Bawe Wali Mata, Bahu Fort

The Bawe Wali Mata Kali temple inside Bahu Fort in Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir — the Dogra royal house's Shakti shrine, built within the 1824 Bahu Fort by Maharaja Gulab Singh (founder of the Jammu and Kashmir princely state, ruled 1846-1857). The temple is dedicated to Bawe Wali Mata (the 'lady of the forest', a Kali-Bhairavi composite form), the kuladevi of the Dogra royal house of Jammu. The temple's foundation is 1824; expansions were done through the 19-century Dogra rule and the 20-century Maharaja Hari Singh period. The temple's distinctive feature is its proximity to the Bahu Fort (one of the oldest surviving fortifications in Jammu) and the Mansar Lake. The annual Baisakhi festival (April) and the September Navratri festival draw tens of thousands of Dogra pilgrims. Managed by the Jammu and Kashmir Dharmarth Trust.