Kathgarh temple, Indora (Kangra) - Dev Bhoomi Himachal

Kathgarh temple, Indora (Kangra)

Dev Bhoomi Himachal- the land of lords has some of the rarest and old temples which have their references in the history books. This time we're talking about one of such rare and only temple in the world. Lord Shiva temple at 'Kathgarh' (Indora, Kangra), has something interesting and unusual similar to Bijli Mahadev in Kullu. The temple has a large 'Shivaling', which is vertically split in two parts. The distance between two parts keeps increasing and decreasing from time to time. The larger portion is worshiped as Lord Shiva and second one as his better half, 'Parvati'.

According to one of the myths, once Lord 'Vishnu' and Lord 'Brahma' got engaged in a battle to decide supremacy. To stop the warring Gods Lord 'Shiva' intervened in the shape of a fire pillar and made the warring Gods stop the battle. The large “Shivaling” at 'Kathgarh' is believed to be the same fire pillar.

According to another story in Indian epic 'Ramayana', king 'Bharat', the brother of lord Rama, use to pay obeisance to Lord 'Shiva' at this pillar on his way to his grandparents in 'Kashmir'.

'Kathgarh' temple also seem to have some connection with Greek invaders when they stopped there. The statue is about size of a human above the floor, and it is believed that same length is buried under the floor. It could be one of the statues of Apollo, which Alexander the great is described to have built and worshiped on high platforms to mark the spot from where he retreated.

Visit to the temple will surely be a refreshing spiritual retreat.


Way to Kathgarh temple

There are different approaches to the temple - one is from Indora, near 'Pathankot', and other from 'Mirthal' village on the 'Pathankot-Jalandhar' highway. From 'Mirthal village, Kathgarh is about 4 km.  If you're planning to drive from Delhi, you should go via 'Hoshiarpur', 'Mukerian 'and then take the small link road to 'Indora' from 'Nangal bhoor'. There is a private University in 'Kathgarh' so the roadside direction signs put by the university will take you straight to Indora.


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Disclaimer: Story of  the 'Kathgarh' temple is based on inputs gathered from pilgrims and from print and online sources and has nothing to do with the historical facts. 
Kathgarh temple, Indora (Kangra) Kathgarh temple, Indora (Kangra) Reviewed by Admin on 9:27 PM Rating: 5

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