Dhangari Museum and Garjiya Temple
After a mesmerizing realm of exploration around Choti Haldwani and waterfalls around Ramnagar yesterday, we were feeling rejuvenated. Today we shall be exploring the Dogadda Range. There are two primary points of interest if you are not going to safari through Dhangari Gate. On the way back we shall go to Dhikuli.
NOTE: Do not get confused with search results for Dhangadhi which is a sub-metropolitan city and the district headquarters of Kailali District in Sudurpashchim Pradesh of Nepal. Dhangari in Dogadda Range of Kumaon Division, Uttarakhand is mostly misspelled as Dhangadhi or Dhangarhi.
Today we shall cover primarily three points.
Dhangari Museum
Dhangari Museum is situated at a distance of 18 km from Ramnagar bus stand on Ranikhet Road NH309. It is located ahead of Dhangari Gate by the banks of Dhangari Nala, a distributary of Kosi river. It is set up as a type of introduction to the Jim Corbett national Park. The museum provides the maximum information about the life and atmosphere of the Corbett, about the topography of land and wildlife species sheltered in the park.
The museum also sheds light on the life and journey of Jim Corbett, who played a crucial role in the development of this National Park. One can find the hunted untamed animal carcasses and head of tigers and elephants killed in violent fights, showcased inside the glass enclosures. Since we weren’t going for safari we headed back towards Girija Devi Temple at Garjiya popularly known as Garjiya Temple.
Garjiya Temple
Girija Devi Temple is very famous temple in Uttarakhand. The temple locally known as Garjia Mandir. Girija Devi Temple is situated in Garjiya village at a distance of 12 KM from Ramnagar on Dhikala road almost midway to Dhangari Museum. It is a sacred Shakti shrine where Girija Devi is the presiding deity. This temple is built on a rock in the middle of river Kosi and visited by thousands of devotees during Kartik Poornima, a Hindu holy day celebrated on the fifteenth lunar day of Kartik (November – December).
This temple was very less known till 1940 but in the recent years the strengths of devotees has increased to lakhs. The modern day temple was restructured in the year 1970. It is believed that the rock on which the temple is located came down during a flood in river Kosi. There is a 4.5 feet high idol of Girija Devi along with the idols of Devi Saraswati, Lord Ganesha and Batuk Bhairava. There is also a temple of Laxmi-Narayan in the same temple premesis. The idols of this temple were found during excavation here. It is believed that the prayers here are not complete until the devotee worships Bhairava after worshiping Girija Devi.
Vairatapattana Ancient Shiva Temple, Dhikuli
Remains of ancient Vairatapattana, the capital of the old kingdom of Govishana are spread in deep reserve forest in Dhikuli. In the seventh century, the place was visited by Hieun Tsang. The remains of this ancient town are not easily accessible due to thick forest. But explorations in the past revealed the remains of a few platforms made of stone, and fine specimens of pillar capitals, medallions, lions and fragments of decorated pillars near the modern temple on the hill slope. Since the site is located at the entrance of the Central Himalayan hills, this place might have served as transit centre of trade in the past hence the place is called Pattan.
Ref: By Srvna90 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Not much information is available about the site except archive of ASI Nainital or 2-3 news articles. Govishana was the name of Kashipur during the time of ruler Harsha (606–647 AD). The ruins of the large settlement of those days can be still seen near the city famous by the name of Govisana Mound. The famous Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang) also travelled the city in the 7th century. He described it as “The Capital was 15 li in circuit. Its position was lofty, and of difficult access, and it was surrounded by groves, tanks and fishponds”. Kashipur is believed to have a good historic trade of clothes and metal vessels.
