Basara Saraswathi Temple Timings, History, Sevas

Basara Saraswathi Temple is a famous temple for Saraswati temple in Basara Village, Nirmal, Telangana State. Basara is an old-styled and attractive village on the borders of River Godavari and 30 km from Nizamabad. The glory of this village is attributed to the presence of the Gnana Saraswathi temple. Basara Gnana Saraswathi temple is one of the two Saraswati Temples of India.

The presiding deity is Saraswati and this temple is a major attraction for both locals as well as tourists who travel from far to offer their prayers. Basara Saraswathi temple is one of the most famous temples in Telangana. Tourists from all over India pay a visit to this temple every year. This Basara Gnana Saraswathi temple is one of the two Saraswathi temples of India, the other situated in Kashmir.

As the name suggests, this temple is devoted to worship the Goddess of knowledge, Goddess Saraswathi. The temple also has the idols of Goddess Lakshmi and Goddess Kali. There are various versions to the origin of this beautiful temple. Some say that it was built during the Chalukya period, while others believe that a king of Karnataka by the name of Bijialudu who ruled the Nanded area, built this Basara temple in the 6th Century.

Yet another belief is that Maharishi Veda Vyas stopped at this spot after the Kurukshetra war and laid the foundations of this temple by placing three heaps of sand representing the idols of the three Goddesses: Lakshmi, Saraswati and Kali. It is said that Maharishi Vyasa used sand and turmeric to make these three idols. This speculation of the origin of this temple should be believed as there is a marble image of Maharishi Vyasa along with his Samadhi here at Basara. Brahmanda Purana also believes that Maharishi Veda Vyasa completed the writing of the great epic Mahabharata at this place.

This temple is the most preferred religious place for performing Akshara Abhyasam for children as it has the Goddess of learning situated here. This ceremony marks the beginning of formal education in a child’s life and is held on the auspicious day of Vasant Panchami with great ordeal in the temple premises. Children enter the temple dressed in their best attires to practice writing the first alphabets in front of the Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge on the first day of spring. Goddess Saraswati blesses them to lead their life’s journey with a lot of wisdom. Children offer flowers to the Goddess and offer their books, pens and pencils as respect to seek her blessings.

Basara Saraswati temple sees the highest number of devotees pour in during the three festivals of Vyasa Purnima, Maha Shivaratri and Dussera Navaratri. The Maha Shivaratri festival is held during the Magh Bahula Trayodashi and it represents the greatness of Lord Shiva. The temple is completely decorated with flowers and thousands of devotees from all over Telangana and Maharashtra join the celebrations.

The Vyasa Purnima festival is celebrated to honor the founder of the temple Maharishi Vyasa. It is a major festival of the temple celebrated on Ashada Purnima every year. The nine days of the Navaratri festival also have the same significance in the temple celebrations. This Navaratri festival starting on the Ashwayuja Shudda Dashami every year sees hundreds of pious devotees joining the celebrations.

The idol of Goddess Mahakali is located very close to the main temple, on the first floor. The temple has gained a special prominence due to the presence of the three Goddesses, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Mahakali. Pilgrims usually refer to this temple of this holy threesome as the Divine Trinity.

Goddess Saraswati has only two temples attributed to her in India. The other one is found in Jammu & Kashmir. Therefore, the Basara Saraswati temple has achieved great significance due to its uniqueness.

Special Attractions of Basara Temple: The three idols of the Divine Trinity, Goddess Mahakali, Goddess Saraswati and Goddess Lakshmi are the most important attractions of this place.

The specialty of this temple lies in the fact that this is the only temple in India after the one in Jammu & Kashmir which is devoted to worship the Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge, Goddess Saraswati.

Basara Saraswathi Temple Timings: 4:00 AM to 8:30 PM on all days.

Basara Saraswati Temple Sevas:

Abhishekam
Special Kumkumarchana
Akshara Srikaram / Aksharabhyasam
Sri Sathyanarayana Swami Pooja
Special Akshara Srikaram
Nithya Chandi Homam
Upanayanam
Pallaki Seva ( Every Friday)
Special Darshanam (only one person)
Vyasa Guha Pravesham
Gnana Jyothi Deepam
Shashvatha Kumkumarchana (Early once)
Suvarna Pushparchana (only Friday 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM)
Shashvitha Pooja Abhishekam (Early once)
Vahana Poojalu

Accommodation in Basara:

The Basara Saraswati temple which is also known as the Sri Gnana Saraswati temple provides good accommodation facilities for the devotees. Some other known accommodations near Basara Temple are TTD Guest House, Vemulavada Guest House, Saraswathi Sadan Guest House, Nilanghekar Guest House, Gourla Guest House, Dharamshala Guest Houses, Rajanna Nilayam and Babli Soma Guest House and the State Tourism Punnami Hotel. There are many private hotels and lodges available near the temple.

Distance to Basara:

220 Kilometers from Hyderabad to Basara Temple.
32 Kilometers from Nizamabad to Basara.
250 Kilometers from Warangal to Basara.

How to Reach Basara Gnana Saraswati:

By Air:
The nearest airport is Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Hyderabad which is 257 km from the temple.

By Rail:
The Basara Railway station is nearby and is located between the Secunderabad Junction and the Mudkhed Junction.

By Road:
Basara is well connected by district buses, run by TSRTC. The temple is located about 207 kilometers from Hyderabad.
Telangana State Road Transport Corporation runs buses are available from Hyderabad to Basara from MGBS and JBS every one hour. The Buses starting from 4.00 AM to 11:10 PM
Hyderabad – Basara: 207 Kms, Nizamabad – Basara: 31.9 Kms, Nirmal – Basara: 72.6 Kms.

Hyderabad to Basara Train Timings are:

Kacheguda AK Express : 7:30 AM from Kacheguda.
Devagiri Express : 01:35 PM from Secunderabad.
Ajanta Express 06:10 PM from Secunderabad.
Krishna Express: 09:10 PM from Secunderabad.

Places Near Basara Temple:

Sri Mahankali Temple
Sri Dattatreya Temple
Sri Vyasa Maharshi Guha
Sri Vedavathi Shila ( Sri Vedavathi stone)
Godavari river
Lord Shiva temple at river Godavari bank

Procedure to book Accommodation at Basara:

To reserve rooms at Basar, write a letter to the Executive officer along with a D.D in favour of “Executive officer, Gnana Saraswathi Devi Devastahnam” payable at “State Bank of Hyderabad-Basar, Telangana”.

Note:-
Make sure to mention the date, time, days to stay, number of people and number of rooms you want to reserve.
Register post the letter to the following address.

Basar Gnana Saraswati Temple Address:

The Executive Officer
Sri Gnana Saraswathi Devasthanam,
Basara Village & Mandal,
Nirmal District,
Telangana – 504101.

Basara Temple Contact Numbers:
Sri Gnana Saraswati Devasthanam: 08752-243503
Executive Officer (Office): 08752-243550
E.O (Home) (91) 08752 – 243903