The five Shakti Peeths of Himachal — a circuit, with drive times
What a Shakti Peeth is
The legend that gives the Shakta pithas their name is the story of Sati's self-immolation. Vishnu cut her body into 51 pieces, which fell across the land, and each place where a piece fell became a holy shrine. Wikipedia counts five of them in Himachal Pradesh: Chintpurni, Jwalamukhi, the Bajreshwari temple, Chamunda Devi and Naina Devi.
The five, and how they connect
Jwalamukhi
The temple of the flame, in the town of Jawalamukhi in Kangra. A natural flame burns from a fissure in the rock beneath the main shrine. Jwalamukhi Temple.
Bajreshwari (Vajreshwari) at Kangra
The temple at Kangra town, 49 minutes from Jwalamukhi. The Jwalamukhi tradition says the goddess's body lies here, and her mouth is the flame. Vajreshwari Devi Temple.
Chamunda Devi
The temple to Chamunda, near Dharamshala, 77 minutes from Jwalamukhi. Chamunda Devi Mandir.
Chintpurni
A small town in Una district at about 977 m, 51 minutes from Jwalamukhi, home to the Maa Chintpurni temple. The shrine is linked to the severed-headed Chhinnamasta, and its priests are said to descend from Pandit Mai Das, who is believed to have established it about twelve generations ago. Pilgrims' genealogy registers are kept here, as at Jwalamukhi. In 2012 it saw snow for the first time in 52 years.
Naina Devi
The temple at Naina Devi in Bilaspur district, which is the farthest from the others, 168 minutes from Jwalamukhi by our routing. We have no page for it yet.
Putting them together
Jwalamukhi is the middle of the group. Kangra, Chamunda Devi and Chintpurni are each within about an hour and a quarter of it, so a long weekend based in Jawalamukhi or Dharamshala covers four of them. Naina Devi is the outlier: take it on the way up from Chandigarh or on the way home. The one-day plan is the temple and the Pong lake; things to do in Jwalamukhi has the rest.
We have no verified opening hours, entry rules or festival dates for any of the five, so ask locally before you plan around one.
Plans that include this
All Jwalamukhi itineraries →
Questions people ask
Which are the five Shakti Peeths in Himachal?
Chintpurni, Jwalamukhi, the Bajreshwari or Vajreshwari temple at Kangra, Chamunda Devi and Naina Devi, according to Wikipedia. They belong to the tradition of 51 Shakta pithas, shrines where parts of the goddess Sati's body are said to have fallen when Shiva carried her through the world in grief.
How far apart are they?
From Jwalamukhi, Chintpurni is 51 minutes by car, the Vajreshwari temple at Kangra 49, Chamunda Devi 77 and Naina Devi 168 on our routing. Four of the five sit in the Kangra valley and its edge, so a long weekend covers them, with Naina Devi on the way up from Chandigarh.
What is different about Jwalamukhi among them?
It is the one built over a flame. A natural flame burns from a fissure in the rock beneath the main shrine, and devotees take it for the goddess's mouth. At Kangra, by the same tradition, her body is said to lie in the Vajreshwari temple, so the two are linked.