Chamunda, Jodhpur

The Chamunda Devi temple at Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, Rajasthan — the Shakti kuladevi (clan goddess) of the Rathore Rajput royal house of Jodhpur, installed in the fort by Rao Jodha (founder of Jodhpur, 1459) at the time of the fort's foundation. The Chamunda Devi (Durga-Kali composite) is a black-stone deity worshipped as the chief goddess of the Marwar Rathore line. The annual Dussehra festival in October involves a royal procession from the Mehrangarh palace through the Jodhpur bazaar carrying the goddess's weapons for the Rajput Shastra Puja (worship of weapons) ceremony. The 2008 Chamunda Devi stampede at Mehrangarh (killing 249 pilgrims in a staircase crush on 30 September 2008) led to major pilgrim-management reforms. The temple's foundation and the fort's foundation were part of a single ritual.