Naina Devi Temple (Himachal Pradesh)

Thousands of pilgrims had gathered to offer
prayers on the occasion of ‘Navratra’ at the
temple where a railing on the way to it collapsed
due to heavy rush resulting in the stampede.

Naina Devi Temple (Himachal Pradesh) Hindu Temples

Lord Shiva’s consort Sati once burnt herself alive in Yagna to avenge an insult to Lord Shiva. The distraught Shiva picked her corpse and gyrated his horrified dance. Then Lord Vishnu unleashed his Chakra and cut the Sati’s body into fifty one pieces to save the earth from Shiva’s wrath. All the fifty one places - where parts of Sati's body fell, became known as Shakti Peeths. It is believed that Sati’s eyes fell at the place where this temple is situated. Therefore, this temple is called Naina Devi.

Naina Devi Temple is one of the fifty-one Shakti Peeths in India. Situated 60 km from Bilaspur district in Himachal Pradesh, Naina Devi Temple is one of the highly venerated Shakti Temples in India. According to Hindu mythology, sati, consort of Lord Shiva, killed herself by jumping in the sacrificial fire when her father Daksha Prajapati insulted her husband. This enraged Shiva who started roaming the entire universe with the body of Sati in his arms. Lord Vishnu dismembered the dead body of Sati to calm down the anger of Shiva. Various body parts of Sati fell at fifty-one different places in India that later became sacred as Shakti Peeths.

Thousands of pilgrims had gathered to offer prayers on the occasion of ‘Navratra’ at the temple where a railing on the way to it collapsed due to heavy rush resulting in the stampede, official sources said. Most of the worshippers were from the neighbouring state of Punjab. Television pictures showed people being carried on stretchers to a hospital, many writhing in pain.”There were a lot of people inside and we were trying to fight for space when everyone started falling over,” one female worshipper, Bimala, told television reporters.Naina Devi tehsildar Narendra, who is also the temple officer, said the death toll could go up.

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