Dhari Devi temple, Dhari devi face change


Introduction

Mata Dhari Devi Temple is a grand temple located in Srinagar Garhwal, Pauri district of Uttarakhand. This temple is dedicated to Kali Mata, it is considered as the guardian of Uttarakhand. This temple stands on the banks of the Alaknanda River between Srinagar and Rudraprayag in Kalyasaur village, the temple is around 15 miles from Srinagar Garhwal. She is protector of Char Dhams. The mysterious thing is that the idol of Kali mata in Dhari devi temple changes it's age throughout the day, A child in morning, Adult in Day and an Old women in night.

According to the priests, the idol of Goddess Kali has been established in the temple since Dwapara Yuga. It is said that in Kalimath and Kalisiyamath, the idol of Maa Kali is in anger and in the Dhari Devi temple there is a statue of Maa Kali. 


Kalimath Shaktipeeth

According to Srimad Devi Bhagwat, there are 108 Shakti Sthals in India. This shrine is one of them. The upper half and lower half of Maa Dhari Devi's idol are separate pieces. The upper part of the goddess' statue is kept in this temple to Dhari Devi. The shrine where the goddess's lower half is preserved, on the other hand, is Kalimath Temple. The goddess is revered as a manifestation of Maa Kali, the other half of Lord Shiva, in the Kalimath temple.
Goddess Dhari Devi is worshiped in an open space, there is no rooftop where the idol is kept. The reason behind this is that people believe that Dhari Devi likes to sit in the open space. Dhari Devi is considered as an manifastation of Kali Mata

Dhari devi Story

According to a legend, Dhari Devi was the only sister of 7 brothers. Mata Dhari Devi loved her seven brothers very much, she herself used to cook many types of food dishes for them and used to serve them very much.
But all the  seven brothers of Mata Dhari Devi hated her because of her black colour and they thought her planets(गृह नक्षत्र:) are not good them. Her parents died when she was very young and she was raised by her brothers.

Gradually time passed and the hatred of her brothers towards her increased, but at one point it came that five brothers of mother died. And only two married brothers were left and they thought it was all because of Dhari devi's bad luck. These two brothers started fearing that now it is not our turn and these two brothers discussed together and started plotting to kill their only sister.

Then one day when Dhari devi was only 13 years old, both their brothers killed her separating her head and body. Then threw her in Alaknanda river. And the head of this girl, flowing from there, reached the village named Dhari of Kalyasaur, when it was early morning, a person in Dhari village was washing clothes on the bank of the river, when he saw a head of girl in water. He thought a girl is drowning in river and tried to save her but the flow of river was very fast that he thought if I go there  I'll drown too.

But suddenly a voice came from the severed head from the river, which gave that person courage, that voice was not to panic and save me from here. And I assure you that you will not drown.It is said that when the person went to the river to save the girl, suddenly a miracle happened, where the person laid his feet, stairs were made there.
When the person reached there and picked up that severed head thinking it to be a girl, then he suddenly got scared, what he was thinking of as a girl was a severed head.
Then again a voice came from that severed head that don't be afraid i won't do any harm to you just put me in a good place.
And that person did what that severed head said to that person, because for that person it was no less than a miracle that a severed head should give sound, build stairs in water.
When that person placed that severed head on a stone, she told him everything that I was a girl, who was the only sister of seven brothers and I was killed by my two brothers.
Since then that stone was worshiped there and a beautiful Dhari Devi temple was built there. And the part of that girl's torso(lower part) became famous in Kalimath of Rudraprayag as Maa Maithani.
Kalimath is one of the 108 Shakti places in India, according to religious traditions, Kalimath is a place where Goddess Kali killed the Raktabeej demon and after that the goddess went down to the earth. 
It is said that a local king also tried to remove Maa Dhari Devi from her native place during 1882 and at that time also there was a landslide in Kedarnath. ।

The reason behind Uttarakhand flash floods


The 15th of June 2013 has grown to be a significant date in the temple's history. On this day, Maa Dhari Devi's idol was transported from its original place. It was relocated to a different spot to make room for the building of a dam. Since the beginning of the project, many communities, state residents, and leaders have opposed building this dam. 

The moving of the is thought to somehow enrage Kali, which would be bad for the area, according to the goddess' devotees. And the sad fact is that a severe cloudburst and flash flood began in Uttarakhand precisely on the day after this incident. The Kedarnath Dham was hit by huge flash floods which washed away many people, homes, and trees.
Although it may seem like just a coincidence to some, the disaster's outcomes were horrific and unforgettable. In accordance with verified government statistics, the flash floods resulted in 197 fatalities, 236 injuries, and 4,021 unaccounted-for cases. The flood destroyed five districts in Uttarakhand. 2,119 homes in total sustained full destruction, 3,001 sustained severe damage, and 11,759 sustained partial damage.