Jaageshwar is situated at a distance of 36 Km from Almora in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, in a dense forest of Deodar trees. Everyone knows the 4 holy places (चारधाम) - Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. But people in th Kumaon region believe that at one time there was a 5th holy place - Jaageshwar.
A river flows near Jaageshwar - Jatagangaa. This is a complex of about 124 temples of all sizes - some of them shaped like stone sculptures. Though every temple has a Shivalinga, religious ceremonies and Pooja are conducted in only 4-5 of them. Some of the temples are facing West, some North and there are some facing East. The reason being that around 108 temples are of Lord Shiva and the rest are of other Hindu deities. The temples face the direction belonging to the deity each contains.Out of the 12 Jyotirlingas of India, the 8th one is situated in one of the temples here - Jaagnath temple. That's why it is considered as the most important temple of this complex and even today the pooja here is conducted as per the religious norms.
It is said that the custom of worshiping the Shivalingam started at this place. The legend behind this custom is very interesting. After his wife Sati died in Satya Yuga, Lord Shiva came to this place to do his penance. Some holy men were here at that time to perform a Yagnya. Their wives used to roam about in the area collecting the ingredients to be used for the Yagnya.When they saw Lord Shiva they were spellbound by his looks and fell unconscious. Enraged at this, the holy men cursed the Lord that his Lingam would fall off. When that happened Lord Vishnu used his Chakra to break it into 12 pieces. The regions where these pieces fell became the Jyotirlingas. And that's how the practice of worshiping the Shivalingam started.
Maanas Khanda of Skand Purana describes this place in detail e.g. as 'नागेशं दारुकावने' i.e. Jaageshwar in a dense forest of Deodar trees.Of course, some people do say that the description fits the temple of Naageshwar that is situated at a distance of 13 Km from Dwaraka. Adiguru Shankaracharya has written a Dwadasha Jyotirlinga Stotra.
The temple of Dandeshwar is located a short distance away from Jaageshwar. This is supposedly the place where the holy men cursed Lord Shiva. The legend behind this goes thus - when Lord Shiva was doing a penance here, the village belles became infatuated with him and tried their best to win him over. When the village men were embarrassed about this, Lord Shiva promised them that he would do his penance in the form of a child. Hence this place is also called BaalJaageshwar.
Some people believe that these temples were constructed by Pandavas at the time of their ascension to heavens in Dwaapaar Yugaa. At that time the one ascending to heavens along with his body (सदेह स्वर्गारोहण) had to perform his last rites himself. It is said that the Pandavas performed their own last rites in the Jataaganga river and then ascending to heavens along with their bodies.
But history tells us that these temples were constructed by the Katyuri dynasty in 8th to 10th century. Before that time, wood used to be employed in temple construction.But during Katyuri reign, stone began to be used. They kept on erecting temples as long as they ruled this region.The oldest temple here is that of Mahamrutyunjaya. It is said that the construction began with this temple and that it is about 1200 years old.
Legend has it that the route to go to Kailas Mansarovar used to pass through Jaageshwar. The pilgrims would visit Jaageshwar first and then proceed to Mansarovar. It is also said that the wishes expressed in this place would be granted. When Adiguru Shankaracharya came here he thought that this could be dangerous in future and so put an end to this power using spells.
There is no indication that there were any attempts to destroy these temples. Then why were they abandoned? Katyuri dynasty ruled this region till 11th century. After that there was internal strife in their kingdom. The Chand dynasty came to power later. They also constructed temples, donated land and made arrangements for religious ceremonies to be conducted in the temples. Around 1745, the Rohilas attacked this area and tried to destroy the Jaageshwar temples. But not much information can be found about this in history. The Chand dynasty was defeated and their power weakened. Their patronage to the temples wasn't as much as it used to be. Around 1790, the Gorakhas started ruling here and continued ruling for next 25 years. There was a lot of chaos and people had to go undergo a lot of hardship at the hand of their Gorakha rulers. The people were so sick of them that they allowed the British to rule here instead. Though the Gorakhas had to leave, these developments led to the decline in number of pilgrims visiting Jaageshwar.
In 20th century, when the ASI was given responsibility to look after these temples, they noticed that a lot of idols had been stolen from the temples. To make sure that the rest survived, they shifted them to a museum located a short distance away. It is ironical that the God who people go to in the time of distress has to be kept locked up behind glass enclosures to keep Him safe.
