Chitpurni, the abode of Chitpurni Devi is in Himachal Pradesh. This is the first ever time I am visiting Himachal Pradesh. I was told "Pahadi" is their colloquial language besides widely used "Hindi". Raj and Shruti are from Himachal.
The first one and half hour till Hoshiarpur was ok with potholes and construction. The ride from Hoshiarpur till Chitpurni is on mountains. The terrain offers excellent view of the surroundings which reminded me of Srisailam and Tirpathi to
Tirumala trip. Weak stomachs tend to have nausea due to bumpy ride and occasional turns on mountains.Chitpurni as one of my friends explained is the remover of troubles when one prays to the Lord with true heart and devotion. Devotees with red flags (dwaja), red bands to their fore head and baskets with prasadam are mottled in the crowd. The chants of "Jai Matadi" resound from the crowd. The atmosphere becomes electrifying with the chants as you get closer to shrine.
The holiday season and weekend brought more crowds to the temple. I found some discipline in devotees but with some occasional queue breaches.
Mata Chitpurni is on a round stone with bright eyes and covered with KumKum powder. It is serene and the very darshan of the glittering Lord gives you a wonderful experience. I entered from right and leave from left side of the main temple. There is a tree which touches the walls of the temple. It is believed that one ties a crimson thread after wishing. Once the wish gets fulfilled he or she has to come back and untie a thread. It need not be the same thread as it is hard to identify.
The place has one dharamshala on the way to temple where one can find accommodation and free food. One can also find dharmshala management staff and asking you to have food. We also found some family serving water in a tree shade for the devotees.
We had food at a decent restaurant and also helped ourselves with some golgoppas or otherwise known as Pani Poori.
The only unfavorable conditions are temple narrow lanes, devotees to and from temple throng the same conjusted lanes. I was walking back to my car, and found someone holding my hand. I was surprised and looked back. There is this small kid holding my hand for alms and not leaving. I had to pull my hand to release my hand. This is one of the instances that you will face all along the way.
My trip to Chitpurni was an unexpected trip. As I am from the South of India who are not much into “Jai Matadi” and this trip to temple was unique of its kind and left me many good memories.
We got into our car and started to ride towards Jwalaji temple. I sign off now and will post the details of my trip to Jwalaji soon.
Chweet Memories......:-)
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