Dharmic Circuits: Sacred Pathways – Part 2

Chandrashekhar Temple and the Largest Shiva Linga of Himachal

In a remote village Saho, nesting in the secluded valley of the Sal River, in the hills of Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh, lies the Chandrashekhar Temple. The present structure is attributed by Laxman Thakur to be one thousand years old, but the core and the Shiva Linga is older. (Thakur 66) The village is 18 kilometers from the Chamba town and is completely surrounded by high hills. The village is situated on a fortunate semi-plateau that opens up for a few kilometers between the high hills. As a result, the view is spectacular. Wherever you look, there are layers upon layers of mountains, but a few square kilometers of open meadow-like region offers itself for farming and other human activities. While the river flows much below, the village of Saho sits comfortably amidst the mountains with a fairy tale like ambience of flowing fields and open meadows overlooked by snow-capped peaks in the background.

The temple is built in the Himachali pahadi architectural style with pent-roof and wooden beams. The walls of the garbha-griha are built of stone but the roof is wooden. Three sides have the customary rathas housing Ganesha, Parvati and Kartikeya. The temple is a very old one with its core going back to at least 1200 years old. The Shiva Linga is huge and one of the largest in the hill temples of India and the largest in Himachal.

The temple has a legend which binds it directly to the Mani Mahesh Kailash. It is said that once a great saint lived in this village near the river Sal. Early every morning he would take a dip in the holy waters of the River Sal. One day when he woke up he realized that someone else had taken a bath in the sacred waters of the river before him. So the next day, he hid himself before dawn to see who was bathing in the river even before him.

To his utter surprise, he saw three children bathing in the waters. He revealed himself and tried to catch them but could get hold of only one child. This child was none other than Lord Shiva himself. He was called Chandrashekhar in that form. The other two children called Chandragupta and Mani Mahesh were also Shiva in different forms. The child then appeared after a brief disappearace in the form of a Shiva Linga where the Chandrashekhar temple stands today.

The other two forms of Shiva are also associated with temples at different sites. Chandragupta went to Chamba town and was worshipped there in what is now the Chandragupta temple in the Lakshmi Narayan temple complex in the center of the town. The other child Mahesh went to Bharmaur where one can still find the Mani Mahesh temple at the great temple site.

To a ‘rational mind’ accustomed to linear view of time and material explanation of every aspect of the world, this might seem as just a story. But this great myth actually binds all the sacred geography of the Chamba district in one sutra, in one thread. Chamba is at the center of the Chamba district but Saho lies north of it.

The temple legend connects it directly to the Mani Mahesh Kailash, the most sacred center of the region. Various other sacred temples are connected in one cultural consciousness through these legends which manifest themselves in teerthas which in turn get their sanctity from these legends. The extremely remote temple of the Shakti Temple, Chhatrari is a place where the Great Goddess, Parvati, resides. (Handa 48) The myths, the legends, the deities  – all appear and reappear in this way on the sacred geography of India. In this way, through the rainbow of myths and legends, a great cultural unit is born and the spirit of Sanatana Dharma lives on through these yatras.

Every year, the Chandrashekhar temple celebrates various festivals, two of which are celebrated with much gusto. One of them is of course Shivaratri when a great fair is held and thousands upon thousands of devotees come to this extremely remote village of the Himalayas to have darshana of Lord Shiva in the form of this huge Shiva Linga.

The Mani Mahesh Yatra

The other festival coincides with the Mani Mahesh Yatra which is undertaken every year around August/September or in the month of Bhadon. A great festival is celebrated at the Chandrashekhar village in Saho village before the Yatra, or as it is called Jatra in Himachal. People congregate with bhajans and discourses and meditation sessions that are held at the temple for about a week.

Then the Jatra proceeds towards Mani Mahesh. Thousands of devotees proceed on foot and some on vehicles from the temple. As they move along towards Bharmaur, the last great town before the Mani Mahesh lake, the Jatra keeps swelling with more and more devotees. Thousands of devotees join them in Chamba where various other temples also simultaneously initiate this jatra and as the procession proceeds towards Mani Mahesh Lake, more and more temples and jatras join this procession. After Hadsar a few kilometers from Bharmaur, all motorable roads end and the pilgrims have to necessarily proceed on foot, for thirteen more kilometers.

The teerthas provide goals to the devotees. The legends provide meaning. The story that can be verbally told in a few minutes is being told by these Hindu pilgrims every year in a span of many days and weeks, as they trudge along the mountain highway from every corner of the region to the Mani Mahesh Lake. After reaching here, the story ends in a meaningful conclusion, only to start again the next year, continuing the divine dance of teerthas and the jatras.

Bharmaur: An Impossible Capital

The Mani Mahesh Jatra is the sacred lifeline of this region and this has been so for hundreds and perhaps even thousands of years. This is why the ancient kings of Chamba chose Bharmaur as their capital. The Chaurasi temple at Bharmaur is also an important center of pilgrimage. Bharmaur is also connected to the legend that binds the Chandrashekhar temple at Saho with the Mani Mahesh pilgrim route. It seems inconceivable that around 1200 years ago someone built a capital at this extremely remote and inaccessible place, right at the foothills of the Great Mani Kailash peak.

Bharmaur is hard to reach even today. It is at a great height and the road ends a few kilometers from here. The Mani Mahesh Lake is the source of the Mani Mahesh Ganga, once again the sacred geography repeating itself everywhere. The lake is the end point of the sacred Mani Mahesh Jatra.

In many ways, Bharmaur is the end of the line, the last post of civilization and yet it is here that our ancestors decided to build a capital, right at the feet of Lord Shiva, even though it was a very difficult place to live and to reach. Not only that, they also built eighty four temples at Bharmaur by clearing a great area at the edge of the valley. Two of the greatest of these temples are built in complete Nagari idiom and the largest of all is called the Mani Mahesh temple.

How great must have been their shraddha and how great their devotion and conviction to do this! What is unbelievable is that our ancestors kept the flame of bhakti alive even in these remotest of locations. Because of teerthas and jatras, the flame of Hindu dharma is still alive. The teerthas are still alive and wherever there are teerthas there is great flowering of art, architecture, sculpture, music, dance, and all other art forms and sciences. Culture remains alive where dharma remains alive, and teerthas and jatras keep dharma alive. Mani Mahesh Jatra with its various temples and legends is a testimony to this marvelous creation of Sanatana Dharma.

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Notes and References

Handa, O. C. Ancient Monuments of Himachal Pradesh. Museum of Kangra Art Publications. 2010.

Thakur, Laxman S. The Architectural Heritage of Himachal Pradesh: Origin and Development of Temple Styles. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 1996.

Image Credit: hindu-blog

Authored by Pankaj Saxena. Published by IndicaToday.