Religious Places

There are so many temples in the District Mahendragarh. By seeing all of Narnaul town temples, Narnaul town can be called as the town of temples like Pushkar. Amongst these temples, two temples have great importance historically and religious point of view. Their details are as under :

Mandir Chamunda Devi

It is believed that Raja Naun Karan the ruler of the area was a devotee of Chamunda Devi. He constructed a temple of the Devi at the bottom of a hill. This temple is in the heart of the city. After the fall of the regime of Raja Naun Karan, this area came under the control of the Mughals. They built a mosque named as Jama Masjid, the biggest masjid at Narnaul on the temple of Chamunda Devi. After Independence, the people of this town started digging and found the temple in torn condition. This temple is now one of the most important and is visited by the people of the town and a big fair is held on the occasion of Ram Naumi.

Modawala Mandir

The temple of Lord Shiva is situated at Narnaul-Rewari road near New Bus Stand. This is the only temple of this area where every member of the Hindu family comes for the worship of Lord Shiva and other Hindu deities. A big fair is held here on the occasion of Raksha Bandan.
A brief history of this temple is that there was a khet (agricultural land) and a man who was ploughing the land saw the Shiv ling during ploughing. He heard a voice during sleep that he is the Lord Shiva and a temple be constructed here for the benefit of the people. Thus, this temple was built and is now a place of worship. It is the firm belief of the people of the area that every desire is fulfilled by Lord Shiva provided if he is worshipped or named by heart.

Dhosi Hill

About eight kilomteres west of Narnaul town, the hill is located near the villages Thana and Kultajpur. This hill has acquired a country wide fame as it is believed that Chavan Rishi practised penance here for many years. On the top of this hill a saucer shaped plain surface is strewn with its ruins of a hill fortress, probably built by King Naunkaran of Bikaner. A temple dedicated to Chavan Rishi decorates the hill. In the memory of Chavan Rishi, a big fair is held on the occasion of Somavati Amavas. Born in Bbirgu dynasty, Chavan is said to be the founder of Bhargava community. The Bhargavas of Haryana are also known as Dhosar. The celebrated warrior-general, Hemu, was a Dhosar (Brahman).
This place is considered most sacred and is regarded as Tirtha. A Shiva temple, tank and a well exist on the hill. The water of the tank and the well is regarded sacred as that of the Ganga and the Yamuna. People come here from far and wide to have darshan of the image of Chavan Rishi. After having a bath in the tank, people consider themselves lucky and free from past sins. In this tank separate ghats for taking bath exist for men and women. A devotee has to climb 457 stairs of the Dhosi hill via village Thana. The people also go up the Dhosi hill via village Kultajpur through Khura (plain stairs) and take bath in the Shiva Kund2. There is a 5-6 feet long wall alongwith the stair-way. One can easily go up the hill with the support of this wall. On the Dhosi hill the other religious spots of interest are Panch Tirathi and Suraj Kund.

There are two temples on the top of the hill-one about 250 years old and the other about 100 years old. In the main temple, the idols of Chavan Rishi, Sukanya, Krishna and Radha stand installed. Besides, an asht dhatu idol of Lord Vishnu lies on Shesh Shayya posture. At some distance from the temple, there still exists a ghufa (cave) where the Rishi is said to have performed tapsya.

It is said that the Rishi used to take a special type of herb known as Chavan Prash. This herb, widely believed, is very much common here on the hill. Due to constant use of this herb, Rishi maintained his body well for a longer period. It is understood that after his name, a medicine known as Chavan Prash has become very common and popular throughout the country.

Bagot

It is religiously a very important place and is situated at a distance of 25 kilometres from Mahendragarh. There is a famous Shiva temple here. A big fair is held on the eve of Shiva-Ratri in the month of Sawan. A large number of people come here from far and wide to worship the idol of Lord Shiva. They travel on foot during the whole return journey from Hardwar to Bagot. They do not place these kawars on the earth, as is believed that by doing so the sacred water contained therein will become impure. On reaching Bagot, they sprinkle Ganga water over the stone idol of Shiva and offer worship throughout the day by singing hymns and bhajans in his eulogy.

