Basar is a census town in the nirmal district in the state of Telangana and is famous for Gnana Saraswati Temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati located on the banks of Godavari River.

It is one of the two famous Saraswati temples in India, the other being in Jammu & Kashmir. Saraswati is the Hindu Goddess of knowledge and learning. Children are brought to the temple for the learning ceremony called as Akshara abyasam.

According to Mahabharatha, Maharishi Vyas and his disciples and sage Viswamitra decided to settle down in a cool and serene atmosphere after the Kurukshetra War. In the quest for a peaceful abode, he came to Dandaka forest and, pleased with serenity of the region, selected this place.  The divine mother is believed to have appeared before the sage and ordained him to build temples for the Shakti trio: Maha Saraswathi, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Kali. The sage Veda Vyasa did so by bringing three handfuls of sand and sculpts out the figures. This place was initially named after Vyasa and was called “Vyasapuri”. Later on it got took names Vasara and ultimately Basara/Basar.

The presiding deity, ‘Gnana Saraswathi Devi’, is in a seated position with a ‘Veena’ in hand and bedecked with turmeric. Adjacent is the shrine of Goddess Maha Lakshmi and a little distance away, on the eastern side is the Maha Kali temple.

Some 100m from the temple there is the cave, where the devout ‘Narahari Maluka’ is believed to have performed rigorous penance. There is a four-sided monolith rock called “Vedavathi”, which produces different sounds on each side when struck. It is said to contain jewels of Sita Devi. There are eight ‘Pushkarnis’ spread across the village known as ‘Indra Teeratham’, ‘Surya Teeratham’, ‘Vyasa Teeratham’, ‘Valmiki Teeratham’, ‘Vishnu Teeratham’, ‘Ganesha Teeratham’, ‘Puthra Teeratham’ and ‘Shiva Teeratham’.

The most important festivals celebrated are Maha Shivaratri (February-March) and Devi Navaratrulu (Septmber-October).

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnana_Saraswati_Temple,_Basar

http://www.basaratemple.org/legend.html