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Chintpurni Shakti Peetha, HP
The Chintpurni Shaktipeetha or the Chinnamastika Shakti Peetha is located at Chintpuri in the Una district of Himachal Pradesh. Surrounded by the western Himalayas in the north and in the east by the Shivalik range bordering the state of Punjab. It is one of the Shakti Peethas.
Chintpurni Shaktipeetha, HP
The Chinpurni Shaktipeetha or the Chinnamastika Shakti Peetha is located at Chintpuri in the Una district of Himachal Pradesh. Surrounded by the western Himalayas in the north and in the east by the Shivalik range bordering the state of Punjab. The temple complex is huge, and situated in the middle of it is the temple garbhagriha. This garbhagriha houses the image of the Mother in the form of a ‘pindi’ or a round stone that is said to symbolise the feet of the deity. The mother figure worshipped is called Ma Chandi. There are four Shiva temples surrounding the Chintpurni temple: Narayana Mahadev in the west, Kaleshwar Mahadev in the west, Muchkund Mahadev in north and Shiva Bari in the south. All these Shiva temples are equidistant from the main Shakti temple, symbolising the unity of the ArdhaNareshwar.
History and Significance:
It is said that after Sati’s self-immolation, Mahadeva danced the dance of destruction with her burnt corpse. To prevent him from destroying the world, Lord Vishnu used his Sudarshan Chakra on Sati’s corpse and fifty-two parts of it fell all around the Indian subcontinent. According to folklore, Devi Sati’s feet feel at Chintpuri and a holy shrine was later built around it that came to be known as the Chinnamastika Shakti Peeth. Chinnamastika Shakti Peeth is one of the seven major Shakti Peeths located in India. The temple itself is an embodiment of the spirit of self-sacrifice, the reason for which is highlighted below.
The temple has an interesting history. It is said to have been established in the village of Chhaproh by Pandit Mai Das who was a Saraswat Brahmin. It is his descendants who are the official temple priests in the temple. The priests often have fascinating stories of miracles they and their ancestors have experienced to tell interested devotees. In fact, this place was also used to keep Hindu pilgrimage and marriage records.
Chintpurni Shakti Peetha, HP
This particular Shakti Peeth is also famous for its picturesque surroundings as it is located on the highest peak of the Sola Singhi mountain range. Chintpurni is well-connected by roads and travelling is convenient there. There are a good number of hotels and dharamshalas surrounding the temple, and stay is affordable and safe. Nearby places of interest include Thaneek Pura, Sheetala Devi temple, Chamunda Devi Temple, Dharamshala Mahantan and the Jwalamukhi Temple. With divine grace blessing this place, your mind will surely find the tranquillity it seeks.
The goddess is called Chinnamastika or Chinnamasta. Literally, it can mean the severed-headed one or the foreheaded one. According to the Markandeya Purana, at a time when the earth was plagued by demons, Ma Chandi defeated them in a fierce battle that raged for days. Ma Chandi was satisfied but her two yogini emanations Jaya and Vijaya were still thirsty for blood. To quench their thirst, Ma Chandi cut off her own head and they drank her blood. Ma Chandi or Chhinamastika is depicted as holding her own severed head in her hands, drinking the blood spurting from the neck and her two naked yoginis drinking from another stream of blood from a different artery of the head. Ma Chandi symbolises the separation of the mind from the body and submission of spiritual consciousness into the larger divine consciousness. She is called the Headless Goddess who sacrificed herself for her beloved yoginis and entered the spiritual domain through meditation of the mind.
According to Puranic traditions, Ma Chinnamastika will be protected by Rudra Mahadev – a manifestation of Shiva- in all four directions. Rudra Mahadev is the Bhairav accompanying Ma Shakti.
The temple festivals include the Navratra fairs in the Hindu months of Aashadh, Ashwin and Chaitra. Other popular days when a special pooja is conducted in the temple are Poornima, Sankranti and Ashthami.
The temple is open everyday from 4am to 11pm. There is a Prabhat Arati and a Sandhya Arati. Devotees offer sweets, kheer, patasha, coconuts, chunnis and dhwajas (red flags) for the deity along with flowers and ghee. After the pooja is over, you have the option of getting your photos clicked by professional photographers.
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A truly divine and a blissful experience. This beautiful temple situated at the top of the mountain was a pleasure to the eyes and mind. I was surprised to see a lot of devotees come there and offering their prayers at the lotus feet of the Mata Sri Chinnamastika Devi. In fact I was told that the Lord is extremely powerful and most of the wishes would come true. After we finished visiting the holy shrine we did enjoy the serene beauty and did some sight seeing too. Since it was well connected with roads and did have a couple of good restaurants near by ,we found it really comfortable.
A very beautiful temple located on the top of the Sola Singhi mountain . The temple is well built and huge and the main deity is in the form of stone which denotes the feet of the deity. We found a group of people who knew the history of this temple so well and we were so impressed with the history attached to it. Even my kids were so engrossed. We dint have a problem in locating the temple as it was well connected and they even had good restaurants near by. A beautiful place one must visit and enjoy.
Calm and serene, a visit to the Chinnamastika Devi temple can completely relax your mind and help you forget about your routine hectic schedule. The temple located on the hill top worships lord Ma Chandi. Here the feet of the deity is worshiped. Regular pujas are done and in fact a lot of people visit this place. I went to a couple of temples near by and a had a very divine experience.