Place · Shakti Peetha temple · India
Mansa Devi, Panchkula
Also known as Mansa Devi, Mansa Devi — Panchkula, Panchkula
The Mansa Devi temple at Panchkula in Haryana, 10 kilometres from Chandigarh, on the Shivalik foothills — one of the five Shakti Peethas of the Punjab-Himachal pilgrimage circuit (with Chintpurni, Jwala Ji, Naina Devi and Vaishno Devi). The deity Mansa Devi is a form of the goddess who grants wishes (manas-sakti, 'wish-fulfilling power'); the shrine is said to be where Sati's head fell in the Shakti Pitha narrative. The temple's foundation is traditional 10-11th century; the current structure is 1811 Patiala royal patronage (built by Raja Gopal Singh of Patiala). The annual Shravan Ashtami (August) festival draws over 500,000 pilgrims from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal — the circuit's third-largest festival after Jwala Ji and Chintpurni. The Haryana state manages the temple through the Mansa Devi Shrine Board (established 1991).
- Function
- Sacred site & pilgrimage
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 30.699, 76.866
Connections (2)
- PilgrimageNaina Devi, Bilaspur
Naina Devī on the Sutlej ridge and Mansā Devī at Panchkula are the circuit's plainsward shrines, closest to the Punjab and Haryana towns and therefore the most heavily used. Most Nau Devi journeys start or finish at Mansā Devī, being the first hill a bus from Chandigarh reaches. Mansā Devī's two temples, a hundred metres apart, were built by the Mani Majra raja in 1815 and by Patiala afterwards, and are administered by a single shrine board today.
- PilgrimageKalika Devi, Kalka
Mansā Devī and Kālikā Devī are twenty kilometres apart at the foot of the hills, and both owe their present buildings to Punjab hill-state patronage — Mani Majra and Patiala at one, Patiala at the other. Kalka is where the plain stops: the mountain railway to Shimla starts below the temple.
On these journeys
Sources
Wikipedia, “Mata Mansa Devi Mandir”. Archaeological Survey of India and State Archaeology monument records, and the standard regional literature.
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