01The raja’s dream
Gopal Singh, the chief of the small state of Mani Majra, built the temple between 1811 and 1815, and the temple tradition says the Devi told him in a dream to raise it on this spot of the Shivalik foothills, where she had long been worshipped in a small shrine. The main temple has a dome and a mandapa painted inside with Devi scenes. Mansa Devi grants the wishes of the mind, mansa, and devotees tie red threads in the compound when they ask and return to untie them when the wish is granted. A short way off stands a Shiva temple raised by the Maharaja of Patiala.
02Navratri melas
The temple and its lands were placed under the Shri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board by a Haryana law of 1991. At the Chaitra and Ashvin Navratris the board runs a mela of nine days, with free langar, and the road from Chandigarh is closed to cars on the busiest days. Many families bring infants for their first darshan here.
The life of this place
- 1811–15Raja Gopal Singh of Mani Majra builds the main temple.
- 1991The Shri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board takes charge of the temple.
In Sector 4, Mansa Devi Complex, Panchkula, about 10 km from central Chandigarh; Navratri crowds are very large.
