Temples & Legends of Himachal Pradesh
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Temples & Legends Of India

CHAMBA

The Raja too had a dream that the son must be sacrificed. The rani insisted that she should be substituted for the son. Her wish prevailed and she was buried alive near the village of Balota where the water channel leaves the main stream. As soon as the rani was buried, it is said, water started flowing.The other legend is that the name Champa was given because of Sahila-Varman's daughter Champavati. Champavati was very religious and used to go to the temple and spend hours there.

This aroused the suspicion of the king that she had some liaison with the Sadhu who lived in the temple. Out of this suspicion the ruler followed the daughter one-day with a sword. He found the daughter missing. There was a Daiva Vani (divine voice) that since his suspicion was so outrageous that God had taken away the daughter and the ruler was commanded to erect a temple on the spot for thedaughter.

The temple was built and the daughter is now worshipped as a Goddess.To the people of the area this temple is very sacred.A mela is held in the ma surrounding the temple from the Ist to the 21st Baisakh every year.

Sahila-Varman also built the temples of Chandragupta and Kameshwara for two idols of Siva, which the Raja took out of the stream near its junction with the Ravi River. Sahila- Varman was of a veryreligious disposition and his Guru Charpatnath was highly revered by him and consulted at every step.There is also a legend about the temple of Lakshmi - Narayana, or Vishnu. It is said that the Raja sent nine of his sons to the marble quarries in the Vindhya Mountains to bring a block of marble for making the image of Siva. The marble was brought but when cut it was found to contain a frog.

 

 

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About Chamba
Introduction
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