Chamba Chamunda Devi Temple, Himachal Pradesh

Address

Chamba Chamunda Devi Temple, Chamba-Jhumar Rd, Mohalla Surara, Mohalla Sapri, Chamba, Himachal Pradesh 176310

Diety

Amman: Chamunda Devi

Introduction

Chamunda Devi Temple is one of the holy pilgrims located on the spur of Shah Madar range hills and lies on the opposite of the Chamba Village of Himachal Pradesh. The place sits on the bank of Baner River and is located at a distance of only 15-16 km from Dharamshala and it can be reach easily via road transportation

Puranic Significance

The Chamunda Devi temple dates back to 1762 and was built by Raja Umed Singh. The temple is based in wood and has a gabled roof, making it the only wooden temple around. It previously had a steep terrain to climb and had 378 stone paved steps to climb. The Chamunda temple is surrounded with Pathair and Lahla forest of whose lush greenery. The Chamunda temple adhering to its location at the top of the hills overlooks the town making it quite a mesmerizing view. The Chamunda temple is in the devotion of the Goddess Kali who is also known by as the Goddess of War. History as legend goes, when Goddess Ambika was sitting at the top of the hill, the two devils namely Chanda and Munda tried to disturb her on which she got angered and from her knitted brows came the Goddess Kali in tiger skinned sari and a wreath of skull to kill both the demons and after killing them Goddess Ambika declared that kali would now be worshipped as Chamunda Devi. The temple is around seven hundred year old and it houses a tank which is used by devotees for bathing. The temple has cave-like scoop on the backside of the temple, where a stone phallus and the symbol of Lord Shiva is kept. Statues of other god are also kept there. The temple is popular as Chamunda Nandikeshwar Dham among devotees as it is believed to be the home of Shiva and Shakti. Lord Hanuman and Lord Bhairav adore the main shrine as both are assembled in each side of the statue are considered as the guards of the Goddess.

Special Features

The interior of the sanctum is embellished with carved silver sheets. The temple complex includes handicrafts centre that has various items like woodcarvings, wooden toys, honey, black pottery, Kangra tea and world popular Kangra Paintings. The architecture of the shrine is quite simple and sober but the religious influence is simply overwhelming. It has beautiful carvings rendering floral themes and different idol, overlooks enchanting views of the Chamba Valley and Himalayan range.