Editing Dharmic Circuits: Sacred Pathways – Part 2 (section)

==== Chandrashekhar Temple and the Largest Shiva Linga of Himachal ====
In a remote village Saho, nesting in the secluded valley of the Sal River, in the hills of Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh, lies the Chandrashekhar Temple. The present structure is attributed by Laxman Thakur to be one thousand years old, but the core and the Shiva Linga is older. (Thakur 66) The village is 18 kilometers from the Chamba town and is completely surrounded by high hills. The village is situated on a fortunate semi-plateau that opens up for a few kilometers between the high hills. As a result, the view is spectacular. Wherever you look, there are layers upon layers of mountains, but a few square kilometers of open meadow-like region offers itself for farming and other human activities. While the river flows much below, the village of Saho sits comfortably amidst the mountains with a fairy tale like ambience of flowing fields and open meadows overlooked by snow-capped peaks in the background.

The temple is built in the Himachali pahadi architectural style with pent-roof and wooden beams. The walls of the garbha-griha are built of stone but the roof is wooden. Three sides have the customary rathas housing Ganesha, Parvati and Kartikeya. The temple is a very old one with its core going back to at least 1200 years old. The Shiva Linga is huge and one of the largest in the hill temples of India and the largest in Himachal.

The temple has a legend which binds it directly to the Mani Mahesh Kailash. It is said that once a great saint lived in this village near the river Sal. Early every morning he would take a dip in the holy waters of the River Sal. One day when he woke up he realized that someone else had taken a bath in the sacred waters of the river before him. So the next day, he hid himself before dawn to see who was bathing in the river even before him.

To his utter surprise, he saw three children bathing in the waters. He revealed himself and tried to catch them but could get hold of only one child. This child was none other than Lord Shiva himself. He was called Chandrashekhar in that form. The other two children called Chandragupta and Mani Mahesh were also Shiva in different forms. The child then appeared after a brief disappearace in the form of a Shiva Linga where the Chandrashekhar temple stands today.

The other two forms of Shiva are also associated with temples at different sites. Chandragupta went to Chamba town and was worshipped there in what is now the Chandragupta temple in the Lakshmi Narayan temple complex in the center of the town. The other child Mahesh went to Bharmaur where one can still find the Mani Mahesh temple at the great temple site.

To a ‘rational mind’ accustomed to linear view of time and material explanation of every aspect of the world, this might seem as just a story. But this great myth actually binds all the sacred geography of the Chamba district in one sutra, in one thread. Chamba is at the center of the Chamba district but Saho lies north of it.

The temple legend connects it directly to the Mani Mahesh Kailash, the most sacred center of the region. Various other sacred temples are connected in one cultural consciousness through these legends which manifest themselves in teerthas which in turn get their sanctity from these legends. The extremely remote temple of the Shakti Temple, Chhatrari is a place where the Great Goddess, Parvati, resides. (Handa 48) The myths, the legends, the deities  – all appear and reappear in this way on the sacred geography of India. In this way, through the rainbow of myths and legends, a great cultural unit is born and the spirit of Sanatana Dharma lives on through these yatras.

Every year, the Chandrashekhar temple celebrates various festivals, two of which are celebrated with much gusto. One of them is of course Shivaratri when a great fair is held and thousands upon thousands of devotees come to this extremely remote village of the Himalayas to have darshana of Lord Shiva in the form of this huge Shiva Linga.