Sri Chandrasekhar Mahadev Temple, Saho village, Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, India

Location

Sri Chandrashekhar Mahadev temple, a magnificent shrine, located in the village Saho of Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh. Chandrashekhar literally means the moon on the head but basically Lord Shiva. This is an ancient temple of 10th century and situated in plain but surrounded, three sides by the hills.

A river named Sal is flowing, below the temple in deep valley. The river got its name from the Sal trees, found in this region in abundance. The distance from Chamba to village Saho is 18 km.

Most population of Saho village, are the devotees of Lord Shiva and are called Suhal, who speak Suhali.

Chandrashekhar Mahadev Temple

Sal River

About The Temple

The Shivlingam is 5 ft in height and commonly known as Chandrashekhar Mahadev. The Lingam is placed on a large stand, square at the top which is encased in copper sheets. There is a legend that copper is procured from the same site, where the temple is situated.

Divine Bull (Nandi) made out of stone is placed in front of the temple. The devotees pass through the legs of the bull, with this belief that the trouble of his life will be removed by doing so. They also rub butter, ghee, milk, etc over the mouth of Nandi. The devotees believe that, by doing so, they will remain healthy and wealthy.

The temple is undoubtedly, the ancient one. According to a stone inscription, discovered in the village Saho and now, preserved in Chamba museum. It states that the temple was built by King Saryaki, son of Bagota in 10 Th century.

In front of the temple, there is a courtyard. Foot prints of Goddess Mekhli isinstalled here, the devotees bow their head and have Her blessings.

Above the courtyard, a 25 ft high statue of Lord Hanuman is installed. The specialty of the statue is that Lord Shani Dev is tied to the waist of Lord Hanuman. Above the main door of the temple the statue of Lord Ganesha and on left and right Kaal and Mahakal’s statues are installed.

The tourists and the devotees come here through out the year to get blessings of Lord Shiva and to enjoy the natural scenic beauty of Chamba and Saho valley.

History

According to a legend, during the exile period, Pandavas came here and constructed this temple of Lord Shiva for their worship.

Another legend says that in the ancient time, a Saint used to do meditation in a cave, near the river Sal. After the completion of the meditation he used to take bath in the river, very early morning.

One day, he saw that somebody had taken bath before him. He wanted to know the fact and kept watching that place from very early morning. He saw that three Saints appeared like a flash of light by the supernatural power and began to take bath. After taking bath, they started chanting and vanished immediately. The Saint, watching this occurrence, became astonished.

In the same night the Saint had a dream, in which Lord Chandrashekhar appeared before him and said not to worry from this incident. 

Lord Chandrashekhara told him that I am present here in the form of a stone, under the water of Sal river. He directed him to take it out of the water and carry it to another place, where this stone (SHILA) would become heavy, place it there, and construct a temple.The saint did accordingly.The news of this incident circulated, all around the village and the King.

Knowing about this news, the King reached that place and started the construction of the temple. Again an amazing incident happened there. It is seen that as the construction of the temple progressed the Shivling started to grow taller and taller. Then again Lord Chandrashekhara came in to the dream and directed to stop the construction of the wall, and complete its roofing work.That is why the temple's roof is of low height and in Tribal style.

Festivals

All the festivals are celebrated here according to the traditional culture. In Maha Shivaratri, the devotees worship Lord Shiva with grains of new crop and wool. The devotees who are unable to go to Mani Mahesh, they take bath in Sal river and worship Lord Shiva with this belief that they had earned Punyafal ( Religious benefit ) equivalent to Mani Mahesh pilgrimage.

In Hindi month Baishakh, a fair is organised in which the local people performs singing and dancing, wearing traditional dresses and enjoy the celebration. The local people suppose themselves as a part of Lord Shiva family.

The tourists and the devotees all over the country visit this place, through out the year and enjoy the festival.

Places of Interest

1. Gandhi Gate

A bright orange gateway is constructed on the south western side of the chowgan in 1900 AD to welcome Lord Curzon. This was the main entrance in to the city before the new road was built.

2. Luxmi Narayan Temple

This temple in Chamba is worth seeing. There are six temples, three of Lord Shiva and three of Lord Vishnu temple.

3. Chamba Museum

Collections of sculptures of 18th and 19th century are preserved beautifully inside the Museum.

4. Khajjiar

Khajjiar lake is situated at an altitude of 1920 M between Dalhousie and Chamba town.

Khajjiar Lake

How to Reach

By Road

The nearest Bus station from Chamba is located in Chowgan. Bus service is easily available from Delhi, Chandigarh and the other cities of Himachal.

By Rail

Pathankot is the nearest railway station and the distance to Chamba is 122 km.
From Pathankot buses are available for Chamba.

By Air

Nearest airport is New Delhi or Chandigarh from where one can hire a taxi or can reach Chamba by own car.