01Nine flames
In a square pit inside the sanctum, blue-tipped flames burn steadily from the stone. The priests name the main flame Mahakali and the others for the Devi’s forms: Annapurna, Chandi, Hinglaj, Vindhyavasini, Mahalakshmi, Saraswati, Ambika and Anjana. Offerings of milk, rabri and coconut are made to the flame itself. The Katoch rajas of Kangra, who claim descent from the Chandravansha, were the temple’s patrons for centuries.
02Sultans, Akbar, Ranjit Singh
Firishta records that when Firoz Shah Tughlaq’s army took Nagarkot (Kangra) in the early 1360s, Sanskrit books were taken from the temple at Jwalamukhi and some were translated into Persian. The pilgrims’ account of Akbar says he tried to put the flames out, failed, and offered a gold chhatra, which the Devi refused, so that it turned to a dull metal; the chhatra is still shown in the temple. Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who held Kangra from 1809, had the dome gilded, and the silver doors were the gift of his son Kharak Singh.
The life of this place
- c. 1361 CEFiroz Shah Tughlaq takes Nagarkot; books are carried off from Jwalamukhi (Firishta).
- after 1809Maharaja Ranjit Singh gilds the dome.
Jwalamukhi town, 35 km south of Kangra; the Chaitra and Ashvin Navratri melas are the busiest days.