Bamanwas

The village is situated at a distance of 25 kilometres from Narnaul in south-west direction on Haryana-Rajasthan border. It is famous mainly for the temple of Baba Rameshwar Dass. This temple has been built on the land of village Bamanwas where as the main wall of the temple makes the border of the village Tibba Basai of Rajasthan.
The huge temple was built by Baba Rameshwar Dass. Since 1963, the construction work of this temple has been continuously done from time to time. Consequently it has become one of the greatest temples of this area. The temple has a very spacious hall having beautifully decorated walls and marble flooring where thousands of devotees can sit at a time. Beautiful marble idols of gods and goddesses have been installed in the hall and in numerous different rooms around it. On the right side of the main temple, there is a beautiful shiva temple in the premises of which huge stone image of Nandi (length of about 25 feet; height of about IS feet and width of about 20 feet) has been installed. In this temple itself a unique Shiv Linga having a height of about 10 feet stands installed besides other images of Lord Shiva. On the walls of the temple the preachings of the Gita, the Ramayana and other religious epics are written. The painted idols on walls and marble are unique. The idol of Lord Hanuman on the main entrance of the temple is so huge (having a height of 40 feet approximately) that probably it has no comparison in Northern India.

The people of Haryana and Rajasthan have great devotion for Baba Rameshwar Dass. The devotees from all over India (mainly from Calcutta, Bombay, Ahemdabad, Delhi and Hyderabad and many other cities) come for having a glimpse of the’ image of Baba and due to the help rendered by these devotees, this huge temple could be raised. The Baba came to this place in the beginning of 1963 and the construction work of this temple was started. The people of Bamanwas made available the land for the temple to the Baba. Thereafter, the amenities like electricity, water-supply and roads were provided. Both Haryana and Rajasthan Governments have constructed metalled roads in their respective areas up to this temple. Bus service of Haryana Roadways is also available from Narnaul bus stand to the temple.

Before the construction of this temple, Baba Rameshwar Dass had changed many places. In the initial stage he lived along with his Guru, Shri Nand Brahmehari at Shiv Kund located at the ridge of Dhosi. After the death of his Guru be got constructed a temple at village Bighopur in Narnaul Sub-Division and lived there.

Thereafter, the Baba came to this place (Bamanwas) and got this temple constructed. A big fair is held annually on the occasion of Ram Navmi when lakhs of devotees from various parts of the country participate. The most peculiar feature of the temple is that no cash donations are accepted there.

Kamania

This is a small village. It is at a distance of 10 kilometres from Narnaul. Due to its Ram Mandir, it carries a special religious significance. Shiv Ratri fair is held here every year.

Kanti

Two great saints named as Baba Narsingh Dass and Baba Ganesh Dass were born in this village. It is said that there was no child of Raja Hari Singh of Nabha. The Raja was blessed with a son and a daughter by the grace of Baba Narsingh Dass. The son was named Tikla by the saint who later became the ruler of Nabha named as Tika Singh. Raja Hari Singh built a temple of this Baba with a smadh of marble stone and one tank, at the bottom of the hill for the benefit of villagers. Both the temple and the tank are worth seeing and there is a small rest house in the temple. Baba is worshipped by the people of this area and a big fair is held at smadh of the Baba on Basant Panchami. The other saint Baba Ganesh Dass was also very famous and a big fair is also held near his samadh on sankranti. Samadh of Baba Narsingh Dass was on the list of very important temples of the erstwhile Nabha State.

Mahasar

Jawala Devi fair is held in March-April when devotees and other persons worship the goddess Jawala. It is said that offerings of wine are made by the devotees to the image of the goddess. Besides, the people visit the temple for performing the mundan ceremony of their babies. It is obligatory and a social necessity for every newly married couple in the area to go there and bow their heads before the goddess for a happy and prosperous married life.

Mandola

Due to saint, Baba Kesria, this place is religiously very important. The saint is worshipped by local people with great reverence. A fair is also held in his memory on first September every year. It is said that a visit to this place cures a person of snake-bite.

Sehlong

The place carries a religious significance. A mela (fair) is held in January-February in memory of Khimag Devta. Popular belief is that any one suffering from leprosy gets cured by lighting a jot at the shrine.