Neeru Teela (Mound)

Adjoining the Math is another domain famous as Neeru Teela, about which we have briefly talked earlier. This Teela is higher than the temple platform. This Teela guards and nurses the remains of Kabir’s surrogate parents, Neeru and Nima. The shrine is ornamented with beautiful marble stone. The Teela also accommodates an inn for the visitors.

Before taking sanyas (vow of saintliness) Sant Kabir used to earn his livelihood by operating the handloom from this very place. And it was here that Kabir’s journey of soul-searching and deciphering (adhyatm) began. This constant endeavour and quest was decribed by the great man as ‘jheeni jheeni beeni chadariya’. The Teela is the main center of self-reflection while earning. Kabir emphasised on the importance of work and earning a livelihood while adhyatm. We see that most of the important figures during the ‘Bhakti Movement’ followed Kabir’s idea of ‘shramjeevi sant’. The Kabirpanthi saints too followed this principle and reached unattainable heights in their mission and careers.

Neeru’s house that stood on the mound was made of mud with earthen tiles serving as the roof. The house contained all the handloom apparatus that were destroyed while demolishing the hut. These old rooms should have been left untouched so that they could be assessed archaeologically. Remnants of Sant Kabir’s handloom have been preserved in the Smriti Kaksh, while some other are preserved in the Har Mandir Sahib temple in Patna. The remaining part of the Teela has been converted into a patch of greenery with flowers and trees so as to give the visitors a feel of nature that was so prominent in Sant Kabir’s verses