Place · winter shrine village · India
Kharsali
Kharsali, near Janki Chatti, receives the utsava murti of Yamuna each Diwali when Yamunotri closes. The goddess is housed at the Shani Dev temple through winter and carried back up on Akshaya Tritiya.
- Periods
- Classical and Puranic Age, Regional Flourishing, Islamic Age and Bhakti Traditions, Early Modern Age, British Colonial Age, Republic and Living Practice
- Function
- Sacred site & pilgrimage
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 31.020, 78.440
Connections (1)
- Sacred transplantYamunotrī
Yamunotri at 3,290 metres worships the Yamuna as Surya's daughter and Yama's sister, and like all the Garhwal high shrines it closes for winter. Each Diwali the utsava murti is carried down to Kharsali near Janki Chatti and housed at the Shani Dev temple — Shani being her other brother — until Akshaya Tritiya, when the priests take her back uphill. The lower village is not an annexe but the winter half of the same shrine.
Sources
Wikipedia, “Kharsali”. Archaeological Survey of India and State Archaeology monument records, and the standard regional literature.
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