Lord Hanuman is the main deity who is worshiped in Mahavir Mandir. It is the most visited and is second wealthiest temple in North India, with Vaishno Devi occupying the first. It is next to Patna Junction and can be reached easily from different parts of the city. The committee estimates the daily income for the temple on an average is more than a lakh.
The Mahavir trust, which manages the temple runs many charitable institutes and hospitals. The beginning history of the temple is unknown and the temple gained fame from the year 1947, where some people rescued themselves during the partition of India. The Patna high court had declared this temple as public temple in the year 1948. A major renovation for the temple was done during 1983-1985. The temple was remodeled with marbled floors for all the three floors in the temple.
The ground floor in the temple is consecrated to lord Hanuman, the primary deity in Mahavir Mandir. Here inside the Garbha Graha, the place where main deity gets worshipped consists two Hanuman Idols, in which one Idol represents Pavitranaya Sadhunam, which meant protection of good and the other on the other hand represents Vinashaya cha dushkrutam, means destruction of evil.
By some historical excavations that scrutinized the place declared that the temple belonged to Ramanandi Sect, a highly respected group in ancient India. It was also said that the temple was constructed by Swami Balanand in the year 1730 AD. Till 1900 AD the temple was maintained by Ramanandi Sect which was later taken care by Gosain Sanyasis till 1948.
The entire reconstruction of the temple was completed volunteer donations by the public with the belief on management which undertook the temples` reconstruction. The second floor houses the life size idols of all Gods and Goddess along with the Ramasetu stone, which floats on water and is believed that it is the stone from the original Ramasetu Bridge which was constructed by Vanar sena, across the Indian ocean by providing the team of Lord Rama to cross the sea, while they were in search of Devi Sita. The volume of the stone is measured up to 13,000 mm which is weighed approximately 15 Kgs.
The third floor in the temple is only meant for Havans and for everyday rituals which is called sanskar mandap. The walls here were filled with pictorial Ramayana. There is a Dhyanamandap, at first floor for meditation purposes. Crossing this we can find the Idols of Lord Ganesh, Lord Buddha, Lord Satya Narayana, Devi Sarasvati and Lord Rama with Devi Sita. There is a Peepal tree facing these deities under which a small shrine was constructed for Lord Sani.
From the second floor of the temple, the magnificent view of the city can be seen. The temple has an office, a small shop which provides with the Puja articles along with some mythological books. There is also an Astrological/ Palmistry along with a gem stone center inside the temple premises. The Prasad here which is offered as a Naivaidyam, for the deities is specially made from caters of Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh, which tastes delicious.
Lord Buddha and Sabari are worshipped here along with Goswami Tulasidas ji who is seen below the main entrance called Simhadwara which directly faces the Idols of Lord Hanuman inside the main temple and a giant idol of Saint Ravidas. The pundits here are of higher rank called Bairagi Sadhus of Ramanandi Sect along with a dalit priest who performs everyday rituals.
In the days like Tuesday, Saturday a huge crowd is observed here in the temple to offer their prayers for the Lord. Festive events like Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti the crowd lasts more than a km long queue for darshan. The transport is so frequent to reach the place and can be reached by any means of transportation. It is just beside Patna Junction and is 6 km away from Airport and 5 km in distance from Mithapur busstop.