Basar is a village with wonderful gardens surrounded by the temple premises amidst the dry and barren patches of the north Telangana region, 30-km from Nizamabad. Basar is situated on the banks of River Godavari. It is located at a distance of about 220-km by road and 190-km by rail from Hyderabad.

Legend has it that Sage Vyasa during his stay here used to bring daily three handfuls of sand after a bath in Godavari and kept it at a place, which transformed as the images of Saraswati, Lakshmi and Kali. How ever, according to Brahmandapuranam, Adikavi Valmiki installed Saraswati and wrote Ramayana here. There is a marble image of Valmiki and his samadhi near the temple.

There is an ancient temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswathi. The temple at Basar is also the abode of Goddess Lakshmi and Kali. The current structure dates back to the Chalukya period. This temple has no exquisite carvings like other temples. The presiding deity, 'Gnana Saraswathi Devi', is in a seated position with a 'Veena' in hand and bedecked with turmeric. Adjacent is the shrine of Goddess Maha Lakshmi and a little distance away, on the eastern side is the Maha Kali temple.

Children are brought here for the ceremony of Akshara puja to start their education with the blessings of the Goddess of Knowledge.The Vedavathi Sila, the Ashtateerth are other places of interest around Basar. Thousands of devotees bath in the Godavari & seek the blessings of the Goddess during the Mahasivarathri festival.

LEGEND

It is believed that this temple is one of the three temples constructed near the confluence of Manjira and Godavari rivers by Ashtrakutas. According to another school of thought ‘Bijialudu’ a Karnataka king, who ruled the province of Nandagiri with Nanded as his capital in the sixth century, constructed the temple at Basara. The image of Lakshmi stands besides Goddess Saraswati in the sanctum sanctorum. Due to the presence of Saraswati, Lakshmi and Kali, Basara is considered as the abode of the divine trinity on the Bank of the River Godavari

Local legends suggest that Maharshi Vyasa the author of Mahabharata came to the forests of Dandakaryana to meditate. He began meditating on the banks of the River Godavari and found the place to be very peaceful. The divine mother is believed to have appeared before the sage and ordained him to build temples for the Shakti trio: Maha Saraswati, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Kali. The sage Veda Vyasa did so by bringing three handfuls of sand and sculpts out the figures. This place was initially named after Vyasa and was called "Vyasapuri". Later on it got corrupted to Vasara and ultimately Basara / Basar.

PLACES OF INTEREST