jwalamukhi temple kangra

Jawalamukhi is a Shakti peetha town and a nagar parishad in Kangra district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Hindu genealogy registers at Jawalamukhi, Himachal Pradesh are kept here.
The temple is situated overlooking the Dhauladhar range and set amidst undulating hills. According to Hindu mythology, when Lord Vishnu cut through the corpse of Sati, her tongue fell off the corpse at this site. Even the Pandavas are regarded to have visited this sacred place. The temple consists of a copper pipe which emanates natural gas which is lit by the temple’s priest to form a flawless blue flame. The flame is worshiped as the manifestation of the goddess Jwalamukhi. Some also believe that Jwalamukhi represents the flaming mouth of Jalandhara, the demon who was crushed to death by Lord Shiva. The flames are believed to come from his mouth. Nine flames have been named after the goddesses – Mahakali, Annapurna, Chandi, Hinglaj, Vidhya, Basni, Maha Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ambika and Anji Devi which burn continuously.
It is believed that Raja Bhumi Chand Katoch of Kangra, who was a great devotee of Goddess Durga, dreamt of the sacred place and set people to trace its whereabouts. After discovering the site, the Raja erected the temple at that very location. The temple was built in a modern design. Its dome is made from gold and the temple possesses a beautiful folding door made out of silver plates.

The Jwalamukhi temple is the place where Sati's tongue fell. The goddess therefore is manifested as tiny flames here that burn through the fissures in an age old rock. There are nine flames at the temple that have been burning here without any oil or cotton since ages.
The temple also has a great historical significance dating back to the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar. Amazed at the continuity of these flames, he tried to extinguish these. He tried a lot of methods for this but in vain. Finally, he submitted to the power of the goddess. He went to the shrine bare footed and presented a golden umbrella to the goddess. But the goddess denied this offering and the Chhatra turned into a colossal metal. Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab also paid a visit to the temple in the year 1809. The building of the temple has a gilt dome gifted by Maharaja Ranjit Singh and silver plated folding doors.