Devbhoomi - Uttarakhand - The Land of Gods: Devbhoomi - Uttarakhand

Devbhoomi - It Refer to The Land of Gods It's considered to be the most sacred land of all the places in India , since it's home to the lord Vishnu & lord Shiva in the form of Shivlinga in Sri kedarnath dham and in form of a shaligram idol in shri badrinath dham , In Uttarakhand both the places are recognized as two most religious places among the Hindu religion followers across the globe. But there are many other Holy temples which are In the region which were yet undiscovered by largely people's.There are many beautiful places with many popular legends around, here is the list of temples which one must be curious about and have their myths goes back to centuries of traditions and beliefs.

1 Dhari Devi Temple - Dhari Devi temple located on the banks of the Alaknanda river between Srinagar and rudraprayag in Garhwal region of Devbhoomi ,the temple is home to the deity of goddess dhari with the upper half of the idol while the lower half of the idol located in kalimath in rudraprayag where she been worshiped as a manifestation of The Goddess kali . In year 2013 when because of the construction of the Alaknanda dam in the region on June 16, 2013 the idol is been lifted off from the designated place, hours later one of the worst natural disaster faced by the country the north India floods were caused by heavy rains and cloud bursts resulting in devastating landslides. Local and devotees believe utatrakhand had to face the goddess wrath since the idol was lifted from her 'mool sthanam' since she being the protector and the guardian deity of Uttarakhand.

Dhari Devi Temple (Devbhoomi-Uttarakhand)

2. Nanda devi temple - Goddess Nanda devi temple Sitaued in both Chamoli & kumaon region of , Devbhoomi uttarakhand and both the places hold the temples of Maa Nanda Devi she is been worshipped in entire region of Uttrakhand , Nanda Devis is referred to Godess Parvati the Daughter of the Himalays being the wife of shiva this place is considered to be her mother place and this whole yatra is the ceremony where all the beloved of the family members of godess nanda do this yatra to send the Nanda devi back to Kailasha till the last point of roopkund lake (a mysterical lake) The high altitude glacial lake in Uttarakhand lies in the lap of Trishul Peak ,The Roopkund Lake is situated at an altitude of 16,499 feet above sea level this is also one of popular trekking this is the longest Pillgrimage performed pedestrains in entrire Asia . "Nanda Devi Raj Jat '' (Jat Means Yatra) the start point of this journey is the nauti village of chamoli district yatra ,as per description depcits in many ancient hindu scriptures nanda and Sunanda two daughters of the king Himalayas the temple is famous for the holy fair which happens every year in the month of September in Kumaon region of Almora .this Temple is dated back to the times of chand dyansty both the idols of Maa Nanda & Maa Suganda. taken out during the nanda devi mahotsav.

Nanda Devi ((Devbhoomi-Uttarakhand)

3. Hariyali devi (often referred as bala Devi Sita Mata or vaishno devi ) - This temple of hariyali devi is situated at a peak of 1371 meter from the sea level in rudrapryag district of Devbhoomi Uttarakhand with the common and the most popular belief among the devotees is the deity itself is one of sidhipith and considered to be from the time of adi Shankaracharya according to Hindu mythology when 'mahamaya ' was conceived as the seventh child of devaki , kansa threw mahamaya violently on the ground mahamaya body splits into different part and they scattered all over the earth it is believed one of among the parts the hand fell at this place called 'haryali kantha ' the temple got many mystical powers and considered to the most sacred the temple opens only during the festival of Diwali where in the doli of haryali taken to haryali kantha all the devotees and followers must not eat the meat not even onions and garlic or consumption of any alochohol if they wish to join this festival of Devi before fifteen days at -least.

Hariyali Devi Temple (Devbhoomi-Uttarakhand)

4 Tungnath Temple- At a elevation of 3,680 meters from the sea level tugnath temple is one of the highest shiva temple in the world and is among the panch kedar temples in the Panch Kedar pilgrimage Circuit which compromises of Five Temple which are Shri Kedarnath Temple , Tugnath Temple , Rudranath Temple, Madhyamaheswar Temple and Kapleshwar Temple in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand .There are many legends are narrated in Garhwal region based on the origin of these lord shiva temples, one of the most legendary one is from Mahabharat according to it post slaying and brutal war by pandavas it cause them Brahm Sharp (the killing of their own family members / brothers/ Gurus) They wished to atone for the sins of committing fratricide (gotra hatya) and Brāhmanahatya (killing of Brahmins - the priest class) during the war.Thus, they handed over the reins of their kingdom to their kin and left in search of lord Shiva and to seek his blessings pandavas seek Lord shiva in Kashi but Lord Shiva was not in a mood to give and offer the blessing of this brutality and He abandoned the Kashi his own city and went hiding in Devboomi Garwhal Region where Pandavas could not catch them but BHIMA however looked a bull gazing in the gupta kashi (that's where from the name of gupta -kashi originated) and understood the lord presence in the bull form he tried capturing him but the But the bull-formed Shiva disappeared into the ground to later reappear in parts, with the hump raising in Kedarnath, the arms appearing in Tunganath, the nabhi (navel) and stomach surfacing in Madhyamaheshwar, the face showing up at Rudranath and the hair and the head appearing in Kalpeshwar in Uttarakhand

