Chaurasi Temple is a Hindu temple complex consisting of 84 different shrines, located in the center of Bharmour town of

Chamba district Chamba district is the northwestern district of Himachal Pradesh, in India, with its headquarters in Chamba town. The towns of Dalhousie, Khajjhiar and Churah Valley are popular hill stations and vacation spots for the people from the plains ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

, India. It holds immense religious importance because of temples built around 1400 years ago. Life of people in Bharmour centers around the temple complex-Chaurasi, named so because of 84 shrines built in the periphery of Chaurasi Temple. Chaurasi is the Hindi word for number eighty four. The beautiful valabhi-Shikhara style architecture of Manimahesh occupies the center of the complex. Chaurasi Temple Complex was built approximately in 7th century, although repairs of many temples have been carried out in later period. There are 84 big and small temples in Chaurasi temple complex. Chaurasi is a spacious level ground in center of Bharmour where the galaxy of temples mostly in the form of 84 Shivlingas exists. The Chaurasi Temple Complex offers a delightful, clean and a scenic view. Another temple built in the same style is that of Lord Vishnu cast in his Narsimha avatar.

History

The Chaurasi temple was built by Raja Meru Verman of Bharmour, in honor of the 84 ''siddhas'' or yogis who had come from

Kurukshetra Kurukshetra () is a city and administrative headquarters of Kurukshetra district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is also known as Dharmakshetra ("Realm of duty") and as the "Land of the Bhagavad Gita". Legends According to the Puranas ...

and had meditated there, while they were passing Bharmour on their way to

Manimahesh Lake Manimahesh Lake is considered a sacred lake in the Hindu religion. This lake is situated on the Manimahesh Kailash mountain, one of the Panch Kailash mountains mentioned in the Sanatan religion.Manimahesh (also known as Dal Lake, Manimahesh) ...

. They blessed the king with ten sons and a daughter, Champavati, as he had no heir. It is said that the pilgrimage to

is incomplete without paying obeisance in these temples due to the Dharmeshvar Mahadev (Dharamraj) Temple as one of the most revered by Hindus, and bathing in the Bharmani Mata temple pool of Goddess

Brahmani Brahmani may refer to: *A number of Hindu goddesses such as ** Brahmani (Matrika) *Rivers: ** Brahmani River, a river in Odisha, India ** Brahmani River (Dwarka), a tributary of the Dwarka in Jharkhand and West Bengal {{Disambiguation ...

, 4 km from Bharmour, Himachal Pradesh. The entire area and the temples, are dedicated to the worship of God

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

and

Shakti Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; 'energy, ability, strength, effort, power, might, capability') in Hinduism, is the "Universal Power" that underlies and sustains all existence. Conceived as feminine in essence, Shakti refer ...

, due to the belief of

Manimahesh Kailash Peak Manimahesh Kailash, also known as Chamba Kailash, is a mountain in the Himalayas, and one of the Panch Kailash mountains mentioned in Sanātana Dharma. At a height of , it stands high over the Manimahesh Lake, and is believed to be the abode o ...

, being their abode and the promise of

Moksha ''Moksha'' (; , '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'', and ''mukti'', is a term in Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, liberation, '' nirvana'', or release. In its soteriological and eschatologic ...

References

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History

References

See also