Devalgarh town is a hill town, located in the Pauri district of Uttarakhand. Devalgarh is a spiritual city. Uttarakhand is famous for its culture, civilization and history. Today Devalgarh city is known for temples built with ancient architecture.
Devalgarh Fort
Devalgarh Fort |
Deogarh derives its name from the name of Raja Deval. It is said that Devalgarh was founded by Raja Deval of Kangra in the 14th century. It was named Devalgarh after the name of King Deval. According to another legend, there was an ashram of a sage named Deval here and later the disciples of Guru Gorakhnath established Satya Nath here.
History - Devalgarh Fort
The history of Devalgarh is associated with the Panwar kings. In the 16th century there was a kingdom of Panwar dynasty in Garhwal. King Raja Ajay Pal of Panwar dynasty shifted his capital from Chandpur to Devalgarh due to the invasion of Kumaon kings at that time.
It is said that the royal family used to spend their summers at Devalgarh and winters at Srinagar. It is said that at that time King Ajay Pal established the state of Garhwal by collecting all the small 52 strongholds and from here he ruled the whole of Garhwal.
Devalgarh Fort |
Devalgarh is situated on a high hill so that King Ajay Pal could control all the 52 bastions from there and easily monitor the enemies. Ajay Pal kept Devalgarh as his capital only for 5 years, later after facing some problems, he shifted his capital from Devalgarh to Srinagar. There was an acute water problem in Deogarh. Water was not easily available there due to which King Ajay Pal had to shift his capital to Srinagar.
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Devalgarh Temple
Devalgarh Fort and Temple |
Today the remains of the fort are not present in Devalgarh, but there are many groups of temples built there. The main temples in these temples are Raj Rajeshwari Devi Temple, Gaura Devi Temple and Lakshmi Narayan Temple. All these temples are made of stone and archaeological inscriptions are also present on them. Raj Rajeshwari Temple is situated at an altitude of 4000 meters above sea level. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Rajeshwari, the local deity of the Garhwal kings.
Talking about the architecture in the temples, clear evidence of Garhwali architecture is seen in them. Raj Rajeshwari Temple is a very beautiful ancient architecture and also beautifies this city. Devalgarh is famous for a group of ancient temples. The Raj Rajeshwari temple, built in the medieval period, has religious importance as well as is very important from the archeological point of view.
Along with the Raj Rajeshwari Temple, which is a pilgrimage site, the Gaura Devi Temple is also famous here, which is dedicated to Mother Parvati. The Gaura Devi temple is called Jagrut Shaktipeeth and has special religious significance. According to mythological stories, this temple was built by Lord Kuber himself.
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Devalgarh Nagpanthi & Satynath Samadhi
It is believed that the Raj Rajeshwari temple was built by King Ajay Pal himself. Shri Satyanath Bhairav and Raj Rajeshwari Yantra were also established here by Ajay Pal. There is also the seat of famous Satya Nath ji of the Nath sect here. It is said that in ancient times this place was a major pilgrimage site for Nathpanthi Yogis and there are also samadhi of Nagpanthi mahants, of which Satyanath Samadhi is famous.
It is believed that when King Ajay Pal built his capital at Devalgarh, he established a temple-like building with the stones of the damaged temples there and placed all the deities inside the temple, but when he shifted his capital from Devalgarh to Srinagar, the entire building was given to the temple at that time. Ajay Pal made Srinagar his capital because of its strategic and commercial importance at that time.
The natural scenery here is very beautiful, there are many platforms built here and rooms are also visible on them. It is said that it was built for soldiers at that time so that they could protect the palace from all sides.
Religious Importance of Devalgarh Temple
Here the Shree Yantra is duly worshiped in the Rajeshwari temple. It is said that the advanced Shreeyantra is only here in Uttarakhand. The main Raj Rajeshwari temple is situated at some height from the group and this Raj Rajeshwari temple also has a tradition of Akhand Jyoti. The unbroken flame keeps burning in the temple, that is why it is also called Jagrut Shaktipeeth. Raj Rajeshwari Devi is believed to be the local goddess of the Garhwal kings.
A fair is held here in the month of April at the Raj Rajeshwari temple in Devalgarh, in which a large number of devotees come from far and wide to visit the godess.
Best time to visit Devalgarh Fort, Temple
The best time to visit Devalgarh is from October to December in winter and March to April in summer.