There is a mysterious temple in the Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand. Located in Srinagar, this temple has an idol of Dhari Devi. It is believed that the idol of the Devi changes its form thrice a day.

The temple of Dhari Devi, located near Srinagar in the Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, is very ancient and mysterious. It is believed that the idol of Dhari Devi changes its form thrice a day in the temple. The idol of the Devi looks like a girl in the morning, a woman in the afternoon, and an old woman at the end of the day. The goddess who is also known as Kalyaneshwari is considered the protector of Uttarakhand. He is also known as the ‘protector of the four dams.

Temple priest Manish Pandey told ANI about the beliefs and misconceptions related to the temple.” It is a temple of Dakshin Kali Devi, who got the name ‘Dhari Devi’ because of the name of the village,” he said. This temple is situated on the banks of the Alaknanda river in Dhari Devi village of Srinagar, the oldest Shaktipath of the Dwapar era. The priest said that the goddess is said to be the mother of Dwapar Yuga.

Pandavas worshiped

The priest said, ‘The goddess is also known as the mother of Dwapar Yuga, as the idol was installed during Dwapara Yuga and was worshiped by the Pandavas. It is believed that Adi Guru Shankaracharya also used to worship the goddess. In ancient times, the route of Badrinath-Kedarnath passed through this temple. It is believed that people used to go to pray for ‘Raksha Kavach’ and their wishes were fulfilled. That’s why she is also called ‘the protector of Char Dham’.Apart from this, she is also called Kalyaneshwari, who fulfills the wishes of the people.

Pujari also spoke on the incidents of landslides in Uttarakhand and the claims related to increasing the height of the temple. Actually, the flow of the Alaknanda river comes from above Kedarnath valley on this side. The priest said that people associate the floods with the Dhari Devi temple even though they do not have any solid evidence to prove it. These were installed here to keep the idols safe.

Flood did not come due to mother’s wrath

He said, “Many people associate the Kedarnath disaster with the Devi temple and call it their outbreak. But this is a misconception. People believe that the rise of water in the Alaknanda river was due to the displacement of the temple. But the true fact is that by the time we removed the idols from the temple, floods, as well as landslides, had hit the village. The ancient temple was submerged.’

The temple of Dhari Devi was submerged during the construction of the Alaknanda Hydro Electric Power Plant (AHEPP) in 2013. Locals believe that the wrath of Dhari Devi led to the destruction as the idol was removed from its original place. However, the priest of the temple termed it a misconception. He said that it is people’s own beliefs. We do not want to spread the superstition that the flood happened because the idol of the goddess was shifted. How can she herself, the savior of Char Dham, kill so many people?