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Uttarkashi City
Uttarkashi is an important pilgrimage centre, equated with
Varanasi or Kashi in divinity. It is located in a wide
stretch of a valley. this picturesque town is
also the district headquarter. Uttarkashi as its name
suggests is Kashi of north (Uttar). It is also called the
land of gods and goddesses. Like Kashi (Varanasi) it has many
temples devoted to different gods and goddesses. Uttarkashi
Town has 32 temples at present. Every year on the occasion
of ''Magh Mela'' (January 14), people from far and near
visit Uttarkashi to take a holy dip in Bhagirathi along with
the idol of their local deities.
The
Vishwanath Temple
The Vishwanath Temple devoted
to Lord Shiva is situated approx. 300 meters away from the
local bus stand at Uttarkashi. This temple was renovated by
Maharani Khaneti, wife of Sudarshan Shah in 1857. The temple
has a Shivling (60 cm. high and 90 Cm. Circumference).
People from all over India do also visit the Vishvanath
temple during their visits to Uttarkashi ,Gangotri and
Yamunotri.
Shakti
temple
Right in front of the Vishwanath temple is Shakti temple. It
has a big 'Trishul' of about 6 meters in height and a
circumference of 90 cms. at bottom. Though there are
different views about the making of this, the upper part of
it seems to be made up of iron and the lower one is of
copper. As per the epics this Shakti was thrown on the
devils by the Goddess Durga(Shakti), hence it gets its name.
Since then this Shakti is erected over here
Nehru
Institute of Mountaineering
The Nehru
Institute of Mountaineering was established at Uttarkashi on
14 Nov, 1965 to honour the desire of a great mountain lover
late Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. The new campus is situated 5 kms.
away from this rapidly developing town atop a hill on the
south bank spur of HOLY BHAGARATHI at an attitude of
1300M./4300ft amongst whispering pine trees and overlooking
the sacred river and the valley of Gods. The sylvan
environment of the Institute is the "sanctum sanctorum" of
the mountaineers and nature lovers. Late Shri Y.B. Chavan,
the then Defence Minister of India , was the first President
of the Institute and late Smt. Sucheta Kriplani , the then
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh , was the first Vice
President of the Institute.The Institute is an autonomous
body and is registered societies Registration Act No.XXI of
1860. Functioning of the Institute is governed by the
Executive Council Chaired by the Chief Minister of
Uttarakhand. General Body meeting of the Institute is
chaired by the Defence Minister. Excutive Council and
General body meeting are held once in a year. There are 31
life members and 64 ordinary members of the Institute. The
aim of the Institute is to impart theoretical and practical
training to young men, women and children in mountaineering
and Adventure courses. Specical emphasis is laid on
instilling the concept of adventure sports without causing
environmental degradation.
The other temples in Uttarkashi are :
Hanuman Temple, Sakhsi Gopal
Temple, Markandey Rishi Temple, Dundiraj temple, Ganesh
temple, Gopeshwar Mahadev temple, Gopal temple, Koteshwar
Mahadev temple, Ma Kali temple, Sitaram Temple, Kedareshwar
Mahadev temple, Jaipur Temple, Ganga Temple,
Varneshwar Mahadev Temple, Gyanwapishwar Mahadev temple,
Kali Mandir, Kaleshwar Mahadev ,Gangoti temple, Pundeer Nag
Temple, Kandar Devta, Bhairav temple, Annapurna temple,
Dattatreya temple, Parasuram temple, Ma Mahishasur Mardini
temple, Onkareshwar temple, Durga Devi Temple, Lakheshwar
temple.
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