Chintpurni, Dada Siba, Chanaur, Jwalamukhi

Chintpurni - The legend goes that the temple came into being after the goddess Sati revealed
herself to Mayi Dass, an ardent devotee. The temple is built around the Devi's pind. Her 
idol depicts her without a head-for it is said that the cut it of to assuage the blood thirst 
of her companions. And hence the name, Chinmastika devi 'The Goddess without a Head'. The temple 
is believed to be so powerful that whatever one wishes for will come true. A story goes that a 
mute girl had gone to many doctors and specialists looking for a cure. No one was able to help 
her. Her parents had given up hope when they heard about Chintpurni. They visited it, with 
bleak hope, that they could hear their daughter speak. They prayed at the temple and it is 
believed that the girl let out such a loud scream that it woke up many villages around the 
temple.  Official Site 

Dada Siba was a small state whose ruling dynasty was an offshoot of the house of Kangra. Raja 
Ram Singh who ruled over the state about two hundred years ago, built a temple here with 
exquisite paintings and murals in 1813. The name of the artist (or artists) of these paintings 
is not known. As elsewhere in the hills, the Krishna  legend seems to have been very popular 
here as well. He is painted in association with the gopis and the cowherds and with Radha with 
whom he is shown in dalliance. The murals and paintings are striking in that all the 
characters painted have a female form. Read more here... or here...

Chanaur is about 10 kilometers from Dada Siba and is an ancient temple though it is known more 
for the water mills. Water from the Beas is channeled to the village and used for grinding corn 
and wheat through an old fashioned stone rotor and grinding stone. The mills are small but 
very intersting. The temple has its own legend. It is believed that how much ever one offers to 
the temple it is never wasted. There will always be enough people thronging to the temple to 
eat how ever rice is donated. An arrogant ruler once gave the temple huge sacks of rice and 
told them that it should suffice for a long time. However people started thronging in and soon 
the rice was over. The ruler had to get more only to find more people arriving. He then had to 
beg forgiveness to the deity there and only then did the people stop coming. 

Jwalamukhi Temple is situated 30 km south of Kangra valley. Dedicated to Goddess Jwalamukhi, 
there is a copper pipe in this temple through which natural gas comes out and the priest of 
the temple lights this. This flame is worshiped as a manifestation of the goddess Jwalamukhi. 
The flames burn continuously without any fuel or assistance and may be seen erupting from a
rock-side. Ancient legends speak of a time when demons lorded over the Himalaya mountains and
harassed the gods. Led by Lord Vishnu, the gods decided to destroy them. They focused their
strengths and huge flames rose from the ground. From that fire, a young girl took birth. She 
is regarded as Adishakti-the first 'shakti'. Known as Sati or Parvati, she grew up at the house 
of Prajapati Daksha and later became the consort of Lord Shiva. Once her father insulted Lord 
Shiva and unable to accept this, she killed herself. (Origin of Sati) When Lord Shiva heard of 
his wife's death his range knew no bounds and holding Sati's body he began stalking the three
worlds. The other gods trembled before his wrath and appealed to Lord vishnu for help. Lord 
Vishnu let fly a volley of arrows which struck Sati's body and severed it to pieces. At the 
places where the pieces fell, the fifty-one sacred 'shaktipeeths' came into being. Sati's 
tongue fell at Jwalaji while her feet is said to have fallen at Chintpurni. Read more...