Temples in Jammu

Jammu is situated in the foothills of Himalaya mountain range. Jammu was named after its discoverer king Raja Jambu Lochan while he was on a hunting trip. He saw there a tiger and a goat drinking water from a common place in the Tawi River. He was surprised to see this unusual sight and decided to build a city here where was no enmity between the living creatures. Innumerable temples over here with the vision of Jhambu lochan named it today a city of temples. The ambience is of a Holy and peaceful city. Here we can discuss few of the renowned temples in Jammu.

Raghunath Mandir is situated in the heart of the city. It's called pride of the place. It was built in 1857. The Raghunath Mandir consist seven shrines each with a tower for its own. It's the largest temple complex not just in Jammu but in the whole north India. The temple has Mughal influence in its architecture and the inner side of temple is plated with gold. The main deity in the temple is lord Vishnu and other eight sanctuaries for eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu or "Lord Rama". The temple has a Sanskrit library too with rare ancient scriptures, manuscripts and texts.

It's a famous temple in Jammu located inside the Bahu fort. It attracts special pilgrim on Tuesday and Sundays. The temple is dedicated to Mahamaya, a local deity of Dogras. This temple was built shortly after the coronation of maharaja Gulab singh in 1822. The temple is also known as Mahakali Mandir. The goddess is considered second to mata vaishno Devi.

The temples alongside the river are dedicated to Lord Shiva. Panchbakhtar, peer kho and Ranbireshwar all with own history and importance. The temple Ranbireshwar has 12 shivalingams of crystal. They are in different sizes from 12" to 18". Thousands of saligrams are placed in the galleries.

Vaishno Devi is a renowned temple all over the world. It's considered as a very special place of pilgrim. Every year thousands of people come to vaishno Devi. Whoever comes to vaishno Devi must visit Bhairav ghati to complete his pilgrim.

It's again the temple of great importance for Hindus. It's believed that Lord Shiva himself resides here. This cave temple also has the worship place of Mahakali, Mahalaxmi and Maha saraswati the three mother goddesses of Hinduism. There is 13km track to the cave from Katra for which ponies, porters and dandies are available.