Photo 651(18)

Genre: Architectural Photography

View of group gathered in porch of temple.

'Jawalamukhi is a famous temple of the goddess Jawalamukhi, 'she of the flaming mouth,' (31° 52 N. and 76° 21' E.). It lies in the valley of the Beas and is built over some natural jets of combustible gas, believed to be a manifestation of the goddess Devi. Another legend avers that the flames proceed from the mouth of the demon Jalandhara, the Daitya king whom Siva overwhelmed with mountains and who gives his name to the Jalandhar (Jullundur) Doab. The building is modern, with a gilt dome and pinnacles, and possesses a beautiful folding door of silver plates, presented by the Sikh Raja Kharak Singh. The adjacent village is surrounded by remains which attest to its former size and wealth.

'The interior of the temple consists of a square pit about 3 feet deep with a pathway all round. In the middle the rock is slightly hollowed out about the principal fissure, and on applying a light the gas bursts into a flame. The gas escapes at several other points from the crevices of the walls of the pit. It collects very slowly, and the attendant Brahmans, when pilgrims are numerous, keep up the flame with ghi. There is no idol of any kind, the flaming fissure being considered as the fiery mouth of the goddess, whose headless body is said to be in the temple of Bhawan...'

('Punjab District Gazetteers, Volume XA. Kangra District, Part A...1904' (Lahore, 1906), 255).

Subjects = Indian architecture; Indian architecture (Hindu); temples

Location = Himachal Pradesh; India; Jawala Mukhi