Information of Surkanda Devi Temple, Dhanaulti, Mussoorie Road, Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand

Surkanda Devi Temple is one of the main Shakthi Peeth in the Himalayan Mountains. This is a sacred place for the Hindus to honor the Sathi Devi's sacrifice for her husband Lord Shiva. This is an ancient female Goddess temple very beautifully situated near by the Dhanaulti hill station on Mussoorie - Chamba Highway, which is a famous tourist spot. This is a hilltop temple built at a height of 9976 feet elevation. From here the beautiful snow capped peaks of the greater Himalayas are visible from this temple. It is divinely located at Kaddukhal Village, Tehri Garhwal District of Uttrakhand State in India.

Surkanda Devi Temple Religious Significance

Surkanda Devi Temple is dedicated to Sathi Devi, who is the actual wife of lord Shiva. She is considered to be more divine and holy by the women members of the Hindu religion. It is believed that by visiting this temple with full devotion will make our wishes come true. Childless women's mainly pray here to bless them with a baby. This is a temple where all sects of Hinduism come to pilgrimage. This is one of the important Shakthi Peetha among other 51 laid across the Indian sub continent. The Shivic sect undergo a special Shakthi Peetha pilgrimage and try to cover all of these Peeths once in a life time by phase by phase selecting Indian zones where these Peethas are located.

Festival at Surkanda Devi Temple

The Ganga Dushhera and Navratri are the main festival of Sri Surkanda Devi Temple. Many pilgrims who come to the Gharwal temple visit do come here on these festive occasions. This is very grandly celebrated by its villagers with many devotees coming from all over this sub continent. Here the Devi is very beautifully decorated with cloths, jewels and flowers. Many special rituals take place on these occasions and it is very holy to be present in this temple on these auspicious days. All the festivals celebrated here are organized in a grand way which showcases the traditional ways of celebration as well as all the rituals followed and carried out since ages.

Surkanda Devi Temple Mythology & History

The legends for Surkanda Devi Temple are mentioned in many ancient Hindu texts like the Veda and Skanda Puranas. It is said that the head portion of the Sathi Devi fell here when Lord Shiva took her dead body on his trident on the way to Mount kailash. Hence the fall of her head is called as the sirkhanda. This later spelled as Surkanda and still followed this varied pronounced name as Surkanda Devi Temple. This is also known as the Shakthi Peetha, since Sathi Devi conducted self immolation to stop the penance performed by her father named Daksha. He was not happy with her marriage with Lord Shiva and did this penance to relive him from the daughter's sin. Here Sathi Devi didn't want to complete this penance and she jumped in to the ceremonial fire place and sacrifices here self for her beloved husband. When Lord Shiva came to know about this sacrifice and he took her body on his trident and wondered like a mad man on the way to his Himalayan abode. Her body parts fell at many places in the India sub continent. This is the place where her head portion fell down. This is how this place became more holy and divine for the Hindus.

Surkanda Devi Temple Architectural Significance

Surkanda Devi Temple is present here since the ancient times. The present temple is seen in the Hindu-Nepali style. This is found on the hilltop, which has an altitude of 2757 meters above the sea level. A beautiful circular pathway is built to reach this temple which is a slope and not having steps to climb up. This is a fenced pathways with steel grips mounted on granite pillars. While reaching its top you can find many free masonry foundations of the main temple ground areas. This is a totally fenced temple alongside its steep cliffs. The greater Himalayas are seen from here with a scenic looks. This is a rectangular structure with a pyramid shape dome on its top. There is also little small temple structure fond on the adjacent side of this temple and there are also few other complexes built here for temple related peoples. There is a big porch built near the northern side. The main deity is a goddess and it is found in a beautiful black stone carved sculptor. The entire temple is painted in white color with red color bordering. Altogether this is now a modern temple looking very beautiful on the top of this mountain.

While in Uttarakhand, don't miss the opportunity to pay visit to this holy temple.