HIDIMBI DEVI TEMPLE, MANALI
St. Gregorios College ART ( Association of Retired Teachers) members visited Hidimbi Devi Temple, Manali on on 29th April,2014 Hidimbi Devi Temple, also known variously
as the Hadimba Temple,is located in Manāli,a hill station in the
State of Himāchal
Pradesh in north India.It is an ancient cave temple dedicated to Hidimbi Devi,
sister of Hidimba,who was a character in the Indian epic, Mahābhārata.The
temple is surrounded by a cedar forest at the foot of the Himālayas. The
sanctuary is built over a huge rock jutting out of the ground, which was
worshiped as an image of the deity. The structure was built in 1553.The Hidimba
Devi temple is built around a cave where Hidimba performed mediatation. Hidimba
was supposed to be live here with her brother Hidimb, and not much is known
about their parents. Born in the Rakshas family, Hidimba vowed to marry one who
would defeat her brother Hidimb, who was supposed to be very brave and
fearless. During the Pandava's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandava exile,
when they visited Manali Bhima, one of the five Pandvas, killed Hidimb. Thus,
Hidimba married Bhima, and gave birth to their son Ghatotkacha.
The Hidimbi Devi Temple has intricately
carved wooden doors and a 24 meters tall wooden "shikhar" or tower
above the sanctuary.[2] The tower consists of three square roofs covered with
timber tiles and a fourth brass cone-shaped roof at the top. The earth goddess
Durga forms the theme of the main door carvings.[3] The temple base is made out
of whitewashed, mud-covered stonework. An enormous rock occupies the inside of
the temple, only a 7.5 cm (3 inch) tall brass image representing goddess
Hidimbi Devi. A rope hangs down in front of the rock,and according to a
legend,in bygone days religious zealots would tie the hands of "sinners"
by the rope and then swing them against the rock.
About 70 metres away from the
temple,there is a shrine dedicated to Goddess Hidimbi's son, Ghatotkacha who
was born after she married Bhima. The most surprising feature of the temple or
what believers could call the most reassuring feature of the temple is the fact
that inside the temple the imprint of the feet of the Goddess carved on a block
of stone are worshipped and if you goto Google Satellite and zoom into the area
where the temple is located, you can clearly see the imprint of a giant foot
spanning across the valley in the area near the temple.
The Indian epic Mahabharata narrates that
Pāndavas
stayed in Himachal during their exile. In Manali, a strongest person named
Hidimba,a brother of Hidimdi, attacked them, and in the ensuing fight,Bhima,the
strongest Pandav, killed him. Bhima and Hidimba's sister, Hidimbi, then got
married and had a son, Ghatotkacha, (who later proved to be a great warrior in
the war against Kauravas).When Bhima and his brothers returned from exile,
Hidimbi did not accompany him,but stayed back and did tapasyā (a
combination of meditation, prayer, and penance) so as to eventually attain the
status of a goddess.
Prof. John Kurakar
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