One of the priests here believes that whatever the historical reasons behind the temples being abandoned, only those people come here whom the deity Himself calls because of their good deeds in their past lives. :-)
A river flows near Jaageshwar - Jatagangaa. This is a complex of about 124 temples of all sizes - some of them shaped like stone sculptures. Though every temple has a Shivalinga, religious ceremonies and Pooja are conducted in only 4-5 of them. Some of the temples are facing West, some North and there are some facing East. The reason being that around 108 temples are of Lord Shiva and the rest are of other Hindu deities. The temples face the direction belonging to the deity each contains.Out of the 12 Jyotirlingas of India, the 8th one is situated in one of the temples here - Jaagnath temple. That's why it is considered as the most important temple of this complex and even today the pooja here is conducted as per the religious norms.
It is said that the custom of worshiping the Shivalingam started at this place. The legend behind this custom is very interesting. After his wife Sati died in Satya Yuga, Lord Shiva came to this place to do his penance. Some holy men were here at that time to perform a Yagnya. Their wives used to roam about in the area collecting the ingredients to be used for the Yagnya.When they saw Lord Shiva they were spellbound by his looks and fell unconscious. Enraged at this, the holy men cursed the Lord that his Lingam would fall off. When that happened Lord Vishnu used his Chakra to break it into 12 pieces. The regions where these pieces fell became the Jyotirlingas. And that's how the practice of worshiping the Shivalingam started.
Maanas Khanda of Skand Purana describes this place in detail e.g. as 'नागेशं दारुकावने' i.e. Jaageshwar in a dense forest of Deodar trees.Of course, some people do say that the description fits the temple of Naageshwar that is situated at a distance of 13 Km from Dwaraka. Adiguru Shankaracharya has written a Dwadasha Jyotirlinga Stotra.
The temple of Dandeshwar is located a short distance away from Jaageshwar. This is supposedly the place where the holy men cursed Lord Shiva. The legend behind this goes thus - when Lord Shiva was doing a penance here, the village belles became infatuated with him and tried their best to win him over. When the village men were embarrassed about this, Lord Shiva promised them that he would do his penance in the form of a child. Hence this place is also called BaalJaageshwar.
Some people believe that these temples were constructed by Pandavas at the time of their ascension to heavens in Dwaapaar Yugaa. At that time the one ascending to heavens along with his body (सदेह स्वर्गारोहण) had to perform his last rites himself. It is said that the Pandavas performed their own last rites in the Jataaganga river and then ascending to heavens along with their bodies.
But history tells us that these temples were constructed by the Katyuri dynasty in 8th to 10th century. Before that time, wood used to be employed in temple construction.But during Katyuri reign, stone began to be used. They kept on erecting temples as long as they ruled this region.The oldest temple here is that of Mahamrutyunjaya. It is said that the construction began with this temple and that it is about 1200 years old.
Legend has it that the route to go to Kailas Mansarovar used to pass through Jaageshwar. The pilgrims would visit Jaageshwar first and then proceed to Mansarovar. It is also said that the wishes expressed in this place would be granted. When Adiguru Shankaracharya came here he thought that this could be dangerous in future and so put an end to this power using spells.
There is no indication that there were any attempts to destroy these temples. Then why were they abandoned? Katyuri dynasty ruled this region till 11th century. After that there was internal strife in their kingdom. The Chand dynasty came to power later. They also constructed temples, donated land and made arrangements for religious ceremonies to be conducted in the temples. Around 1745, the Rohilas attacked this area and tried to destroy the Jaageshwar temples. But not much information can be found about this in history. The Chand dynasty was defeated and their power weakened. Their patronage to the temples wasn't as much as it used to be. Around 1790, the Gorakhas started ruling here and continued ruling for next 25 years. There was a lot of chaos and people had to go undergo a lot of hardship at the hand of their Gorakha rulers. The people were so sick of them that they allowed the British to rule here instead. Though the Gorakhas had to leave, these developments led to the decline in number of pilgrims visiting Jaageshwar.
In 20th century, when the ASI was given responsibility to look after these temples, they noticed that a lot of idols had been stolen from the temples. To make sure that the rest survived, they shifted them to a museum located a short distance away. It is ironical that the God who people go to in the time of distress has to be kept locked up behind glass enclosures to keep Him safe.
One of the priests here believes that whatever the historical reasons behind the temples being abandoned, only those people come here whom the deity Himself calls because of their good deeds in their past lives. :-)
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