Temples of Almora - exploring the history of the town through its temples

It was a day of temples today, not a difficult task if you in Almora as the place is littered with small shrines all over the place and there are many famous (more often locally) temples around the town.

We followed an approximately 36 km trail from Almora to Chitai to Vriddh Jageshwar to Jageshwar and back.

The most well known amongst these is Chitai, the place responsible also for my conversion to vegetarianism. It’s a beautiful temple dedicated to Golu devta and full of bells of all shapes and sizes. As per the tradition, one asks for a wish, writes it on a chit of paper and leaves it there (the request is called ‘arzi’, urdu for request). Once the wish is fulfilled, you buy a bell and tie it there in the premises. Based on the number of bells I saw today, it seems many wishes do get fulfilled.

Bells at Chitai

Chitai - main temple

A marriage procession outside Chitai

The road to Jageshwar is straight from there. About six kilometers before Jageshwar, there is a diversion to a much less known but much older temple - Vriddh Jageshwar (Old Jageshwar). It’s a stunningly beautiful journey and much cooler from rest of the path. After ascending for about 10 kilometres, one reaches the hill top and the simple temple. The road also ends at the temple. The view is breath-taking and the breeze is blissful. A hot cup of tea at a local tea stall can potentially make your day!

Vriddh Jageshwar

Vriddh Jageshwar from outside

Tea Stall at Vriddh Jageshwar

Unlike Vriddh Jageshwar, Jageshwar is a valley. There are three main group of temples – Dandeshwar, Jageshwar and Kuber. The first group of temples in the valley is Dandeshwar, which boasts of one of the tallest temple of Kumaon. There is one main temple with seated Lord Shiva inside, and about 12-13 smaller temples. The place would come alive even more after some more rains, when the mountain stream would grow bigger and make that beautiful crashing sound. One can either park the vehicle there and walk through the stunning Deodar (cedar) jungle to the main group of temples (Jaheshwar), or just drive on the well-maintained road. A small mountain stream also connects the two groups of temples.

Dandeshwar temple - the wooden hood

Dandeshwar - main temple

It goes without saying that Jageshwar is a true jewel of the valley; a group of about 124 large and small temples, it’s a sight to behold. Photography is allowed (except for the inner sanctum) and even the pujaris are more than happy to pose. I recommend spending at least a few hours there, one can walk into the Deodar jungles all around the place (be careful of the monkeys though) or just around through the streets, catch a meal at the small dhabas. There is a Government Tourist guest house and a few other places to stay; I can imagine how amazing it would be to stay in this valley with your loved one. This is also a temple which newly weds often visit for God’s blessings.

Jageshwar - Pujaris inside the main temple

Jageshwar - some of the many shrines

Jageshwar - inside the temple

Jageshwar - the sleeping priest

At walking distance from Jageshwar main complex is the Kuber temple on a small hill-top. Gives a nice view of the main temples from top.

Within Almora, there is the famous Nanda Devi temple which boasts of old Kumaoni temple style. Sadly I could only see it from the outside. There is also the Murli Manohar temple in close vicinity. We visited the Batuk Bhairav temple, Him being our Isht Dev. It’s a small shrine and apparently there are only a few of them (surprisingly there is one in Jageshwar as well). The representation of our beloved God is highly abstract and the group of small idols inside the shrine got us all confused, only the pujari/ caretaker (surprisingly a female) could tell us who our God was! Batuk Bhairav basically means Small Bhairav (one of Shiva’s many forms).