Jawala Ji Sightseeing

Jwala Ji

Jwala Ji temple situated around 34 km South -West of Kangra is the oldest pilgrimage destination of Northern India. The temple is located in Jwalamukhi Town of Kangra.This one of a kind temple has no idol but a mysterical flame burning inside.It is believed that Goddess burns in the flame day and night miraculously day and night without the use of any fuel.

The mythology of the tale behind the flame goes by that Goddess Sati, daughter of Prajapati daksh and wife of Lord Shiva jumped into the huge fire of Yagya organised by her father. The reason was that Lord Shiva was not invited to attend the Yagya and Maa Sati got so offended that she jumped into the Havan kund of Yagya. Lord Shiva got so agitated that he grabbed her body and did Tandava which caused massive destructions to panick all gods and to stop the Tandava, Lord Vishnu cut Goddess Sati’s dead body into 51 pieces by his Sudarshana Chakra and threw the pieces on Indian subcontinent and her tongue fell over at this place. Later a follower of Goddess Durga, Raja Bhumi Chand Katoch saw this place in reams and after intense drudgery, he found the spot and started off with its construction work.The flames represent the nine forms of Goddess Durga – Mahakali, Annapurna, Chandi, Hinglaj, Vindhya Vasini, Mahalakshmi, Saraswati, Ambika and Anji Devi. The temple became so popular that a Mughal emperor, Akbar offered gold for the dome of temple as a gift.
Scientists however believes that the fire burn from the fissures from the natural jets of combustible gas. So as long as the flames burn, the heart of the devotees who have a belief on Goddess residing in the flames, will keep coming here.