maa chintapurni devi
Chintpurni Chinnamastika Temple, a revered shakti peeth dedicated to Goddess Chinmastika or Chinnamasta Devi, is one of the popular temples in Himachal Pradesh. It is the place where the feet of Sati fell after her body was cut off into pieces by the Sudarshan Chakra of Lord Vishnu to calm the anger of Lord Shiva.
The temple is situated in Una district on a ridge on the Dharamshala – Hoshiarpur road. Goddess Chinnmasta or Prachanda Chandika is one of the ten tantric Goddesses (Dasamahavidya) in Hinduism.
The construction of the temple has a legend behind it. It is said that an ardent devotee of Goddess Durga once had a vision of a young girl while he was on his way to meet his family in the Rapoh village of Una. The girl wanted him to stay in the jungle which he was passing through and worship her. After meeting his family, the devotee whose name was Bhagat Mai Dass came back to the spot and started praying to Goddess Durga. The young girl this time appeared before him in a human form and directed him to a place where he could find her in the form of a pindi (a round stone). She also instructed him to a build a temple there and installs the pindi there. Bhagat Mai Dass followed the instruction and constructed the temple.
The presiding deity of the temple, Chintpurni Devi, is believed to fulfill the wishes of her devotees. The image of the deity inside the temple is headless. The head, it is said, was cut off to satisfy the blood thirst of her companions. It is because of this that deity here is called Chinmastika Devi. The temple celebrates many fairs and festival, amongst which the most important one is the one celebrated in the month of August during the 10 days of Shukla Paksh in Shravan month (Shravan Astami Fair). Navratras (Durga Puja) held in Ashwin month is also attracts several lakhs of devotees to Chintpurni Chinmastika temple across the country.
Chamunda Devi Temple in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh
Melas in Chintpurni Maa Temple
Chintpurni Temple, Himachal Pradesh
show the date of chinnmastika devi ashtami in 2013