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To the north of the palace at
Chamba, there is a group of six
stone Sikhara temples arranged in a row from north to south. Three of
these temples are dedicated to Vishnu and three to Shiva. The northern
most is that of the Lakshmi- Narayana- the principal temple of
Chamba.
THE LEGEND OF LAKSHMI NARAYANA TEMPLE
There is a curious legend current about the installation of image of
Lakshmi Narayana in this temple. Desiring to raise a temple to Vishnu, the
Raja Sahi Varman sent nine of this son to the marble in frog. Since it was
considered unsuitable for making the Vishnu image, the slab was used for
some other purpose like the making of three faced image of Shiva and a
small image of Ganesha, now preserved in the Chandra Gupta temple.
The young princes were deputed again for the purpose. But were slain by
robbers on their way back. Thereafter on receiving the news. Raja Sahi
Varman sent his eldest son 'Yugkara' for the purpose. He too was attacked
by the robbers, but with the help of a saint, he destroyed the robbers,
and return to Chamba with the desired slab from which the image of Vishnu
was made and installed in the temple.