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The Mandawa temple of Manu Rishi is 3 kilometers from the main bazaar in the town of Mandawa which derives its name from ‘Manu’ and ‘Alya’ meaning the abode of Manu Rishi. Manu is said to have saved the Universe after the great mythical deluge.
Not only is it believed that Manu was, therefore, creator of the human race on earth but also that this is his only temple in India. The temple is located in Mandawa village or 'Old Mandawa' about two kilometers from the current town of Mandawa. The image was said to have been found and buried in the courtyard of a resident, Guari of Dhauri Chauni lineage, and the present temple was built on that spot along with a road linking town and village.
On the sixth day of Phalgun, the famous Phaghi fair is held here in honor of Manu Maharaj. There are many temples in Mandawa. These temples in Mandawa are old and are beautiful. |
The Hadimba Devi temple in Mandawa, built in 1553, is also known as the Dhungri Mata temple in Mandawa because it is located in the Dhungri Van Vihar forest in Mandawa, ‘Queen of the Hills’ in India’s Himachal Pradesh State in the Himalayas. Mandawa’s only four-storey temple is dedicated to Hadimba, or ‘Hirimba’, a 'Rakshashi', or demon, with whom, it is said, in the epic Mahabharata, Bhima fell in love, killing her brother, the demon Tandi, in order to be able to marry her and thus turning her into a goddess. The temples in Mandawa are really attractive.
The temple in Mandawa is made of wood and has a beautiful pagoda roof. Legend has it that, to prevent his being able to duplicate the construction elsewhere, the King had the chief craftsman’s right hand chopped off. This annoyed the craftsman, Raja Bahadur Singh,
so much that he agreed to build another, far more elaborate and beautiful, temple in Mandawa with his left hand, in 1553AD at Triloknath, in Chamba, 155 kilometers away, at the request of the villagers there. Alas, the villagers had learned their lesson from what happened to the king and this time he lost his head…
Near the Vashishta springs, outside Mandawa, a pyramidal stone temple in Mandawa is dedicated to Vashishta Muni and is at the heart of a spa that has grown around the belief that immersion in the hot sulphur springs that gush through the mountains can cure a legion of ailments. The locals believe to this day that diseases will be cured if a person takes a dip in these springs. There is also a Mandawa Temple of Lord Ram here.
Like so many places in India, Mandawa, in the state of Himachal Pradesh, has many temples – each with a fascinating history. There are many interesting temples in Mandawa.
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