Sukrala Mata Temple, Billawar

01Sharada from Kashmir

The temple’s tradition says that the Devi came from the great Sharada seat of Kashmir to this hill and appeared in a stone found by a cowherd, and that the rulers of Billawar, an old hill state, raised the first shrine. In the Dogra hills she is known simply as Sukrala, after the hill, and many families make the first offering of a harvest or a marriage to her. The Navratri fairs, especially in Ashwin, bring pilgrims from Kathua, Jammu and the Punjab plains.

02Billawar and its temples

Billawar below the hill was the capital of the small state of Balor, and its old Shiva temple, Bilvakeshwar, is under the protection of the Archaeological Survey. Pilgrims usually see both. The road climbs from Billawar to the shrine through pine forest; the last part is a short walk up steps. For the Dogra hills Sukrala is what Vaishno Devi is for the whole country, a mother close at hand.