Hey Everyone, It’s been a year now.
Recently I went to Rohru, Shimla Himachal Pradesh on an official visit, and on weekend I decide to visit Hateshwari Mata temple, the vibe of this place was so peaceful and the sound of the river flowing nearby was so soothing, the air feels cold and calm. I was curious to learn about the history I was so astonished by the legends I heard, and I couldn’t stop thinking of writing about it and here I am sharing this with you. This place is a must-go.
ABOUT THE TEMPLE
So first I am gonna summarise the whole background check of this place, It is situated in Hatkoti in Jabbal tehsil in a valley near Rohru. It is an ancient village on the banks of the Pabbar River. Temple belongs to Mata Mahishasurmardini, an incarnation of Goddess Durga. The idol is around 1.2 m in height and is made of eight precious metals. The idol with ten arms, riding a lion, carrying weapons and slaying the demon Mahishasura. When I looked at the idol first time I felt that it changed its expression, and I read online, the mesmerising fact about the idol is that “It changes its expression, sometimes it has a smiling face and times it is in an angry posture”, it had such effect on the me that I couldn’t stare at it for long, and the pandit told that no one was able to look at Mata’s idol for long, it have such an untold vibe, it makes the devotee take off his eyes. The Pandit told that it was built by Pandavas, and according to the history, on basis of its architectural designs, Hatkoti temple date back to the period between the sixth to the ninth century, the Gupta period in Indian history
LOCATION
The temple is around 94 KM away from Shimla and around 13 KM away from Jubbal. It will take around 3 hours in a personal Vehicle. Or you can take the bus from Shimla going toward Rohru.
Link of the location
Legend of Mata Hateshwari
As I was a bit more curious about the Temple, I started reading about it, and I learn, as there are no such written records, Some people believed that it was constructed by the Pandavas during their exile periods. Some others believe that the temple was built by Adi Shankaracharya. As per the Pandit of Temple, this idol is the biggest of its kind in the world and there is something written on it in an unknown language on both sides which is still a mystery. As so many people have tried to decipher the written language of the idol but to date, it’s still unknown. The locals believe that no one has been able to view the feet of the Mata, as they believe it touches the river Pabbar, on whose banks the temple stands. there is another story that people believe that the Gurkhas in the early 19th century tried to move the Mata’s temple to another place, they dug for days to find the other end of Mata’s feet, but they couldn’t move the idol even by an inch, as Mata’s feet are buried too deep to displace.
Legend of the Charu, Copper Pot
Outside the doorway of the main temple, you cannot miss spotting a huge bronze vessel also called “Charu” in the local language, tied with an iron chain next to a beautiful idol of Lord Ganesh the other end of the chain is pressed below Mata’s feet. As per some beliefs “Charu” was a demon who once tried to escape in the form of a vessel from the valley. To stop him the Mata tied it with the chain. People also tell the story that there used to be two vessels instead of one, at the doorway, but many years ago, a fiery rain storm caused the river Pabbar to overflow and carry away both vessels. The pandit of the temple tried their best to rescue the vessels in the thunder and rain storm but could succeed in finding only one, which is tied near the doorway. As per Pandit, to date, the charu makes shrieking sounds when it rains heavily and tries to run away from its place. There is another story which relates to the pots, it’s believed that the origin of Mata Hateshwari is from Kharshali, Chirgaon and Mata ran from that place in the very same pot, tearing up mountains through Pabbar river and stopped in Hatkoti, and came into the vision of the Pandit and asked him to make the temple. As I said, the connection between these stories was so amazing that to learn more about it, I decided to visit Mata Kharshali, Chirgaon to know the story in detail.
To the left of the temple premises, there are 5 stone structures, locally called ‘Deols’, representing each of the Pandavas. The size decreases from one end to another, it’s believed these were formulated by Pandavas for them to play. And the idols made of stone of various deities kept at the top of them.
Legend of Mata Kharshali
When I reach this place, it was so cold, surrounded by deodars and a beautiful lake near the main temple. The view was breathtaking, and so calm that you could hear the sound of your breath. You could easily feel the power of god there, Each nerve and each desire inside you settles all of sudden. The temple is also known as Kevala Mandir, as in local language Kevala means deodar trees. It is believed that this is the origin place of maa Hateshwari. As per Myth there were two villages Kharshali and Ghazani, who used to fight with each other a lot, and Kharshali used to win each time, the Ghazani believed that it was because of the mother goddess’s blessings. Ghazani people wanted to take maa durga to their village but the Karshali people do not agree with this. So in case of winning the battle, Ghazani people sacrifice a dumb man and a cow in the temple, and due to this Maa Durgaa becomes so furious that her anger leads to heavy rain which leads to a flood then she sits in the copper pot tearing mountains apart and starts flowing towards to Pabbar river and this copper pot flowing in front of hatkoti and simultaneous whistles. Whistling sounds were heard by a Pandit so he tried to catch the pot, but he felt that the pot was trying to run towards the river, and the Pandit felt some superstitious power in the pot. To make it calm, the pandit sacrifices a goat and ties the pot with iron chains and later in the night, maa durga gave her sight to the pandit and wished to make a temple at Hatkoti.
Just before the main temple, there is a giant Deodar tree which has 5 big shoots from one single tree. Local people relate these with the 5 Pandavas. People put the coin inside branches of this tree and ask for fortune and wishes. The tree’s main branch is full of a lot of silver coins.
Photos & Videos
I hope you loved the stories and photos, and wanted to visit the place yourself. Keep sharing the blog for such more posts.
dark anki
DARK ANKI 
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