Location of Shrine
Ugratara Bhagwati Temple is located in Amargadhi Municipality in Dadeldhura district. It lies on a hill located at some 6 kilometers north of the district headquarters. The place is known as Pokhara on the way to Baitadi from Dadeldhura.This is a very old temple of a goddess. Once upon a time when the temple was attacked, it was reconstructed by the Doteli King Nag Malla in 16th century. The two-storey temple is constructed in pagoda style. The roof of first floor is made up of stone while the second floor is of copper. The upper part of the temple has been decorated with pinnacle and trident. The central home of the temple comprises a goddess idol of Sangamarmar spread in he eight forms. This idol was established just before few years. Prior to that, there was a stone as a symbol of the goddess, which is still found there at the same spot.
How to Reach
The road towards the temple has already been blacktoped. Thus, there is no difficulty in finding a local transport to reach the temple. There are plenty of local transport facilities from Amargadhi Municipality to the temple.
Significance of Shrine
There is a belief about the origin of Ugratara Bhagwati – blood started to flow form a stone when a local Saud farmer was ploughing the field through yoke in the same place where the temple is located now. Following this, he hardly pressed the bleeding spot on the idol with his food called Khichdi. The blood flow came to a halt, and the goddess Ugratara appeared. The very next day, he established the stone as a symbol of goddess and started worshipping it. Since then, there is a tradition of offering Khichdi to the goddess during the special occasions. And till date, the descendants of same Saud serve as priests in the temple. Nearby the goddess temple, there is a small Shiva Parbati temple and Bhairav temple in the lower section. Similarly, there is a wooden structure Maulo for animal sacrifices, where buffaloes are sacrificed. There is a tradition of offering sacrifices to the idol of Kali which is located along with Bhagwati. It is also said that coconuts used to be offered here in the past, while there is a place called Dudhdhari from where milk used to flow. There is a tradition of worshipping Bhumiraj, Bhumigram and Salleswori before offering prayers to the goddess.
Major Festivals
There is a routine Puja in the temple. It is prohibited to enter the central part of the temple except for the main priest. There are special fairs organized during the festivals like Bada Dashain, Chaite Dashain, Basanta Panchami, Saune Sankranti and Kartik Sukla Purnima. Besides, the crowds also throng the temple during Ashwin- Sukla Asthami. Animal sacrifices are prohibited from before 3 days of the fair. Though buffaloes are sacrificed only during Maha Asthami, goats are sacrificed on the regular basis. However, all the sacrifices are prohibited during the Nepali months of Poush, Shrawan and Chaitra.