Patan devi According to the
Hindu mythology, it is believed that the right thigh of
Devi Sati fell in
Magadh and it is said that the part of the body of Sati fell in both Maharajganj and Chowk areas in Old Patna city. At these places, the Badi Patan Devi temple and the Chhoti Patan Devi temple were built. According to the Tantra Charumani, the small images of the Bari Patan Devi Temple, Patna are the Goddess
Mahakali,
Mahalakshmi and
Mahasaraswati. In
Hindu mythology, these Goddesses protected Putraka, who was the founder of
Pataliputra. A strange stone image has been found in a tank near the Bari Patan Devi Temple, Patna. That image has been kept in the eastern veranda of the main temple where this stone is being worshiped regularly.
Bari Patan Devi The Bari Patan Devi Temple, Patna is facing the North, towards the
Ganges river. The statues of the temple are all made up in black stone. At the entrance of the temple there is a portico of dimension . After that there is a room of about for gods namely,
Mahakali (), Maha
Lakshmi ()), Maha
Saraswati ()) and
Bhairav ()).All the idols are kept on simhasans (thrones) of about 4 square in cross section and have a height of about ). First three goddesses are attired in
sarees. Badi Patan Devi temple was founded by Shri Badrinath Chaudhary, a famous inspector of British era. Devotees can go to the temple at any time of the day. The temple does not distinguish between any
caste or creed and hence is open for all religions and castes. The temple remains open from morning 6 am to 10 pm. Tuesday is a special day for the devotees and a large number of worshipers visit the temple. Promises are being made before the
Goddess and on the fulfillment of the wishes devotees offer gifts and
sarees in the temple.
Chhoti Patan Devi This temple is situated in the Chowk area of Patna City and once was considered as the main presiding deity of Patna. Over the years it has slipped to the second position of eminence, after the Bari Patan Devi temple, as city's presiding deity, with epithet 'Choti' (smaller) to the more popular one, the Bari (bigger) Patan Devi. But a
historian called Buchanan was very specific in stating that it was this very temple (Choti Patendevi) which held the primary position as the city's presiding deity during 18th and early 19th century. The present temple does not seem to be of any great antiquity. The images inside the temple, if Buchanan is to be believed, were installed by
Man Singh, the famous general of the Mughal emperor
Akbar. The temple, however, houses a host of intact and severed Brahmanical images, including,
Ganesh,
Vishnu and
Surya. Beyond the temple, but within its precincts, lie in open fragments of door jumbs/lintels and yet other set of images. Of these, an impressive, but broken sun-image is the most prominent. According to many historians, it is very likely that some early
medieval temple was built here sometime in 9th-11th Century CE and these fragmentary stray sculptural/structural relics are only its ruins. Probably, these were reinstalled in a new temple, built during the 16th-17th century by Man Singh. But authentic information on this count is woefully wanting. ==Important festivals==