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Nestled in rural Bengal, the medium-sized Tara temple in Tarapith draws fame as a pilgrimage site due to its unique blend of myths, worship practices (including blood offerings), sacred hymns, the power attributed to its adjacent tank, and the distinct inhabitants and rituals of the nearby cremation ground.

Constructed with thick red brick walls, the temple's superstructure features covered passages with numerous arches culminating in a spire. The deity's image resides in the sanctum beneath the eaves. Intriguingly, two Tara images are enshrined: a stone "primordial image" depicting Tara as a mother suckling Shiva (a gentler aspect, contrasting with her fierce form) and a three-foot metal image, typically seen by devotees. This outer image portrays Tara in her fiery manifestation with four arms, a garland of skulls, and a protruding tongue, adorned with a silver crown, flowing hair, a sari, marigold garlands, and a silver umbrella. A red kumkum mark graces the metal image's forehead, a speck of which priests apply to devotees as a blessing. Offerings include coconuts, bananas, silk saris, and, unusually, bottles of whiskey. The primordial stone image is described as a "dramatic Hindu image of Tara’s gentler aspect."

The temple priests conduct puja with deep reverence, aiming to evoke Tara's motherly aspect for devotees, merging the fierce North Indian Sati myth with the peaceful, visionary form of Tara as perceived by Buddha and the Tantric sage Vasishtha – a connection to the Buddhist Tara tradition. At Tarapith, the softer, maternal side of the powerful goddess is emphasized through devotional hymns and poems.

Devotees partake in a holy bath in the sacred tank beside the temple before and after worship, believing its waters possess healing properties and even the power to restore life.

A daily practice in the temple is the blood sacrifice of goats, offered by devotees seeking the deity's blessings. These goats are bathed in the holy tank before the ritual, and devotees also purify themselves in the same waters before offering worship. The goat is then tethered to a stake in a sand pit and swiftly butchered. A small amount of its blood is collected and offered to the deity inside the temple, and devotees often smear their foreheads with blood from the pit as a sign of reverence.

Numerous legends narrate the origin and significance of Tarapith, all centered around the deified Goddess Tara. One prominent legend connects it to the Shakti Piths, sites where parts of Sati's body fell after Vishnu dismembered her corpse to pacify a grief-stricken Shiva following Sati's self-immolation in her father Daksha's yajna. These 51 holy sites, including Kalighat in West Bengal, are dedicated to various manifestations of the Goddess.

Another legend states that Vasishtha, having witnessed Tara's form, worshipped Sati in her Tara manifestation at this location, which was already known as a Tarapith. A local narrative recounts Shiva drinking poison to save the universe and Sati, in her Tara form, breastfeeding him to alleviate the burning sensation. Tarapith is considered a Siddha Pith among these holy sites, believed to grant enlightenment, wisdom, happiness, and supernatural powers (siddhis). Its name, Sidhho Pith, reinforces this belief in its power.

An oral tradition tells of Sage Vashistha's initial unsuccessful austerities to Tara. Guided by a divine voice, he sought the Buddha in Tibet, who instructed him to worship Tara through vamachara practices. During this time, Buddha envisioned Tarapith as the ideal place to enshrine Tara's image. Following Buddha's advice, Vasishtha went to Tarapith and performed intense penance, reciting the Tara mantra 300,000 times. Pleased, Tara appeared before him. Vasishtha requested her to manifest in the form Buddha had seen: a mother suckling Shiva. Tara then incarnated in this form before Vasishtha and transformed into the stone image now worshipped in the Tarapith temple.

The cremation ground (maha smasan), enveloped by a dense forest and bordering the river, lies at the edge of town, separate from the everyday life of Bengali society. In Bengal's spiritual landscape, Tarapith's cremation ground is integral to the Shakti Pith. It is believed that Goddess Tara can be seen in the shadows, drinking the blood of the daily goat sacrifices, appeasing her power and granting favors.

Tantric practitioners believe Tara is drawn to bones and skeletons, making the cremation ground her preferred abode. Her iconography often depicts her amidst such grounds, leading generations of Tantrics to flock here for their sadhana, with many Sadhus residing permanently. These "dread-locked ash-smeared sadhus" have built huts among banyan trees, adorning them with red-painted skulls embedded in mud walls, alongside calendar images of Hindu goddesses, Tarapith saints, and trishuls decorated with marigold garlands and skulls. Human and animal skulls (jackals, vultures – considered unsuitable for Tantric rites –) and snake skins decorate these dwellings. Skulls deemed suitable for Tantric rituals and drinking by Tantrics undergo a curing process before use; skulls of virgins and those who committed suicide are believed to be particularly potent.