Chintpurni Temple is a revered shrine of the Hindus.
Located in Chintpurni village of Una district, Chintpurni Devi Mandir is
a famous temple of Himachal Pradesh. The temple is accessible from all
the parts of Himachal. However, there are bus-services at regular
intervals from Chandigarh, Kangra and Jwala Devi. Chintpurni Temple is
dedicated to Shri Chhinnamastika Devi or Chintpurni Devi. Like other
temples of the Hindus, this too has legends behind its establishment.
Chintpurni Devi is regarded as the Goddess who takes away all the
worries of her devotees. The term 'Chhinnamastika' suggests 'without the
head'. Here, the Goddess is depicted without her head in a pindi
(phallic) form. Devotees come to this temple with a perpetual faith that
the Goddess would bless them and fulfill all their wishes. It is said
that nobody goes empty handed from the shrine of Goddess Chintpurni /
Chhinnamastika.
The simple structure of the temple contains the main shrine, where the
image of Mata Chintpurni is placed in the form a pindi (a round stone).
During the time of Navratras, the temple observes grand fairs and
festivity. People from far and near come to visit this holy shrine to
seek the blessings from the Goddess. In the past years, the temple has
been repaired and modified to hold the huge crowd during festivals.
Legend
As per one legend, at the time of self-sacrifice, part of Sati's feet
fell at this place and subsequently, a temple was built. Since, the
temple is associated with the legend of self-sacrifice by Sati; it is
regarded as the Shakti Peetha. Another legend says that Goddess appeared
to slay two demons Shumbha and Nishumbha. After slaying the demons, the
escorting friend of the goddess asked for more blood and the goddess cut
her head to quench her thirst for blood.
Bhai Mai Das was an ardent devotee of Goddess Durga. Once, the Goddess
came in his dream and asked him to build a temple at this place.
Following the instruction, the temple was built in Chhaproh village.
Till date, his descendants perform the worship of Shri Chintpurni. The
present generation is the twenty-sixth generation of Bhai Mai Das. The
village was named after the Goddess and it comprises maximum families
from Bhai Mai Das' clan.
