nadi se barh ka rishta
yugyugin hai aur atyadhik
jal pravah se hi barh ki
sthiti utpann hoti hai. is tarh
jana samjha ja sakta hai ki ‘barh’
sanpurn desh men ekmev vah nagri hai
jiske kismat ki tar barh se hi
banti bigrti rahi aur isi barh
kshetra ke pradhan devta shriumanath ji
hain jinka devalay relve steshan se
koi dhai ki.mi. duri par vard nan.
15 men livapur ke bagal men umanath
kshetra men hai. yahan ane ke lie relve
steshan se chote-bare vahan sahaj men
upalabdh hain. aise rashtriya rajmarg 31
par avasthit rahne se sarak marg se
yahan desh bhar se ana sanbhav hai.
sanpurn uttar bharat se bangal kshetra se
ane vale purane marg par ganga ke
dakshin men basa barh purakal se hi
samrik drishtikon se mahatvapurn raha
hai. palkalin shasan ke is charchit
sthal ne mugal kal ate-ate
vyaparik mandi v dharm ke sthal ke
rup men khyati arjit ki jahan aj
bhi anaj ki mandiyan v ek prakar
ke khas tarah ke mishtann ‘lai’ ki
charcha chahun or hai. barh men alkhnath
ghat, sirhiya ghat, samne ghat
(baba ajgaibinath ghat), posta
aefis ghat, banarsi ghat, sati
sthan ghat, gauri shankar ghatadi
bhi hain par dharmikta v sanskritik
samagam ke drishtikon se umanath
ghat par avasthit shri umanath
mandir samuh men bhakton ke agaman se
salon bhar chahl-pahal bana rahta hai.
bhagvan shiv shankar se jure shravan,
shivratri, basantpanchmi ke sath-sath
magh purnima, kartik purnima, ganga
dashhra, chath v shadi byah ke dinon
men jahan bhakton ke agaman se mela
lag jata hai.
barh ke shri umanath ki mahatta yahan
banaras ki bhanti hai. mandir se juri
ek prachin lokokti uddhat karne
yogya hai-
barh banaras ek hai
basant uttaravahni ganga ke tir.
baba umanath ke darshan se
kaya kanchan hot sharir.
aj bhi is kshetra men aise kitne hain
jo nitya ganga snan ke bad baba
darshan kar hi apni dinacharya ki
shuruat karte hain. umanath tirth ko
kahin-kahin amrnath ke nam se bhi
abhihit kiya gaya hai. shivshankr
pujan ke ashtadash sthalon men pariganya
‘umanath’ ki charcha shiv purana men hai.
aise shri rudravrikam ke satven shlok
men bhi umanath ka spasht ankan hai.
devi puran, vaman puran adi men
uma ki vyakhya karte bataya gaya hai
ki parvati dvara shivshankar prapti ke
uddeshya se ghor tapasya men ane ke
ganbhir nirnay ke uprant mata maina
stanbhit rah gain. unhonne taposadhna
karne se roka aur unke mukh se
achanak nikal para ‘u’ ‘ma’. yahi
uma kahlayin jinke natheshvar shri
bhole bhandari hain.
bharatavarsh men jahan jahan svayanbhu
shivling ki charcha hai unmen umanath
bhi ek hain jo bare hi jagrat hain.
kasauti pattharon se nirmit chamkdar
v sava bita vyasdhari baba umanath
ashufldata kahe jate hain jinke
mandir ke shikhar par ‘‘un 1935 hari’’
likha hua hai. samprati iske arghe
ko dhatukhand se mandit kar dene ke
karan iski sundrta men aur bhi
shri vriddhi hui hai. pas hi trishul,
damru v nandi pratima bhi shobhit hai.
is pradhan devalay ke pradesh khand ke
upar takhe par lakshmi v ganesh ki
pratima ek alankrit pashan khand par
ankit hai jo kisi prachin mandir ke
khand jan parte hain. shesh kuch anya
prachya stanbh v mandir ke khand ka
darshan manokamna mahadev sthan ke
chabutre ke pas kiya ja sakta hai.
