Shree Naina Devi.

Shree Naina Devi

Shri Naina Devi Ji, the chief ‘Shakti Peeth’ among the world famous ‘Peeths’ of India, is situated in Bilaspur District in the State of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is located eighty kilometers from the Bilaspur town, one hundred eight kilometers north of Chandigarh, thirty six kilometers south from Nangal and twenty kilometers from Bhakhra Dam.

The ‘Shakti Peeth’ is sited one thousand two hundred and nineteen meters above the sea level. The nearest airport to reach this place of pilgri
mage is Chandigarh airport; and the nearest railway stations are Anandpur Sahib and Nangal in Panjab.

According to legends and also written in Veds and Purans , Goddess Sati burnt herself alive in Yagna, which distressed Lord Shiva. He picked the body of Sati on his shoulder and started his Tandava dance. This horrified all deities in the heaven as this could lead to holocaust. This urged Lord Vishnu to unleash his Chakra that cut the Sati’s body into 51 pieces. Shri Naina Devi Temple is the place where eyes of Goddess Sati fell down.

Another story related to the temple is of a Gujjar Boy. Once he was grazing his cattle and observed that a white cow is showering milk from her udders on a stone. He saw the same thing for next several days. One night while sleeping, he saw Goddess in her dreams who told him that the stone is her pindi. Naina told about the entire situation and his dream to Raja Bir Chand. When Raja saw it happening in reality, he built a temple on that spot and named the temple after Naina's name.