KATARMAL- Rare Sun Temple in Uttarakhand
” First rays of sun fall on ancient idol of Sun God”
Katarmal sun temple (Almora-Uttarakhand) is known for a relatively rare Sun temple , it is oldest Surya Mandir built around 9th century by a Katyuri king katarmal, this Sun Temple is one of the famous historical places of Kumaon hills in Uttarakhand. being the aprox 1000 years old , this temple is second in importance, the first being the Sun Temple of Konark in Orissa.
This is16 km away from almora city(Uttarkhand ), This Sun temple is devoted to deity Budhaditya (the old Sun God). The idols of Shiva-Parvati and Lakshmi-Narayana can also be spotted in this temple.
Structure and feature:
This Sun temple is at an altitude of 2100 m. The building faces the east in a way such that the first rays of the sun fall on the Lord Shiva idol . Stone-built walls, beautiful pillar carvings and beautiful wooden doors are among the distinctive features of this temple. The old, main temple within the complex is surrounded by 45 smaller temple. it’s architecture is magnificent and awesome.
We can see small structure in the main complex.
The Katarmal Sun temple has the distinction of being the only Sun temple in uttarakhand .it is believed that it was build overnight but when sun rose in the morning , king ordered to stop work.so upper part was not built. We can see Surya chakra in the temple.
Mythology:
According to mythology, in Satyuga, in temples in Uttarakhand, ‘Asur’ tortured ‘Sadhus’. At that time, Dronagiri (Doonagiri), Kashayaparvat and the ‘sadhus’ of the Kanjar mountains came to the bank of Kaushiki (Kosi River) and praised the sun god. Surya-devta was pleased with the praise of the ‘Sadhus’ and set his sacred glory in “Vatsila”. later on the ruler of the Katyuri dynasty, Katarmal, built a sun temple called ‘Badaditya’ on this Vatsila (Vatsila). Idol of Sun is built in vatshila(Wood).
Location and place:
it’s maximum adorable shrine in India, after the Konark Sun Temple. it is not as big as konark temple but not less important then the konark. Its just few km from Kosi (almora)village. The temple is situated on a hill, and almost 3 km one need to trek to reach the temple.We can see beautiful hills from here .
The temple is amazing and under the archaeological survey of India. There are almost close to 45 small temples around the main campus. Other deities like Shiva-Parvathi, Lakshmi-Narayana etc. are also established in this temple campus.
We can say it is hidden gem of uttarakhand and very less known to the public .Now gov of uttarakhand is making this place popular on tourist map.
To promote the palace in tourist map Katarmal Mahotsava is also celebrated in Jan-Feb.
Source -internet and Wikipedia
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