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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.
The temple was built by Raja Bir Chand. 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 there 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.
According to one of the legends Shiva after the self-immolation of
'Sati', in the sacrifice of 'Daksha' carried the body of his consort over
his shoulder roaming about here and there. Then in order to pacify the
lord, 'Shani' and 'Indra' a stealthily entered the body of 'Sati' and
dismembered it piece by piece. Whenever any of the limbs of 'Sati' was
dropped, it was converted in to a powerful "Sakti-Pitha". One of
the eyes of 'Sati' was believed to have been dropped at this place,
earning it the name of Naina Devi. Recently temple is concted with rope
way.