Tungnath Temple(Devbhoomi-Uttarakhand)

The Pandavas pleased with this reappearance in five different forms, built temples at the five places for venerating and worshipping Shiva. The magnificent architecture of this temple goes back to more than 1000 Years and is been discovered by adi guru shankracharya the Symbolic image of Lord shiva moved to mukunath the winter seating for the time the temple remain closed the usual dates announce for opening is near Diwali the trek to tugnath commence from chopta and widely popular amoung the trekers for both winter & summer times due to its mesmerizing views from the Peak

5 Rudranath Temple - As the Name Suggest This temple is dedicated to lord shiva and this is at a elevation of 3,600 meters above sea level making it the toughest treks to cover among panch kedar pilgrimage circuit the, located in the Garhwal Himalayan mountains in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand, this natural rock temple is situated within a dense forest of rhododendron dwarfs and Alpine pastures. The temple is the third temple to be visited in the Panch Kedar pilgrimage circuit, comprising five Shiva temples in the Garhwal region to be visited in a strict pecking order starting with Here the face of the lord Shiva being worshipped. Rudranath temple is the toughest one to reach in comparison with other temples of Panch Kedar. The Himalayan peaks which are visible adding to the glory of Rudranath are Nanda Devi, Trishul and Nanda Ghunti.

Rudranath Temple(Devbhoomi-Uttarakhand)

6 Sar Kanda Devi Temple --- Sar Kanda Devi temple is situated at a elevation of 2756 meters near the kantal region in Uttarakhand one can easily reach in here from dhanualti , This temple is dedicated to Sati the wife of Lord Shiva , Sati was the the Daughter of Prajapati Dakhsa (The king of the deities) was unhappy of her daughter choice and he decided not to invite lord Shiva in "mahayagya" he was performing where all the other God /goddess been invited , on this sati was furious and she could not listen any more words against lord Shiva In a rage, Sati threw herself onto the fire, knowing that this would make the sacrifice impure. Because she was the all-powerful mother goddess, Sati left her body in that moment to be reborn as the goddess Parvati. Meanwhile, Shiva was stricken with grief and rage at the loss of his wife. He put Sati's body over his shoulder and began his tandava (dance of cosmic destruction) throughout the heavens, and vowed not to stop until the body was completely rotted away. The other Gods, afraid of their annihilation, implored Vishnu to pacify Shiva. Thus, wherever Shiva wandered while dancing, Vishnu followed. He sent his discus Sudarshana to destroy the corpse of Sati. Pieces of her body fell until Shiva was left without a body to carry. Seeing this, Shiva sat down to do Mahatapasya (great penance). Despite the similarity in name, scholars do not generally believe that this legend gave rise to the practice of sati, or widow burning. According to various myths and traditions, there are 51 pieces of Sati's body scattered across the Indian subcontinent. These places are called "Shakti Peethas "and are dedicated to various powerful goddesses. When Shiva was passing over this place on his way back to Kailash carrying Sati's body, her head fell at the spot where the modern temple of Surkhanda Devi stands and due to which the temple's got its name as sirkhanda which in the passage of time is now called surkanda. The Ganga Dusshera festival is celebrated every year between May and June and attracts a lot of people here,This is a temple which is situated among the trees of rounslii. It is covered with fog most of the time of the year.

Sar Kanda Devi Temple (Devbhoomi-Uttarakhand)

7.Triyugi Narayan Temple - Located in the Rudrapyrag District of Uttarakhand, as the name suggest This Temple is as ancient as Three Yuga Itself , in Hinduism there are Four Period of time perid called 'Yugas" -: Satyug , Treta Yug , Dwapar Yug and the Current period which is called Kaliyug ,this Temple Has witnessed the wedding of Lord Shiva and Godess Paravati and lord Vishnu formalized the wedding and acted as Parvati's brother in the ceremonies, while the creator-god brahma acted as the priest of the wedding, there is a continuous dhuni at this place (a continuous flame which is burning from since three period of time starting form Satyug . Access to the Triyuginarayan village where the temple is located is about 12 Kms from Sonprayag on motorable road till the temple. There exist a few trek routes too, like a short trek of 5 kilometers via Sonprayag on the Ghuttur -Kedarnath bridle path that passes through thick forest area is involved to reach the temple precincts. From Kedarnath, which is to the south of this temple the total trekking distance is about 25 kilometers. People from Across the Globe follower of Hindu religion want to perform wedding here since this is the most sacred place to perform a wedding here The greatness of this place is also recorded in Skanda purana purana described this place as a birth place of Vaman avtar of lord Vishnu .This place is perfect choice for a spiritual wedding Destination there are lodges and necessary arrangement can be done.