SIRMUR

Nagarkoti Devi is supposed to have miraculous power of curing diseases both of men and cattle. There are temples to this deity at village Bajor and at Shaya (tahsil Pachhad). Nagarkoti Devi has her home at 9haya, Pajhota, and Sharauli, and the legend states that the Pandwas, on their way from Kailas to Kurukshetra, stopped at Shaya, and built a temple here for the goddess, or, as some say, brought the goddess here.

Another legend is that this deity was brought from Nepal by the brahmins of village Paul in the neighborhood of Shaya. The brahmins of Paul village had their landed estates in Shaya also but they had to abandon them in favor of the Devi. A priest was then appointed and allowed to live in Shaya for offering puja.

Subsequently, the descendants of the priest multiplied to fill a whole hamlet. Now only ten bighas of revenue-free land are attached to the temple, and are cultivated by the priest.  The yield is utilized to meet the expenses of the temple. A "Havan" (-sacrificial fire) is performed here during the Navratras (the first nine days of the bright half) of Chet and Asauj. According to age-old superstition, people are afraid of entering the inner chamber of the temple, because those who enter into it would not, it is supposed, survive.

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