Jwalaji in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh is well-known for
the famous
Jwalaji Temple which is one of the fifty-one Shakti
Peeths in the country. It is said that when, Sati, the consort of Lord
Shiva, killed herself by jumping in the sacrificial fire when her father
Daksha Prajapati insulted her husband, an enraged Shiva started roaming
the entire universe with the body of Sati in his arms. His movement
created havoc and imbalance in the Universe. To calm down the anger of
Shiva, Lord Vishnu dismembered the dead body of Sati and various parts
of the body fell at 51 different places in India which later on became
sacred as
Shakti Peeths. It is believed that Sati's tongue had
fallen at the very place where Jwalaji Temple is now situated. The
tongue of Sati is represented by
Jwala (Holy Flame) that is
perpetually burning. The flames come out from nine different rocks in
the temple. It is said that the Pandavas have visited this sacred place.
Even Emperor Akbar paid yearly visit to this Temple after he became
impressed with the holy flames that kept burning even after he had put a
massive
chhatra (canopy) over it to extinguish the flame. The
climat of this region is quite moderate with cool but pleasant winters
and warm summers.
