nadi se barh ka rishta yugyugin hai aur atyadhik jal pravah se hi barh ki sthiti utpann hoti hai. is tarah jana samjha ja sakta hai ki ‘barh’ sanpurn desh men ekmev vah nagri hai jiske kismat ki tar barh se hi banti bigrti rahi aur isi barh kshetra ke pradhan devta shriumanath ji hain jinka devalay relve steshan se koi dhai ki.mi. duri par vard nan. 15 men livapur ke bagal men umanath kshetra men hai. yahan ane ke lie relve steshan se chote-bare vahan sahaj men upalabdh hain. aise rashtriya rajmarg 31 par avasthit rahne se sarak marg se yahan desh bhar se ana sanbhav hai.
sanpurn uttar bharat se bangal kshetra se ane vale purane marg par ganga ke dakshin men basa barh purakal se hi samrik drishtikon se mahatvapurn raha hai. palkalin shasan ke is charchit sthal ne mugal kal ate-ate vyaparik mandi v dharm ke sthal ke rup men khyati arjit ki jahan aj bhi anaj ki mandiyan v ek prakar ke khas tarah ke mishtann ‘lai’ ki charcha chahun or hai. barh men alkhnath ghat, sirhiya ghat, samne ghat (baba ajgaibinath ghat), post aefis ghat, banarsi ghat, sati sthan ghat, gauri shankar ghatadi bhi hain par dharmikta v sanskritik samagam ke drishtikon se umanath ghat par avasthit shri umanath mandir samuh men bhakton ke agaman se salon bhar chahl-pahal bana rahta hai.
bhagvan shiv shankar se jure shravan, shivratri, basantpanchmi ke sath-sath magh purnima, kartik purnima, ganga dashhra, chath v shadi byah ke dinon men jahan bhakton ke agaman se mela lag jata hai. barh ke shri umanath ki mahatta yahan banaras ki bhanti hai. mandir se juri ek prachin lokokti uddhat karne yogya hai- barh banaras ek hai basant uttaravahni ganga ke tir. baba umanath ke darshan se kaya kanchan hot sharir. aj bhi is kshetra men aise kitne hain jo nitya ganga snan ke bad baba darshan kar hi apni dinacharya ki shuruat karte hain. umanath tirth ko kahin-kahin amrnath ke nam se bhi abhihit kiya gaya hai. shivshankar pujan ke ashtadash sthalon men pariganya ‘umanath’ ki charcha shiv purana men hai. aise shri rudravrikam ke satven shlok men bhi umanath ka spasht ankan hai.
devi puran, vaman puran adi men uma ki vyakhya karte bataya gaya hai ki parvati dvara shivshankar prapti ke uddeshya se ghor tapasya men ane ke ganbhir nirnay ke uprant mata maina stanbhit rah gain. unhonne taposadhna karne se roka aur unke mukh se achanak nikal para ‘u’ ‘ma’. yahi uma kahlayin jinke natheshvar shri bhole bhandari hain. bharatavarsh men jahan jahan svayanbhu shivling ki charcha hai unmen umanath bhi ek hain jo bare hi jagrat hain. kasauti pattharon se nirmit chamkdar v sava bita vyasdhari baba umanath ashufldata kahe jate hain jinke mandir ke shikhar par ‘‘un 1935 hari’’ likha hua hai. samprati iske arghe ko dhatukhand se mandit kar dene ke karan iski sundrta men aur bhi shri vriddhi hui hai.
pas hi trishul, damru v nandi pratima bhi shobhit hai. is pradhan devalay ke pradesh khand ke upar takhe par lakshmi v ganesh ki pratima ek alankrit pashan khand par ankit hai jo kisi prachin mandir ke khand jan parte hain. shesh kuch anya prachya stanbh v mandir ke khand ka darshan manokamna mahadev sthan ke chabutre ke pas kiya ja sakta hai. yahin se samne ganga nadi ki or jane ke marg bane hain. umanath ke thik samne mata parvati ki vigrah bhi akarshak v prabhavotpadak hai. prabhu ke devalay ke bagal men bajrang bali, piche santoshi mata mandir v surya narayan ka devalay hai.
mandir ke pradesh khand men sabse pahle siddhanath mahadev ke sundar mandir ka darshan hota hai jiske antrik shikhar par chitrakari kiya gaya hai. isi ke age sati mandir hai aur iske samne shri vishvakarma mandir hai. shri umanath ke samne vishal sabha bhavan ke ek taraf bhairav to dusre taraf panchmukhi shiv takhe men shebhayman hain. iske sath piche ke divar par, vriksh ke chabutre par v kinare men purva shilp virajit hain. mandir ke pasharva men ek prachin kup hai jiska nirman mandir ke samay men hi hua bataya jata hai. mandir ke vayovriddh pujari vishvanath giri batate hain ki ganga mai se prakatya is tejrup ling ko pahli bar 1333 men rakshit karte hue mandir ka rup diya gaya jo 1934 ke bhukanp men tahs-nahas ho jane ke karan 1934 i men punarnirmit kiya gaya. isi samay yahan uttar ki or shmashan ghat men sati sthan ka bhi nirman hua.
gyatavya hai ki pas ke berhna ganv ki rup yauvna pati viyog men isi varsh yahan sati ho gayi jinhen devi avtar mana jata hai. aise iske pahle bhi ek devi varahi (barh vali devi) ki jankari milti hai jinke sthan ki sthapna 1250 i. men hi sthaniya logon dvara kiya gaya tha. mandir parisar aur mandir ke thik pas men hi yatriyon ke suvidharth dharmashalayen hain. sundar v akarshak minakari se yukt is mandir ke bahya darshan se hi man mastishk men shiv bhakti ka bhav svatah jagrat hota hai aur thik bagal men kal-kal bahti man ganga ki nirmal dhara aur upar se chalti kabhi tej v kabhi mand hava jahan bar-bar ane ko amantran pradan karta pratit hota hai.
is pure kshetra men ganga kinare pipal vrikshon ka bahulya hai jisapar khagvrindon ke kalarav se guljar bana rahta hai. barh v umanath ki charcha bihar end odisha distrikt gajetiyar ke sath kitne hi sthanon par hua hai. yahan ki katha ek dharmanishth vriddh mahila se juri hai jiska uma namak ek santan tha vo yuvapan men hi svarg sidhar gaya tabhi se vriddha vikshipt rahne lagi. ek din sapne men jankari mili ki uma mara nahin bas apni kutiya ke bich men thori jamin khodo. baba ka rup dekh vriddha krit-krit ho usne ganga jal v pas ke kandmul-falful sahit baba ki pratham puja ki. kahte hain vriddha itni dharmanishth v shivastha ki adhar thin ki mrityoprant svayan shiv ji ne bhesh badal mukhagni sanskar sanpann kiya tha.
muglkal men yahan ki prasiddhi yathavat bani rahi aur mugal shaskon ne bhi ise kisi n kisi rup men sanrakshan pradan kiya, yah yahan ke yashah mahima ka hi suprabhav hai. aj yahan ke mandir ka kalevar bara hi man bhavan ho gaya hai. dinondin bhakton ki barhti sankhya is bat ke praman hain ki baba ka darbar bhakton ke manah bhav ko purn karta hai. kul milakar prakriti aur dharm ke is sangam tirth men bhakton ki samast manokamnaen purn hoti hain aur umanath ji ki kripa se kathin marg bhi saral ho jate hain.