Kokamukha-tirtha

Summary

The article investigates Kokamukha-tirtha, a sacred pilgrimage site linked to the Varaha (boar) form of Vishnu, by analysing epigraphic and Puranic evidence. Land grants in the Damodarpur copperplates of the Gupta era mention Kulaputra Amritadeva purchasing land in Ayodhya to provide offerings and repairs for the temple of Sveta-Varahasvamin; they also refer to the goddess Kokamukha-svamin. The inscriptions record villages and rivers in the Damodarpur region of northern Bengal, implying that land endowments for Kokamukha and Sveta Varaha were managed locally, yet the temples themselves were located far away in the Himalayan mountains. Scholars hypothesised that parts of the Himalayan belt may have fallen under the same administrative division as the Kotivarsa (Dinajpur) or Pundravardhana region, but the precise sites of the temples have eluded identification. To resolve this, the author turns to the Puranas. The Brahma-Purana contains chapters that praise Kokamukha as a tirtha in the Himalayas where the Koka river flows and where Vishnu is worshipped in his Varaha form. Quotations from the text describe the sanctity of Kokamukha, extolling those who visit the site and bathe in its waters. However, the Brahma-Purana does not provide sufficient geographic detail to locate it. The author then examines the Varaha-Purana, which includes the Kokamukha-mahatmya (glorification of Kokamukha) and subsequent chapters on Badarikashrama and Lohargala. In these chapters, Vishnu explains that his three great abodes on earth are Kokamukha, Badari (Badrinath) and Lohargala, all situated in the Himalayas. The Varaha-Purana and Vamana-Purana enumerate numerous holy places within each tirtha: for Kokamukha, the sacred spots include Jalabindu, Vighnudhara, Vishnupada, Vishnusara, and Somatirtha; for Badarikashrama, they list Brahmakunda, Agnisatyapada, Indraloka and many others; and for Lohargala, they mention Pancasara, Naradakunda, Vasisthakunda, Agnisarabkunda and more. Each site is described as being associated with streams that fall from the Himalayas. By collating these textual references, the article suggests that Kokamukha must have been in close proximity to Badarikashrama and Lohargala, within the Himalayan range. Yet the precise modern identification remains uncertain. The article concludes that while epigraphic evidence links the worship of Varaha to central Bengal, the actual shrine of Kokamukha was far away in the mountains. A systematic survey of Himalayan localities mentioned in Puranic texts might eventually reveal the lost pilgrimage site.