year,’ said Chura Bahadur KC, member of the Supa Deurali Temple Management Committee and ward chairman of Sandhikharka Municipality-7. ‘The number of people coming here is increasing every year. There are a lot of Indian pilgrims.’ He said that the reason for the influx of so many tourists is the religious belief that wishes will be fulfilled in Supa Deurali.
This temple is located between Sandhikharka Municipality-7 and Shitaganga Municipality-2. After visiting Supa Deurali, prasad is taken at Narpani, which is two kilometers away. He said that tourists enjoy visiting Narpani because it is a cool place. There is a greater crowd on Saturdays for darshan. He said that more than 500 to 3,000 pilgrims enter here daily. It is convenient because it is close to the Nepal/India border, Krishnanagar in Kapilvastu and Sunauli in Rupandehi. Hari Khanal, former vice-chairman of the management committee, said that the number of pilgrims from Kathmandu, Nepal's big cities, and the Terai, who reserve vehicles to visit and fulfill their vows, is increasing every year. Festivals such as Dashain and Tihar, New Year, etc. are crowded. He said that from Dashain to now, 5 to 20 pilgrims have visited the temple daily.
'Supa Deurali comes from far away even during holidays to celebrate Dashain Tihar,' Khanal said, 'The devotees have a religious belief that their wishes will be fulfilled in the temple. They offer gold, large sums of money, and pathapathi to the temple as a token of their gratitude.'
The temple, located in the hollow of two mountains, is also a tourist destination geographically. The management committee is active here to facilitate the visitors to visit the temple. The committee has 430 ordinary members. The locals take turns as the temple's watchman and manager. He said that most tourists come to Supa Deurali while touring Nepal, saying that this area is a religious place.
'I live in Kathmandu, my home is Chitwan,' said Bimala Poudel of Bharatpur, 'We all came to visit before giving tika to our brothers. We have faith in the temple, and visiting here gives us peace of mind when we do new things.' She had reserved a car with her parents and two brothers and came to Supa Deurali on Wednesday. She arrived at around 11 am, had darshan at the temple for an hour, then wandered around Narpani for two hours and returned home in the evening. During the visit, he spent most of his time taking videos and photos of the temple and the geography of the area for TikTok and reels on various mobile phones. Poudel said that he visits Supa Deurali once a year by arranging a time.
Supa Deurali is one of the hundred tourist destinations in Nepal. With the increase in the number of tourists, the collection of offerings at the temple is also increasing. The management committee has stated that the annual fund collection is one crore and five million rupees. The said income is being spent on the development and educational sector of the village.
History and importance of Supa Deurali
According to Pritam Thapa, former chairman of the management committee and outgoing ward chairman of Sandhikharka Municipality-7, the Supa Deurali temple is a famous religious place not only in Arghakhanchi but also in Nepal. The border of Sandhikharka and Shitaganga municipalities is located in the middle of the district at an altitude of about 4500 feet. Supa Deurali, located in Bhanjyang, which is at a higher altitude between the Nartanachal mountains of the two Mahabharata mountain ranges, is located in a magnificent gorge. The attractive natural waterfall of the Supa river, which falls from hundreds of feet above the temple, attracts pilgrims. In addition, the Kashyap cave, the statue of Maharishi Kashyap Rishi, has been installed in the north, which has further increased the attraction of the place.
Experts claim that there are various legends about the establishment of the temple and the stones of the stove, millstone, etc., made by Lord Rama's wife Sita, which are attached to the hill opposite the temple, can be said to have been here since the Treta Yuga. According to Yadav Ghimire, former secretary of the management committee, it is said that when Maharishi Panini came to the famous temple for penance from ancient times, he had a vision of Lord Shiva in Darud Van on the Nartanachal mountain while visiting the goddess while ascending.
According to him, during the reign of the Baisechaubise kingdom, the king of the Khanchikot kingdom, while marrying his daughter to a Rajput from India against his will, the princess disappeared from the carriage by the power of the goddess. In memory of his daughter, the king organized the Supa Deurali temple. Since then, it has been a tradition to make vows in this temple so that their wishes may be fulfilled and to offer various garlands, flags, clothes, gold and silver to the devotees and to fly pigeons. There is a cliff with a lahore attached to the wall near the temple.
This temple is located on the main road connecting the district headquarters to Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa, about 90 km away via the East-West Highway Gorusinge. Initially, the temple was built by a simple man who used to worship on the banks of the river and then in 2042 BS and for the second time in 064 BS by Baba Naranarayan. In recent times, pilgrims from various districts of India and Nepal have been coming here by reserving vehicles due to the religious belief that their wishes will be fulfilled.
A crowd of devotees gathers on Saturdays and Tuesdays to visit the temple. According to Hindu scriptures, sacrifices are not offered on the days of Ekadashi, Akshaya Tritiya, Aunshi, Krishna Janmashtami, Rishi Panjmi, Sri Panchami, Mahashivaratri and Chaite Ram Navami. Recently, there has been an increasing trend of posting TikToks and photos on social media showing two tall mountains with a lush green panoramic view from the touristic suspension bridge connecting two mountains about 200 meters from the temple.
