, native_name_lang = gbm , religious_affiliation=

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

Badhangarhi temple (also known as Maa Badhangarhi Mandir) is an ancient Hindu temple dedicated to

Kali Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hinduism, Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In t ...

, worshipped as Maa Dakshineshwar kaali or Bhagwati. People living in Tharali, Naranbagar, Dewal block of

chamoli Chamoli district is a district of the Uttarakhand state of India. It is bounded by the Tibet region to the north, and by the Uttarakhand districts of Pithoragarh and Bageshwar to the east, Almora to the south, Pauri Garhwal to the southwest, Ru ...

and garur, kapkot block of

Bageshwar Bageshwar ( Kumaoni: ''Bāgshyār'') is a town and a municipal board in Bageshwar district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is located at a distance of 470 km from the National Capital New Delhi and 332 km from the State Capital ...

have a great faith in Badhangarhi, a popular deity in this region. It is situated in Tharali tehsil of Chamoli Garhwal district of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

. The nearest town to Badhangarhi is

Gwaldam Gwaldam is a hill station in India, situated between the Garhwal and Kumaon, from Kausani. Geography Gwaldam is located at . It has an average elevation of . It is from Baijnath, capital of medieval Katyuri kings and from Kulsari the famou ...

which is 8 km from the main Badhangarhi temple. The temple is situated at the elevation of about 2260 m.

Badhangarhi Name meaning

BadhanGarhi name made by Two words combination one is Badhan and another one is Garhi, where Badhan Name meaning is Maa kali and Lord

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

Temple and Garhi Mean Peak or height. A combination of these two words is BadhanGarhi.

History

This temple was a part of ''Badhāngarh'' which is one of the 52 garh of

Garhwal Garhwal may refer to the following topics associated with Uttarakhand, India: Places *Garhwal Himalaya, a sub-range of the Himalayas *Garhwal Kingdom, a former kingdom * Garhwal District (British Garhwal), a former district of British India *Gar ...

situated at the left bank of

Pindar river The Pindar River is a river located in Uttarakhand, India. Pindar originates from Pindari Glacier which is located in Bageshwar district of Kumaon region in Uttarakhand. The source of this river, the Pindar glacier is located at an altitude of . ...

. According to the legends, the original temple was built by katyuri King, who ruled this region from the 8th to 12th century. Badhangarhi is derived from two words: Badhan and garhi, in which Badhan refers to a

pargana Pargana ( bn, পরগনা, , hi, परगना, ur, پرگنہ) or parganah, also spelt pergunnah during the time of the Sultanate period, Mughal times and British Raj, is a former administrative unit of the Indian subcontinent and each ...

or of Chamoli Garhwal and garhi refers to a fort, which is situated at the mountain top. This temple is very important from the point of view of history. Because this temple is in the middle of Garhwal and Kumaon, there used to be war in its nearby areas since ancient times. Similarly, in the war of 1670 Baz Bahadur Chand invaded Badhangarh in the Pindar valley and to commemorate his victory, he took away the idol of the Goddess Nanda Devi which was established in the Badhangarhi temple and enshrined that in a temple at the old fort of Almora, which G.W. Traill, then Commissioner of Kumaon, later shifted to the present site. There is a local tradition related to that incident. It is told that Traill was struck with snow-blindness on his visit to the northern part of the province when he was Assistant Commissioner of Kumaon. He was told that it was due to the curse of the Goddess which could only be cured by building a temple for her. He built the temple and was relieved from the curse of Goddess Nanda Devi.

Geography

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References

{{Uttarakhand Hindu temples in Uttarakhand Temples in Uttarakhand Chamoli district Forms of Parvati

Badhangarhi Name meaning

History

Geography

Image gallery

See also

References