Best Attraction of Hadimba Temple in himachal pradesh
Hadimba Temple, which was constructed in the 16th century, is one of the best places to visit in Manali and is located amid a beautiful deodar forest on top of a hill in Manali. The temple holds great significance for the locals and also the tourists who frequently visit the pilgrim spot to seek blessings from Goddess Hadimba. The temple is dedicated to the Goddess Hadimba who was also the wife of the strongest of the Pandava brothers, Bhima. According to the Hindu mythology, the giantess Hadimba meditated in this region as an apology for her sins. So, she was given the position of Goddess by the most powerful Goddess Durga, whose 10 centimeter footprint is preserved at the entrance of the temple.
The Goddess Hadimba used to meditate within the confinements of the temple, where a stone idol of the deity that rises to a height of 60 centimeters is placed. This temple was constructed by Raja Bahadur Singh in a distinctive architectural style. The temple premises has a temple of Ghatotkacha, the son of Bhima and Hadimba and a hero of the Mahabharatha war, whose idol is made primarily of wood and lies 70 meters from the Hadimba temple.
The Hidimba Devi Temple has intricately carved wooden doors and a 24 meters tall wooden “shikhar” or tower above the sanctuary.The tower consists of three square roofs covered with timber tiles and a fourth brass cone-shaped roof at the top. The earth goddess Durga forms the theme of the main door carvings. The temple base is made out of whitewashed, mud-covered stonework. An enormous rock occupies the inside of the temple, only a 7.5 cm (3 inch) tall brass image representing goddess Hidimba Devi. A rope hangs down in front of the rock,and according to a legend,in bygone days religious zealots would tie the hands of “sinners” by the rope and then swing them against the rock.
About seventy metres away from the temple, there is a shrine dedicated to Goddess Hidimba’s son, Ghatotkacha, who was born after she married Bhima. The most surprising feature of the temple or what believers could call the most reassuring feature of the temple is the fact that inside the temple the imprint of the feet of the Goddess carved on a block of stone are worshipped.
