naina devi temple

Location: Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh
Presiding Deity: Goddess Sati
Altitude: 3,995m
Built By: Raja Bir Chand

The most notable place of worship in the district is the temple of Shri Naina Devi. It is one of the 51 'Shakti Pithas'.
THE LEGEND OF NAINA DEVI: According to a belief, Shiva's consort Sati once burnt alive in 'yagna' to avenge an insult. The distraught Shiva picked her corpse and gyrated his horrific dance. Then Vishnu, the preserver unleashed his discus and cut the body in to 51 pieces to save the earth from Shiva's wrath.
Naina Devi is where Sati's eye are where believed to fell situated on the hill top of that name, connected which rises some 3,995m above the sacred town of Anandpur Sahib in Rupar district of Punjab. It is about 15-km from Ganguwal and about 18-km from Anandpur Sahib. From its situation at the top of the triangular hillock it commands a grand view of the holy Anandpur Sahib Gurdwara on the one side and the Gobind Sagar on the other.
Raja Bir Chand built the temple. According to another legend, during the reign of the Raja Bir Chand, Naina, an Ahir, was rearing cattle on the flat summit of a hill above Jand Bhari when Naina observed that his cows were voluntarily dropping milk upon a white stone. He informed the Raja, who proceeded to the spot, and they’re found a beautiful image of the goddess Drug, close to the stone. A temple was forthwith built, and called Naina Devi. There are other interesting legends about the genesis of the temple of Naina Devi-, which could be the powerful 'Sakti-Pitha' of the by-gone times.