Katarmal is a remote village located in

Kumaon Division Kumaon (; , ; historically romanised as KemāonJames Prinsep (Editor)John McClelland ) is a List of divisions in India, revenue and administrative division in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It spans over the eastern half of the state and is b ...

, in

Almora District Almora is a District (India), district in the Kumaon Division of Uttarakhand state, India. The headquarters is at Almora. It is 1,638 meters above sea level. The neighbouring regions are Pithoragarh district to the east, Chamoli district to the w ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Location

Katarmal is from Kosi village, from the district centre,

Almora Almora ( Kumaoni: ') is a municipal corporation and a cantonment town in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Almora district. Almora is located on a ridge at the southern edge of the Kumaon Hills of the ...

and from

Nainital Nainital (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a town and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the Uttarakhand High Court, High Court of the state being ...

. Located at a height of above sea level, it is well connected by road, from

Khairna Khairna, also spelled Khyrna, is a small hamlet in the Nainital district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand which grew up around the bridge of the same name which has linked two sides of the Kosi River at this site since the Colonial Era. The ...

, Garampani

Haldwani Haldwani (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ''Haldvānī'') is the largest city of Kumaon division, Kumaon. It is also the second List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Haldwani is said to be ...

and from

Ranikhet Ranikhet ( Kumaoni: ) is a hill station and cantonment town, near Almora Town in Almora district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the home of the Military Hospital, Kumaon Regiment (KRC) and Naga Regiment and is maintained by the Ind ...

and Kausani, the nearest connecting point being near Kosi village. The G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, established in 1988, serves as a nodal agency for research and development and was established here by the government of India.

Surya temple

Katarmal is known for a relatively rare

Surya Surya ( ; , ) is the Sun#Dalal, Dalal, p. 399 as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchaya ...

temple, constructed by the

Katyuri Kings The Katyuri kingdom also known as Katyuri dynasty was a medieval ruling kingdom that ruled over the regions in Uttarakhand in India and western Nepal from 500 to 1200 CE. or 700 to 1200 CE. The founder of this dynasty, King Vasu Dev was origin ...

in the 9th century CE and bears witness to the architecture of the day. Masons of the time used a mixture of lime and lentil paste to make the adhesive agent. Katarmalla, a Katyuri king, constructed the temple, which has 44 smaller temples around the main deity of Surya, called Burhadita or Vraddhaditya. Other deities like Shiva-Parvathi and Lakshmi-Narayana. are also established in the temple complex. The carved wooden doors and panels were transported to the National Museum, Delhi, after a

murti In the Hinduism, Hindu tradition, a ''murti'' (, ) is a devotional image, such as a statue or icon, of a Hindu deities, deity or Hindu saints, saint used during ''Puja (Hinduism), puja'' and/or in other customary forms of actively expressing d ...

from the 10th century was stolen. The temple, which holds other carvings on the walls and panels, was declared a monument of national importance under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958.

References

{{Sun temples Villages in Almora district Surya temples