The Negheriting Shiva Doul is a Shiva temple in Dergaon

Dergaon

Dergaon is a town and a town area committee in Golaghat district in the state of Assam, India.Hemchandra Baruah, the compiler of Hemkosh was from Dergaon.-Geography:...

, Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

. Situated on a hillock

Hillock

A hillock or knoll is a small hill, usually separated from a larger group of hills such as a range. Hillocks are similar in their distribution and size to small mesas or buttes. The term is largely a British one...

  at about one and half km north from the National Highway 36

National Highway 36 (India)

National Highway 36, also known as NH 36, connects Nagaon in Assam and Dimapur in Nagaland. The total distance covered is , of which is in Assam and is in Nagaland....

 in the Golaghat

Golaghat

Golaghat , which was one of the largest subdivisions of Assam later, elevated to the position of a full-fledged district of Assam on 15 August 1987, is the headquarters of Golaghat district and is a sister town to Jorhat which is about 55 km away....

 district of Assam, the temple was first constructed by the Kachari

Kachari

Kachari or Cachari may refer to:*Kachari people*Kachari Kingdom*Kachari language*The Kachari Ruins in Dimapur...

s during 8th – 9th century AD. Later due to natural calamities it came into destruction. In 1687 it was re-constructed by Ahom king Swargadeo Rajeswar Singha. The famous architect assigned to the job was Ghanashyam Khonikar.

History

It is believed that the stones used to construct the temple were existed in the bank of river Dihing

Dihing River

Dihing or Burhi Dihing is a large tributary of the Brahmaputra in Upper Assam. The river originates in the Eastern Himalayas in Arunachal Pradesh and flows through Tinsukia and Dibrugarh Districts in Assam to its confluence with the Brahmaputra at Dihingmukh. The Dihing has created number of...

. Due to natural calamities the temple was destroyed and the remains were found in deep forest called Gajapanemara. Knowing somehow about the ruined temple and the Shiva linga, Ahom king Susenpha then built the temple right on that foundation and established the linga. However, as the Dihing river changed the course, the temple was again destroyed and merged into the river water. A devotee of lord Shiva found the ruined temple and the linga in the shallow water of river Dihing, now this place is known as Sheetal Negheri. Ahom king Rajeswar Singha brought the linga from the river and reconstructed the present temple and established the linga in it.

Architecture

The main temple is surrounded by four other temples namely the Bishnu, Ganesh, Surjya and Durga temple. A Banalinga

Banalinga

Banalinga, a stone found in nature, in the bed of the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh state, India, is an aniconic symbol of worship, based on either the scriptures or cultural traditions among the Hindus, particularly of the Shaivaites and Smartha Brahmins. Stones are ancient and connote divinity...

 of 3 feet in diameter is established in the main temple. According to legend a Rishi

Rishi

Rishi denotes the composers of Vedic hymns. However, according to post-Vedic tradition, the rishi is a "seer" to whom the Vedas were "originally revealed" through states of higher consciousness. The rishis were prominent when Vedic Hinduism took shape, as far back as some three thousand years...

 named Urba wanted to establish a second Kashi

Varanasi

-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...

 right on this place for which he collected lots of Shiva linga

Lingam

The Lingam is a representation of the Hindu deity Shiva used for worship in temples....

s there.

The name

The place where the temple is located was once the habitat of a peculiar bird locally known as Negheri. From this name the place has come to be known as Negheriting.

Maintenance

A priest named Bhudhar Agamacharji was appointed by king Rajeswar Singha for proper maintenance of the temple and also for the rituals to be performed. The Agamacharji family still performs worship and other maintenance works regularly. Customs of performing songs and dances called Deonati were prominent there in the temple.

The Monkeys

One of the attractions of the temple is the monkeys. The temple is the house of the rhesus monkeys where a sizeable population of this species is there.