TREK TO SHIKARI DEVI, THE HUNTER GODDESS

TREK TO SHIKARI DEVI, THE HUNTER GODDESS


Shikari Devi temple is near to Seraj Valley, Janjelhi valley, karsog Valley in the Himalayas in Distt mandi Of Himachal Pradesh with beautiful view of pine, deodar woods and apple orchards. The Shikari Devi Temple is positioned at a height of 2850 meters above sea level in the state of Himachal Pradesh. It is extremely difficult to trek up to the Shikari Devi Temple from Janjheli, Bagsaid, Kandha or Karsog valley. You can enjoy a beautiful trip with different routes to reach upto ancient shrine of the Shikari Devi Temple located at the peak of the hill. 

The roofless shrine of Shikari Devi is an ancient structure believed to be from the time of the pandavas who came in this region during their exile. Shikari at a height of 10,768 ft above sea level is considered to be the highest peak in the entire Mandi district and offers amazing views of the valley on a clear day. 

It is also believed that during the winters when the entire surrounding is highly covered under thick snow, the main shrine surprisingly gathers no snow at all. The Goddess at the temple is actually Kali who is worshiped in the form of Shikari Devi (literally means Hunter Goddess).  



Every year during the Navaratra days fair is held here, which attracts a large number of devotees from all over the world.
The place is approachable by road and jeep ply from this Jinjheli village covering the distance of 16 kms. The route has beautiful sights on both side of the road. The devotees have to climb 500 stairs from the road side to reach the temple premises.Joginder Nagar Railway station is the closest railhead.
The Pandava brothers during their period of exile also mediated at this place and were blessed by Goddess Durga for their victory against their cousins Kauravas. During the epic battle of Mahabharta when no one could stop legend Bhishma Pitamah from the mass carnage in the battle ground,Arjuna was disgruntled. Goddess Durga appeared and pacified Arjuna and asked him to follow the instructions of Lord Krishna whom she referred to as Naraina (God) . She assured him to victory against the evil, a battle which she said is to be fought in every Yuga

The temple finds reference in the holy book Markandya Puran and great epic Mahabharta. It is stated that Sage Markandya mediated at this place for a number of years . During meditation he desired to see the worldly form of Goddess Durga (Mahishasur mardani) who killed the demons like Mahishasur, Rakata Bija, Madhu Kaitaba etc. without any help. The desire of Sage Markandya was fullfilled by Goddess Durga here

हिमाचल के मंडी में 2850 मीटर की ऊंचाई पर बना शिकारी देवी मंदिर आज भी लोगों के लिए रहस्य बना हुआ है। आज तक कोई भी शख्स इस मंदिर की छत नहीं लगवा पाया।
कहा जाता है कि मार्कण्डेय ऋषि ने यहां सालों तक तपस्या की थी। उन्हीं की तपस्या से खुश होकर मां दुर्गा शक्ति रूप में स्‍थापित हुई। बाद में पांडवों ने अज्ञातवास के दौरान मंदिर का निर्माण किया।
पांडवों ने यहां तपस्या की थी। मां दुर्गा तपस्या से प्रसन्‍न हुईं और पांडवों को कौरवों के खिलाफ युद्घ में जीत का आर्शीवाद दिया। इस दौरान यहां मंदिर का निर्माण तो किया गया मगर पूरा मंदिर नहीं बन पाया।
मां की पत्‍थर की मूर्ति स्थापित करने के बाद पांडव यहां से चले गए। यहां हर साल बर्फ तो खूब गिरती है मगर मां के स्‍थान पर कभी भी बर्फ नहीं टिकती।
क्योंकि ये पूरा क्षेत्र वन्य जीवों से भरा पड़ा था, इसीलिए शिकारी अक्सर यहां आने लगे। शिकारी भी माता से शिकार में सफलता की प्रार्थना करते थे और उन्हें कामयाबी भी मिलने लगी। इसी के बाद इस मंदिर का नाम शिकारी देवी के नाम से पड़ गया।
मगर सबसे हैरत वाली बात ये थी कि मंदिर पर छत नहीं लग पाई। कहा जाता है कि कई बार मंदिर पर छत लगवाने काम शुरू किया गया। लेकिन हर बार कोशिश नाकाम रही। माता की शक्ति के आगे कभी भी छत नहीं लग पाई।
आज भी हर साल यहां लाखों श्रद्घालु पहुंचते हैं। मंदिर तक पहुंचने का रास्ता भी बेहद ही सुंदर है। चारों तरफ हरियाली ही हरियाली दिखती है।
Warning: Due to heavy snowfall it is advised not to vist shikari mata temple duign snowfall or bad weather. Before starting a journey to Shikari Devi, please consult local police or persons. In jan 2017 at least 7 feet snowfall was detected. 