yahin se samne ganga nadi ki or
jane ke marg bane hain.
umanath ke thik samne mata
parvati ki vigrah bhi akarshak va
prabhavotpadak hai. prabhu ke devalay ke
bagal men bajrang bali, piche santoshi
mata mandir v surya narayan ka
devalay hai. mandir ke pradesh khand
men sabse pahle siddhanath mahadev ke
sundar mandir ka darshan hota hai jiske
antrik shikhar par chitrakari kiya
gaya hai. isi ke age sati mandir
hai aur iske samne shri vishvakarma
mandir hai. shri umanath ke samne
vishal sabha bhavan ke ek tarf
bhairav to dusre taraf panchmukhi shiv
takhe men shebhayman hain. iske sath
piche ke divar par, vriksh ke chabutre par
v kinare men purva shilp virajit hain.
mandir ke pasharva men ek prachin kup hai
jiska nirman mandir ke samay men hi
hua bataya jata hai.
mandir ke vayovriddh pujari vishvanath
giri batate hain ki ganga mai se
prakatya is tejrup ling ko pahli
bar 1333 men rakshit karte hue mandir
ka rup diya gaya jo 1934 ke
bhukanp men tahs-nahas ho jane ke
karan 1934 i men punarnirmit kiya
gaya. isi samay yahan uttar ki or
shmashan ghat men sati sthan ka bhi
nirman hua. gyatavya hai ki pas
ke berhna ganv ki rup yauvna pati
viyog men isi varsh yahan sati ho gayi
jinhen devi avtar mana jata hai.
aise iske pahle bhi ek devi varahi
(barh vali devi) ki jankari
milti hai jinke sthan ki sthapna
1250 i. men hi sthaniya logon dvara
kiya gaya tha.
mandir parisar aur mandir ke thik pas
men hi yatriyon ke suvidharth dharmashalayen
hain. sundar v akarshak minakari se
yukt is mandir ke bahya darshan se
hi man mastishk men shiv bhakti ka
bhav svatah jagrat hota hai aur thik
bagal men kal-kal bahti man ganga
ki nirmal dhara aur upar se chalti
kabhi tej v kabhi mand hava jahan
bar-bar ane ko amantran pradan
karta pratit hota hai. is pure
kshetra men ganga kinare pipal vrikshon
ka bahulya hai jisapar khagvrindon ke
kalarav se guljar bana rahta hai.
barh v umanath ki charcha bihar
end odisha distrikt gajetiyar
ke sath kitne hi sthanon par hua
hai. yahan ki katha ek dharmanishth vriddha
mahila se juri hai jiska uma
namak ek santan tha vo yuvapan men
hi svarg sidhar gaya tabhi se vriddha
vikshipt rahne lagi. ek din sapne
men jankari mili ki uma mara nahin
bas apni kutiya ke bich men thori
jamin khodo. baba ka rup dekh
vriddha krit-krit ho usne ganga jal
v pas ke kandmul-falful sahit
baba ki pratham puja ki. kahte hain
vriddha itni dharmanishth v shivastha ki
adhar thin ki mrityoprant svayan shiv
ji ne bhesh badal mukhagni sanskar
sanpann kiya tha. muglkal men yahan
ki prasiddhi yathavat bani rahi aur
mugal shaskon ne bhi ise kisi na
kisi rup men sanrakshan pradan kiya,
yah yahan ke yashah mahima ka hi
suprabhav hai.
aj yahan ke mandir ka kalevar bara
hi man bhavan ho gaya hai. dinondin
bhakton ki barhti sankhya is bat
ke praman hain ki baba ka darbar
bhakton ke manah bhav ko purn karta
hai. kul milakar prakriti aur dharm ke
is sangam tirth men bhakton ki samasta
manokamnaen purn hoti hain aur
umanath ji ki kripa se kathin marga
bhi saral ho jate hain.