Naina Devi Temple

Overview

The Shri Naina Devi Ji is in Himachal Pradesh. It is one of the 51 Shaktipeeths where limbs of Sati fell on Earth. This holy place witnesses the huge crowd of pilgrims and devotees round the year and especially during Shravan Ashtami and in the Navratras of Chaitra and Ashwin.

About The Temple

Shri Naina Devi Temple is located on an altitude of 1177 meters in Distt. Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh. The temple is created from marble and looks simply magnificent. The doors of first door are overlaid by silver on which beautiful figures of deities have been carved out. The door of main temple is also overlaid by silver and has pictures of Lord Sun and other Gods on it. The main temple has three stone statues. First one is the main figure of Shri Naina Bhagwati in the form of a Pindi having two beautiful prominent eyes. Second figure on the right side also has two eyes and is believed to be established by Paandavs in Dwaapar Yug. There is a figure of Lord Ganesh on the left side. Two statues of lions are present at the main entrance of the temple.

Cave

The cave of Shri Naina Devi Ji is 70 feet long and located near the main shrine. Earlier, people used to trek the steep path of 1.25 KMS to reach the temple but the facility of cable car has now facilitated the journey.

Ropeway

It is established by a company from Kolkata and also known as “Rajju Marg”. One can take cable cars from this place to reach bhavan. There are approximately 20 cable cars here with approximate fare of Rs. 35 for one side.

Kripali Kund

When Devi defeated the demon Mahishasur, she took out both his eyes and threw them on the back side of Naina Devi hills. Both eyes fell on different places where two wells originated later. Both these wells are at a distance of 2 K.M. downside from the temple. One of these is called “Bam ki Bawri” or ‘Jheera ki Bawri” and other is “Bhubhak Bawri”. Another legend about Kripali kund is that it was created by Lord Brahma on the site where skull of Mahishasur fell. It is also called Brahm Kripali Kund.

Khappar Mahishasur

It is a scared place located near the bhavan, where devotees take bath before going to darshan.

Kala Johar

This place is also called “Chikshu Kund”. The skull of Chikshur, main commander of Mahishasur fell at this site. This is a holy place where people take bath to get rid of skin problems, especially children. According to folklore, married ladies are blessed with children after taking bath in its water that otherwise have problems in having kids.

Kolan wala Toba

This place is popular for blooming lotuses and is the first halt in the journey of Shri Naina Devi Ji. There is a sacred pool of water here in which people take bath before going to darshan. Temple trust has invested Rs. 1.25 Crore for the development of this area.

About The Deity

This temple is dedicated to Goddess Naina Devi and is located on top of the Naina Hill in Bilaspur. It is said that the eye of Goddess Sati fell over here and hence it has been named as Naina Devi. Naina means eye.

Legend and Stories

According to a legend, Goddess Sati burnt herself alive in Yagna, which distressed Lord Shiva. He picked the corpse of Sati on her shoulder and started his Taandav dance. This horrified all deities in the heaven as this could lead to holocaust. This urged Lord Vishnu to unleash his Chakra that cut the Sati’s body into 51 pieces. Shri Naina Devi Temple is the place where eyes of Sati fell down.

Another story related to the temple is of a Gujjar Boy named Naina. Once he was grazing his cattle and observed that a white cow is showering milk from her udders on a stone. He saw the same thing for next several days. One night while sleeping, he saw Goddess in her dreams who told him that the stone is her Pindi. Naina told about the entire situation and his dream to Raja Bir Chand. When Raja saw it happening in reality, he built a temple on that spot and named the temple after Naina’s name.

Shri Naina Devi Temple is also known as Mahishapeeth because of defeat of demon Mahishasur by the Goddess. According to the legends, Mahishasur was a powerful demon who was blessed by the boon of immortality by Lord Brahma, but the condition was that he could be defeated only by an unmarried woman. Due to this boon, Mahishasur started spreading terror on Earth and Gods. To cope with the demon, all Gods combined their powers and created a Devi to defeat him. The Devi was gifted different types of weapons by all Gods. When Mahishasur got mesmerized by the immense beauty of Devi and proposed her to marry him. Devi told him that she will marry him if he would overpower her. During the battle, Devi defeated the demon and took out both his eyes. This urged Gods to happily applaud “Jai Naina” and hence the name.

One more story is associated with Sikh Guru Gobind Singh Ji. When he left for his military campaign against Mughals in 1756, he went Shri Naina Devi and performed a Sacrificial Yagna to seek blessings of the Goddess. After getting the blessings, he successfully defeated the Mughals.

Festivals

1. Navratras
2. Makar Sankranti
3. Vasant Panchami
4. Maha Shivaratri
5. Holi
6. Rama Navami
7. Raksha Bandhan
8. Sri Krishna Jayanti
9. Ganesh Chaturthi
10. Dussehra
11. Karva Chauth Vrat
12. Diwali

Daily Rituals

Puja archana of Shri Naina Devi Ji is done 5-times a day. Different type of “Bhog” is offered to Shri Mata Ji in each puja accompanied by 5 different aarties. These include Mangal Aarti.

Best time to visit

April to October.

Nearby Places to Visit

Bhakra Dam

Situated at Bhakra village of Bilaspur, about 13 km upstream from Nangal township, it is one of the highest straight gravity dams in the world. The lake is about 90 km long covering an area of about 168 sq km of which 90 percent is in Bilaspur and 10 percent in Una district.

Bahadurpur Fort

It is just 6 km. On the top of a hill known as Bahadurpur the highest (1980 m) point in the district near Tepra Village in Paragana Bahadurpur, distance about 40 km. from Bilaspur. The range is embellished by a beautiful wood of deodar and ban trees.

Tibetan Market

Near the temple is the Tibetan market which sells many interesting items.

Nainital Boat Club

The Nainital Boat Club is a popular tourist attraction. Many of our film directors have captured the lake for song sequences. Many of our film directors have captured the lake for song sequences. The sunset over the lake is an amazing sight. The reflection of the surrounding mountains in the lake creates a image which is indescribably beautiful.

Accessibility

Air

Chandigarh and Bhuntar are the nearest air stations, located at 135 km and 131 km from Bilaspur.

Rail

The nearest broad gauge railhead is at Kiratpur Sahib and nearest narrow gauge railhead is at Shimla.

Road

This famous temple is connected with National Highway No. 21. Temple is about 350 km from Delhi and 100 km from Chandigarh. Frequent State Transport bus services are available from all important cities of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

Temple Address

Shri Naina Devi Temple,
Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh,
India, Pincode – 174029.