My Family Religious Trip to Maa Bajreshwari Temple (Nagarkot Mata Mandir) in Kangra
Many people are confused about the name of Nagarkot Devi Mandir, some know it as Kangra Devi Mandir or Bajreshwari Mata Mandir, don't worry these all names are the same for this famous temple.
My family calls this temple, Nagarkot Devi Mandir and after the normal of Corona Pandemic, In April (Hindu Chaitra Month), we decided to visit this famous temple on the occasion of Mundan (My son & Nephew). This ancient temple is located in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh which is famous among North Indians and almost everyone knows this temple.
Two more famous temples (Jawala Ji Temple & Maa Chintpurni Temple) are also located near Bajreshwari Temple. I would recommend one and half days (Exclude travelling time from your home to anyone temple and vice versa) to complete your religious trip to these three temples.
We took 3 days to complete our entire trip, below I'll explain the important things which you should know to visit these three temples.
Day-1
On the first day of the trip, we left home around 7 PM with 8-seater four-wheelers (without AC) because I live in Faridabad and the month was April (summer) so we decided to travel at night or else it could be hard for us to travel in a day with a non-AC car.
The distance of Kangra Devi Temple from Faridabad is 500 KM approx, And with 3 small breaks, we took 12 hrs, to reach Kangra Mandir because we were travelling with 1 baby of 6-month, 1 toddler of 1.9 Yrs. and 2 Kids of 4 yrs.
So, our first day of trip had gone in travelling.
Day-2
In the morning, we reached Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. As we already planned first to visit 'Bajreshwan Devi Temple after bath, so we halted at Baan Ganga River for 1.30 hrs. near to temple where we took bath after breakfast.
And finally, we reached the most famous temple of Kangra. This was my third visit to Nargarkot Temple (Maa Bajreshwari Temple) and the crowd was huge because like us, all devotees were waiting as they had not visited because of Corona Pandemic.
The moment came when we visited Maa Bajreshwari after waiting 2hrs, in a queue and we moved to the Barber, seated behind the Devi in Temple Campus, for the Mundan. That was the moment for which the whole family was waiting for, especially my mother who dreamt of this Mundan in Mata Nagarkot Mandir.
After that, we ate Bhandara with full stomach like lunch and clicked some pics with family in Mandir Campus and I noticed some things as mentioned below which I would recommend to Mandir Trust to improve and utilize the money in a better way so all the devotees can experience in a better way.
- Floor of Temple
- Carpet for Devotee
- Separate area for Bhandara
- Dedicated entry and exist points
- Dedicated Barbers with ID Cards
On same day, we headed to the Jawala Ji Temple, the distance from Nagarkot Mandir is 50 KM approx. took around 1 hr. to reach there. We booked a Room near to Jawala Ji Temple as we reached there ata PM and went to rest after a long night of travelling and queueing at Bajreshwari Temple. After a long short nap in the room, we moved out to Jawala Ji Temple where we found a lot of rush as compared to Nagarkot Temple (Bajreshwari Temple).
You can understand the pain of a long queue, standing up with 6-month-old baby, making ready his bottle of milk & fed him in a standup position was a hassle for us. We were lucky, we got the chance to visit Jawala Ji Maa within 1.30 hrs, as it was expected to be 2.30 hrs. (thanks to constable who paid the attention of stuck queue and got that cleared).
After a family photo clicked with the tired legs, we went to a bus stand near to mandir for shopping and dinner and then back to our room and took rest all night.
Day-3
On the next day, we woke up early in the morning as planned for Maa Chintpurni Temple and left the room at 5 AM. The distance from Jawala Ji Temple to Chintpurni Mandir is 33 KM approx. We reached there within an hour and bought a plate of Prasad. At the temple, there is a system of slips (darshan parchi), we informed our names and got slips to show to security persons. Luckily, we got very less rush in the queue as compared to both temples (Nagarkot and Jawala Ji) and calmly, we visited the temple and clicked some pics there in Mandir Campus.
Things to Know before going to Chintpurni Temple
- There are two nearest railway stations, Hoshiarpur (42km) and Amb Andaura (19 km).
- In case of the off-season, park your vehicle near Prasad's selling shop from where you can head directly to the Chintpurni Mandir Pathway.
- The very least walking pathway as compared to Bajreshwari Temple & Jawala Ji Mandir.
The bad thing I noticed there was, is, no one cares about the beauty of the temple that is why flowers were picked from the Darwar of the Temple and people used it for marketing purposes which is the worst way to market your business. I should recommend to those people, please follow the right approach for marketing their business.
And, the good thing was the Management of the Mandir, as we entered and walked through, we got the attention of the cleanliness of Temple and the got the sound of good management out of both Temples.
On the same day in the morning, we headed back home and ate breakfast at a randomly chosen Dhaba (Chaudhary Dhaba) and ordered tea there, we didn't have it because of Devi Darshan. The taste of chai was super, everyone liked the aroma and taste of tea hence ordering more tea and, after a break, we ordered and packed the Kancha Soda Bottle Drink for travelling to avoid vomiting. The service was amazing, especially served by the owner. I became a fan of the owner because of his service and politeness and the way he cared about our order along with our convenience.
In between the route, we noticed a lot of roadside vendors who were selling the same thing which is Salt. They were selling all kinds of salt at very affordable rates which made us curious to buy that. We purchased items for around 1000 rupees.
And saw the canals which were part of Sutlej River, the water was so clean and no one can ignore the beauty of those canals heading to different areas for Irrigation purposes. At that time, I dreamt of my own home near that area.
Before reaching Delhi, at Murthal in Sonipat, we ate a heavy meal around 5 PM at a famous Hotel, Amrik Sukhdev. The quality of food was not good as we were excited by others' feedback from friends and other social networking sites. We spent approx. 1900 INR on food there and moved out to our Home Town, Old Faridabad.
Takeaways:
- If you are planning to travel with a 0-12 old month baby who requires formula milk for feeding then I would recommend carrying an electric kettle (to make hot water) which I missed a lot.
- These famous temples are not putting donation money in the right way to empower right person and not focusing on the convenience of devotees.
- For more than 3-4 hours journey, always choose the AC Vehicles with captain seats else bucket seats so you can feel more comfortable and enjoy the journey tirelessly.
- Always try to keep free space in your car during long trips so it can be utilized with any of those things which you will buy at your destination or in between routes while back home.
Total Cost of Trip:
We spent a total of 25,000 rupees approx. Below are the breakups
- Travel cost: 19K (Includes driver, toll taxes and Fuel).
- Accommodation Cost: INR 1800 (We stayed one night at Chintpurni Temple, booked 2 rooms)
- Food Cost: Rs 3500/- (Ate 3 times, one day-2 (dinner near Chintpurni Mandir) & Day-3 (Breakfast at Chaudhary Dhaba & Lunch in evening at Amrik Sukhdev Hotel)).
- Shopping Cost: Depends on your needs. I would recommend, don't buy any food, cloth, toy & other non-necessary items emotionally.