Mahendra Nath Temple

Getting there

• By air

  Patna is the nearest airport to the temple, about 115 km away.

• By train

  Get down at Siwan railway station, which is well connected to cities across the country, and continue by road. Ekama railway station in Chhapra district is another option, with a road journey to the temple.

• By road

  Buses and private vehicles reach the temple by road, by way of Chainpur via Siwan, on the Hasanpura Sisvan route.

Why devotees come here

Mahendra Nath Temple is a Shiva temple in Mehdar village, about 32 km south of the Siwan district headquarters in Bihar. Visitors come from far-flung areas, and foreigners are among them. It is linked to a legend of a Nepali king who was cured after a bath.

Mahendra Nath Temple is a temple of Shiva in Mehdar village, under the Siswan block of Siwan district. The district government lists it among the tourist places of Siwan district. Legend says a Nepali king suffering from leprosy was told by Shiva in a dream to bathe in a small pond, where a Shivling lay buried near a poplar tree. After the bath the king was cured. He then built a temple here and enlarged the pond to 52 bighas.

The temple was built by Nepal King Mahendravir Vikram Sahdev in the seventeenth century, and he named it Mahendranath. It stands on the bank of Kamaldah Lake. Its architecture blends the Nagara and Vesara styles of Bihar's traditional temples. Both the inside and the outside are carved with deities, celestial beings, and scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Festivals

• First Monday of Sawan, and the whole Sawan monthSawan Mondays

  Devotees gather from the early hours to offer water to the Shiva lingam.

• In Sawan, on MahashivratriMahashivratri

  Lakhs of devotees perform abhishek with water at the Shivling.

• Shardiya Navratri, and Krishna paksha Trayodashi every monthShardiya Navratri

  Shiva devotees come in large crowds to the temple on these days.

• DussehraDussehra

  Ten days of continuous bhajan and sankirtan are held at the temple.

Tips for your visit

• Mahendranath Halt is near the temple, and passenger trains stop there.
• On the first Monday of Sawan in 2022, the gates opened around 3 am and devotees entered in large numbers, causing heavy crowding.

Questions people ask