BHARAT DESH
(The Wonderland on Earth)
KATHGHAR Shiva Temple is situated in Kathghar village. Kathghar village is in Indora tehsil of Kangra Dist. in Himachal Pradesh. KATHGHAR temple is at a distance of 25km from Pathankot, Punjab. The temple is situated near the confluence of the Beas and Choch rivers. This temple is a beautiful, calm, and peaceful religious place with green fields all around. It is situated at Himachal —Punjab border. It is a unique temple not only in India and but also in the whole Universe.
The temple is situated in a large area of open land. In the temple, there is a big 6 feet height Siva lingam. The Lingam is vertically split into two halves. The bigger part is Lord Siva and the smaller one is Mata Parvathi. Both are on the same platform. There will be some gap between the two parts on normal days. Only on the Shivaratri festival day the two parts will come closer and touch each other. From the next day onwards the two parts will separate slowly and come to their normal position. Abhishekam will be performed by the devotees and everybody can touch the Siva Lingam. Lord Siva is the most sacred and powerful God here. It is an ancient temple existing right from the period of Ramayana. It is believed that king Bharata used to visit this temple while going to his grandparent’s house in Kashmir.
Kathghar Siva temple is having very great historical importance. The existence of this temple is mentioned in Puranas also. It is said that Alexander the Great worrier invaded India by crossing the Sindhu river. He defeated King Porus of Punjab and gave back his territory by seeing his noble and brave character. Then he reached this place and stayed here with his army for some time, as the Beas river was in floods and the soil was marshy. Many soldiers died due to bad weather and the spreading of the epidemic. Then the soldiers demanded their king to go back to their native land. The king was forced to accept their demand and went back with his army from that place.
Every year the Sivaratri festival is celebrated here with great fervor and people will attend this festival from far-off places. This is worth seeing the temple. By the side of this temple, there is another beautiful temple having beautiful idols of Sita Rama, Radha Krishna, Mata Durga, and other deities.
Jai Hind