Mata Naina Devi is a town and a
municipal council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...
in
Bilaspur district in the
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
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* ''Our S ...
of
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
.
Demographics
As of the 2001 India
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
, Naina Devi had a population of 1161. Males constitute 63% of the population and females 37%. Naina Devi has an average literacy rate of 81%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; male literacy is 84%, and female literacy is 75%. In Naina Devi, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Temple
The Temple of Shri Naina Devi Ji is situated on a hilltop, base of which also has
samadhi
''Samadhi'' (Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yoga ...
of bhagat Jeona Morh who died in 12th century, in the
Bilaspur District, Himachal Pradesh
Bilaspur is a district of Himachal Pradesh, India. Its capital is in the town of Bilaspur. The district has an area of 1,167 km2, and a population of 381,956. As of 2011 it is the third least populous district of Himachal Pradesh (out of ...
, India. The temple is connected with National Highway No. 21. The temple at the top of the hill can be reached via road (that curves round the hill up to a certain point) and then by concrete steps (that finally reach the top). There is also a
cable car Cable car most commonly refers to the following cable transportation systems:
* Aerial lift, such as aerial tramways and gondola lifts, in which the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable
** Aerial tramway
** Chairlift
** Gondola lift
*** Bi ...
facility that moves pilgrims from the base of the hill all the way to the top.
The hills of Naina Devi overlook the
Gobind Sagar lake. The lake was created by the
Bhakra-Nangal Dam.
Several stories are associated with the establishment of the temple.
According to legends and also written in Veds and Purans , Goddess
Sati
Sati or SATI may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Sati'' (film), a 1989 Bengali film by Aparna Sen and starring Shabana Azmi
* ''Sati'' (novel), a 1990 novel by Christopher Pike
*Sati (singer) (born 1976), Lithuanian singer
*Sati, a character in ''Th ...
burnt herself alive in Yagna, which distressed Lord Shiva. He picked the body of Sati on his shoulder and started his
Tandava
Tandava (also spelled as ) also known as , is a divine dance performed by Hindu god Shiva. Shiva is depicted as dancing the Tandava in his form of Nataraja.
The ''Natya Shastra'', a Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts describes various as ...
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 Goddess Sati fell down.
Another story related to the temple is of a
Gujjar
Gurjar or Gujjar (also transliterated as ''Gujar, Gurjara and Gujjer'') is an ethnic nomadic, agricultural and pastoral community, spread mainly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were tradit ...
Boy. 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
Mahishasura is a bovine asura in Hinduism. He is depicted in literature to be a deceitful demon who pursued his evil ways by shape-shifting. Mahishasura was the son of Mahisi (Buffalo) and the great-grandson of Brahmarshi Kashyapa. He was ultima ...
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.
The 2008 stampede
Sunday, 3 August 2008, proved to be catastrophic day for this temple as at least 123 people died (many of them women and children). There are conflicting reports about the cause of these deaths. One report states that they were due to people falling down the cliff after the guard railing broke.
Another report claims that they were due to rumors of a fight at the temple causing panic. And another states it was due to police who hit the fleeing worshippers with canes to get them to continue moving.
This happened in the holy month of
Sawan
Sāwaṇ or Sāuṇ ( pa, ਸਾਵਣ, ਸਾਉਣ, ) is the fifth month in the Nanakshahi calendar. Many Indian calendars started in different eras such as Shaka Calendar (national calendar of India) traditional Vikrama as well as the Nanak ...
, and the Temple's being a
Shakti Peeth
The Shakti Pitha or the Shakti Peethas ( sa, शक्ति पीठ, , ''seat of Shakti'') are significant shrines and pilgrimage destinations in Shaktism, the goddess-centric denomination in Hinduism. The shrines are dedicated to various for ...
(place of strength) meant that there were as many as 3000 devotees present. According to the
Times Online
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
, 50,000 people were expected to attend Naina Devi during the day of the stampede, as part of a nine-day festival which had just started.
[
According to Daljit Singh Manhas, a senior ]police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
officer from the area, at least 40 of the victims were children.
The Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
of Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
announced a compensation of Rs.
Rupee is the common name for the currencies of
India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...
100,000 for those who died, Rs. 50,000 for those seriously injured and Rs. 25,000 for those with minor injuries.[ ]
References
External links
*
Temple Pleasures at Naina Devi Temple India
Naina Devi website
Complete Information of Maa Naina Devi Dham
{{Hindu temples in Himachal Pradesh
Devi temples in India
Hindu temples in Himachal Pradesh
Cities and towns in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh
Buildings and structures in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh