CHAMUNDA DEVI

The Vanquisher of Evil

The demons 'chand' and 'Mund' were killed by the goddess here, therefore known as ' Chamunda'.

This place, already enriched with the spiritual effects, has recently been developed as beautiful temple premises and a park. The former Hon'ble Chief-Minister of H. P., Thakur Ram Lal, laid the foundation - stone of ' Sanjay - Ghat', in memory of the youth-leader Mr. Sanjay Ghandhi, on Saturday 13th Dec. 1980 , when former Prime Minister, Late Smt. Indira Gandhi, had visited this place. It is believed that that Mrs Gandhi returned to power, after her defeat in the elections during 1977, with the blessings of goddess Chamunda.

There is a common faith among the folk that goddess Vaishno sends a 'Call' to her devotees; and that once a person receives it, wherever he or she is , marches towards the holyshrine of the great goddess . Howsoever difficult the passage may be : the difficult ascents, with in-numerable stairs , are accomplished on foot by those who had never walked even small distances while at their homes. A supernatural-power seems to draw them through the mountains and they climb up those great heights step by step, shouting JAI MATA DI.

Location:-

There are two routes for pilgrim's convenience. One is from Pathankot to ' Paprola'. It passes through a small railway station 'Malan'. The holy Chamunda temple is only 4 kms away from this 'malan station. One can reach the shrine by bus or traverse it by foot. The other route is from Jwala-mukhi. The bus journey from Jwala-ji to Kangra is of about 2 hours duration. From Kangra to ' Malan' takes about 1 1/2 hours in bus journey. From Pathankot, there are direct buses also, going to Chamunda via 'Dharmashala'.