Dhari Devi Temple, about 15–16 km from Srinagar on the Badrinath highway, stands on a rocky outcrop in the middle of the Alaknanda River. It is dedicated to Dhari Devi, a fierce form of Goddess Kali, whose upper half of the idol is worshipped here, while the lower half is enshrined at Kalimath in Rudraprayag. Devotees regard her as the guardian goddess of Uttarakhand and protector of the Char Dham routes. The idol is famous for appearing like a young girl in the morning, a woman by afternoon and an elderly lady in the evening, symbolising the three stages of life.
About this place
History & highlights
Dhari Devi is considered more than 600 years old and is counted among the 108 Shakta / Shakti Peethas mentioned in Srimad Devi Bhagwat. Local belief strongly connects the temple with the safety of the Garhwal hills: when the idol was moved in June 2013 for a hydroelectric project, devastating floods struck Kedarnath and the Alaknanda valley soon after, which many devotees saw as the goddess’s displeasure. After years of public pressure, the idol was restored close to its original site in 2023. Even today, the temple is both a powerful pilgrimage centre and a symbol in debates around environmental balance, dams and respect for traditional shrines in the Himalayas.
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