Deo Surya Mandir (Devark)

Deo, Aurangabad district, Bihar

Famous temples

Photo: Thomas Daniell, Public domain

About

Deo Surya Mandir, also called Devark, is an old stone temple of Surya Dev in the small town of Deo in Aurangabad district, Bihar. It is one of the best-loved places of Sun worship in Bihar. Most Sun temples face east, towards the rising sun, but this one faces west, towards the setting sun. Built of carved stone, it has a tall spire crowned with a golden kalash. The temple is best known for Chhath. In Kartik and again in Chaitra, lakhs of devotees come to Deo, bathe in the holy Surya Kund and offer arghya to the Sun.

The story

Many stories are told about Deo. The best known is of King Aila. Out hunting in the forest here, he drank from an old pond and bathed in it, and, as the story goes, the skin disease that troubled him went away. In a dream he learned that Aditya, in the form of the three gods, rested in that pond. Images of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiv were found in it, and the king built a temple for Surya Dev. Another belief says that Vishwakarma, the divine builder, raised the temple in a single night. A third story tells that when the devtas had lost a battle, Devmata Aditi prayed to Chhathi Maiya here and was blessed with a radiant son, Aditya; this is why devotees link the beginning of Chhath with Deo. Why does the temple face west? A folk tale says that when the temple was in danger, the priests prayed all night, and in the morning people saw that its doorway had turned from east to west. Going by its style and inscriptions, historians place the first temple somewhere between the 6th and 9th centuries, and an inscription of 1437 records work on the temple under a local king, Bhairavendra.

Visiting

October to March is pleasant. The Chhath days of Kartik and Chaitra bring huge crowds, so arrange your stay early. Sundays are busy too. Wear simple clothes and leave footwear before the steps. The old Deo fort of the local rulers and the Sun temple on Umga hill are nearby.