Shikari Devi temple is about 18 Kms from Janjehli and connected by a jeepable Forest road. It is situated at an altitude of 2850 Mtr. Thick forests on the way to Shikari peak are amazing. Being the highest peak of (JPG, 13 KB)Mandi District it is also called Crown of Mandi. Vast green pastures, captivating sunrise and sunset, panoramic view of snow ranges make this place favorite to nature lovers. The place receives a lot of snow during winters. The place can be approached from Karsog which is just 21 Kms from Shikari Devi. On the Shikari peak, there is a roofless temple of Shikari Devi, the Goddess of hunters and this temple is said to be established (Sathapit) by Pandavas


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chindi Mata Temple karsog / चिंडी माता मंदिर करसोग

Image
Chindi Mata Temple karsog / चिंडी माता मंदिर करसोग शिमला से करसोग मार्ग में चिंडी नामक गाँव स्थित है । शिमला से यह गाँव 90 किलोमीटर की दुरी पर है । करसोग से लगभग 13 किलोमीटर की दुरी पर स्थित है । यहाँ प्राचीन दुर्गा माँ का मंदिर निर्मित है । जिसे चिंडी माता के नाम से पुकारते है । इस मंदिर का धार्मिक दृष्टी से स्थानीय लोगों में बहुत महत्व है । मंदिर का जीर्णोधार करने के पश्चात् मंदिर की सुन्दरता देखते ही बनती है । इसमें लकड़ी पर सुनदर नक्काशी की गई है । मंदिर में पत्थर की प्रतिमा स्थापित की गई है । यह अष्टभुजी मूर्ति अति प्राचीन मानी जाती है । इसके साथ भगवान विष्णु जी की प्रतिमा भी है । मंदिर के साथ ही देवी का भंडार कक्ष है जिसमें देवी से सम्बंधित कीमती वस्त्र तथा सभी श्रृंगार प्रसाधन रखे है । लोगों में देवी के प्रकट होने की कथा प्रचलित है । कहा जाता है कि देवी कुलु जिला के जुफर नामक स्थान से आई है ।वहां पर काठु व सनोहली नाम का घास पाया जात था और माता को इसी का आसन दिया जाता था और खाने के लिए काठु नमक अनाज देते थे । जो एक विशेष प्रकार का अन्न होता था । ये सब माता को बिलकुल भ
Read more

MYSTERIOUS Eternal Flames of Jwala Ji Temple

Image
Mata  jwala  ji kangra Jwala Ji is Hindu temple located in the lower Himalayan town of Jawalamukhi in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. Dedicated to Hindu goddess Jwala, temple is probably the most ancient temple in India. It is mentioned in the Mahabharata and other scriptures. Unlike any other temple, Jwala Ji temple doesn’t have a statue or an image, but a constantly burning blue flame that seems to come from the rocks. The flame can be seen at various places in the temple and it is burning continuously since first date of its known history. Despite many scientific researches, the reason behind these natural flames couldn’t be found out. The scientists say there is a sleeping volcano under Jwala Ji temple and the natural gas coming out of that volcano is burning as flames, which Hindus revere as Goddess.  During 70s a foreign company was appointed by Government of India to explore possibilities of big reservoirs of natural gas there. They worked for some years but left sayin
Read more

Amazing 5000 year old Fire Pit of Shiva Temple

Image
Five thousand old ancient Mamleshwar Temple, at Karsog,HP Mamleshwar  Mahadev Temple:-  Another temple that is situated in the Karsog valley is Mamleshwar Mahadev Temple Mamel. Main thing about this temple is that their is a statue of lord Shiva & Parvati in this temple & in other Temple Lord Shiva Statue is in the form of Shiv Ling, but in this temple its different. One more thing is that, this statue is made up of metal whose name is Asht Dhatu. This Temple was made by Pandav’s of Mahabharat, while they were in their exile period. In the temple you can see the ropes of Pandav’s ancient time, the artwork on woods and stones. The temple have a great value local people and others life. So you can receive people always in the temple compound. It is easy to reach this temple from the Local Karsog Bustand. Malel is 4km far from karsog.  Apart from that huge sized rope there is an another thing which you may not see anywhere in the world is an grain of wheat whose weight
Read more