More than a place of worship-Jatoli Temple-Solan,HP

Devbhoomi Himachal is known for its temples and holy places.New temples keep on coming up every year. One such place is Jatoli Mandir on the scenic Rajgarh Road about 8km from the town of Solan in Himachal Pradesh

Surrounded with amazing misty mountains and quaint old villages, it is definitely a win win for the foot loose and the religious ones. Travellers coming this side of Solan can include a the magnificent Horticulture University or camp at Sadupur or visit the Tibetan temple or the Mohan Heritage park ... The beautiful Sherpa Resort is one of the many upcoming luxury resort which can help you break your journey and slow travel.

Luckily the national highway is 4 lane all the way to Solan and there is another bypass coming up which will help you avoid the busy town. This means the journey from Chandigarh is just under 2 hours, the two hours that are full of magnificent views.

Of course you can make it journey memorable by boarding the UNSECO Kalka -Simla train up to Solan and then take an auto or a minibus to the temple.

Coming back to the temple.

A sage came to meditate in one of the caves in mid 70s. Slowly, the villagers got to know him and provided to his needs. His popularity increased... his disciples vowed to built a temple to spread his word. The sage died in mid 1980s but the disciples kept their promise. Artisans from all corners were hired to build the temple one tiles at a time.Fast forward 20 years the temple is ready.

It is the pride and delight of the town.Any friend ,family member visiting from other parts of the world is brought here.Any returning local will go here to seek blessings.

Most locals will visit it on Sundays a langar day.Pre covid you could have tasted the scrumptious langar that inculded the Himachali cuisine of purra prasad and other wood fire cooked delicacy.

The temple has a main complex that house the cave in its original form with the sage’s slippers, his photos and the ghaddi(seat) intact. Usually, bhajans are sung here by a set of disciples but again the covid restriction forbade it.

The newly constructed Shiv temple with its glass linga is in the other corner. It is surrounded with a courtyard with benches to sit,relax,meditate,contemplate...The another small temple holds the sage’s samadhi. A few steps forward there is bigcovered compound for the langar followed by another temple where the sage offered jal (water)to the original linga.

Set somehow in the middle of a hill one has magnificent view of the surrounding mountains. The peace you feel has to be experienced to be believed. You start contemplating the purpose of life ,your existence on Earth .Yet glad to have got an opportunity to visit a place which feels blessed just because Mother Earth allowed it to be built in it such a pristine surroundings.