Mount Mandara

Kurma Avatar of Vishnu, below Mount Mandara, with Vasuki wrapped around it, during Samudra manthan, the churning of the ocean of milk. ca 1870.

Mandara (Sanskrit: मंदार) is the name of a mountain which appears in the Samudra manthan episode in the Hindu Puranas, where it was used as a churning rod to churn the ocean of milk. The serpent, Vasuki offered to serve as the rope. The Puranas refer to various sacred places on the hill which is also believed to be the abode of god Krishna as Madhusudana or the destroyer of a demon called Madhu who was killed by Krishna and then covered by the Mandara mountain.

According to Legends and popular belief, this Mandara Hill is located on the state highway between Bhagalpur and Dumka. They are laced with a landscape of extraordinary splendor exposing the 800 feet high granite hill. One of the specialty of the mountain is that it is not composed of fragmented stones but the whole hill is one single structure.

Kalidasa’s Kumarasambhava refers to foot marks of Vishnu on the slopes of Mandara.^{[citation needed]} The hill is replete with relics of bygone ages.^{[citation needed]} Besides inscriptions and statues there are numerous rock cut sculptures depicting various Brahmanical images.^{[citation needed]} The hill is equally revered by the Jains who believe that their 12th Tirthankara attained nirvana here on the summit of the hill.^{[citation needed]}

Reaching There

It is very near to Bausi, a place located on the state highway between Bhagalpur and Dumka. Bausi is also connected with Bhagalpur through Rail. The hill actually is located on the road from Bausi to Godda.

References

• Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dallapiccola