Facts about the famous Dhari Devi Temple.

The Dhara Devi Temple is situated on the banks of the river Alaknanda, between Srinagar and Rudraprayag, in Uttarakhand, India.

The most surprising fact about this temple is that – It is believed that the face of Goddess Dhara Devi changes its form thrice a day.

In the morning the idol of the goddess looks like a girl,

In the afternoon, the idol looks like a young woman and

In the evening the idol looks like an older woman.

Isn’t it AMAZING!!!

The Dhari Devi Temple is a temple dedicated to Goddess Kali.

The upper half of the goddess’s idol is worshipped in the Dhara Devi Temple and the lower half of the goddess’s idol is located in Kalimath Temple.

In the Kalimath Temple, goddess Dhari Devi is worshipped as Goddess Kali.

Goddess Dhara Devi is the “Guardian Deity” of the entire state of Uttarakhand. She is considered the guardian goddess of mountains and pilgrims.

She is also known as the “Protector of the Char Dhams” of Uttarakhand.

The “Char Dhams” or the “4 Holy Abodes/ Places” of Uttarakhand are – Badrinath, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Yamunotri.

The Dhara Devi temple is one of 108 Shakti Sthals (Powerful Spiritual Places) in India, as numbered by Srimad Devi Bhagwat.

As Per Stories

Once, the Dhara Devi temple got swept away by severe floods. The idol of the goddess also got washed away and she hit and stopped at a rock near Dharo village.

Stories say that the idol spoke in a divine voice. This voice told the villagers to install the idol at that place.

The villagers together made a temple and installed the idol of the goddess Dhara Devi.

As per the priests, the idol of the goddess stripe has been established since the Dwapar Yug.

The Uttarakhand Floods in 2013

On June 16, 2013, the Dhara Devi temple was demolished and the idol of the goddess was shifted to the concrete platform at a height of about 611 metres from the Alaknanda river.

This was done to construct the 330 MW Alaknanda Hydro Electric Dam.

Hours after the idol was shifted, the region faced what would become one of India’s worst natural disasters since the 2004 Tsunami.

These floods led to landslides which washed away the entire shrine town, killing hundreds of people.

The locals and devotees believe that Uttarakhand had to face the Goddess’s anger. She was moved from her “Original Abode” to make way for the construction.

In 1882, a similar thing was done by a local king. Then too, it had caused a similar impact. There was a landslide that had flattened Kedarnath.

After these incidences, it is believed that the goddess had shown her “Anger”, every time to the people when they tried to “Relocate her”.

Goddess Dhari Devi – The Epitome of Power – Must Not Be Disturbed.

Now, a new temple is constructed just above the place of her original location.

For the Hydropower Project to work smoothly, Dhara Devi temple is raised by a height of around 611meters. As the temple will stay above the water level of the river Alaknanda, it will not submerge in the river.