Mughal Emperor Akbar came to this Jawalamukhi Mandir after the battle of Noorpur and Chamba Akbar.
Being a non-believer and having different faith, he suspected the supremacy of Mata Jawalmukhi and sent his soldiers to Jawalamukhi.
It was found and communicated to Akbar that the flames from the ground at the said place were ignited without any fuel, ghee, etc.
Golden Parasol story version 1 – Akbar then tried to extinguish the flames by covering them with an iron disk and even passing water through them. But the flames overcame all these efforts.
Akbar, on the advice of the courtiers, then presented a golden parasol (chhatri) at the shrine to seek the blessings of Jawala Mata.
However, the parasol suddenly fell and the gold turned into another metal still unknown to the world.
It is believed that Maa Bhagwati changed the shape of the umbrella and the metal to destroy Akbar’s pride.
His faith in the goddess became all the stronger after this incident and he presented the goddess with a golden parasol (chhatri).
The large golden “chhatri” that Emperor Akbar donated to the temple is kept in another room in the temple. The story behind this is that the chhatri was rejected by Devi.
Akbar’s golden parasol (chhatri)
Golden Parasol Story version 2 – According to another story, after failing to extinguish the flames, Akbar destroyed the temple and had the priests and other devotees murdered.
After this, the king of Chamba (King Sansar Chand) reconstructed the temple. Maharaja Ranjit Singh installed a golden parasol (chhatri) and Sher Singh (King Ranjit Singh’s son) decorated the gates with silver.
For dinner we decided to eat at a local market there. The idea was to get some Kangra Dham style food from one of the local dhabas near the temple.
We looked around and inquired about Dham. Finally, Fateh Dhaba was completed and we had dinner there.
