Pahari Mandir is a temple located in hilltop in Ranchi the capital of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...

. The temple is dedicated to

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 ...

. This temple is located at 2140 feet above sea level and 350 feet above the ground. To reach the temple one has to climb 468 steps. The entire Ranchi city can be seen from the temple.

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 ...

is worshiped in

linga A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary ''murti'' or devotional ...

form in the hill temple. There is a large crowd of Shiva devotees come here during the month of

Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri (IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the Tandava, heavenly dance called Tandava. In every month of the luni-solar ...

and Sawan. The story of the hill temple of Ranchi, the capital of

, is very interesting. This temple of

situated on the mountain was in the possession of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

before the independence of the country and they used to hang the Freedom Fighters here. Since Independence, the national flag is also hoisted with Independence Day and

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially cal ...

along with religious flags on this temple. This is the first temple in the country where the tricolor is hoisted. This temple of Lord Shiva, located 7 km from

Ranchi railway station Ranchi Junction railway station, station code RNC, is the A1 category railway station serving the capital city of Ranchi in the Ranchi district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi station is also the headquarters of the Ranchi division of ...

, is known as Pahari Temple. The old name of the Pahari Baba temple was Tiriburu, which later changed to 'Hanging Garry' in British times, because Freedom Fighters were hanged here under the British rule. After independence, the first tricolor flag was hoisted here in Ranchi, which was hoisted by a freedom fighter Krishna Chandra Das of Ranchi. He hoisted the tricolor in memory and honor of the martyred Freedom Fighters here. Since that time, the tricolor is hoisted here on Independence Day and Republic Day every year. There is a stone in the hill temple, on which the message of freedom of the country is written on the midnight of August 14 and 15, 1947.

References

{{Reflist Hindu temples in Jharkhand