Jakhoo Temple Shimla
This temple of lord Hanumanji is situated at the height of about 8500 ft. in the east of historical ridge ground in Shimla city. This temple is very easily approachable and is one of the most sought after site to be visited not only by the devotees and pilgrims but also by the tourists of all age groups visiting Shimla, the Hill capital of Himachal Pradesh.
According to mythology , during the battle between lord Rama and Ravanaat Lanka ,Lakshmana the younger brother of lord Rama was injured from an arrow from Meghnad and turned senseless. In order to save his life ,when lord Hanumanwas moving towards Himalaya to get sanjeewani herb , all of a sudden he saw Yaaku sage on Jakhu mountain in penance .This place was named Jakhu , after the same sage .In order to gather more details about sanjeewani , lord Hanuman landed here . As a result of which Jakhu mountain which earlier was much higher ,half sunk into earth.After getting all the clarifications about the herb , lord Hanuman started his journey towards mount Dron . However , his friends accompanying him felt asleep here due to long distant tiring journey . When they woke up , all of them were sad on not finding lord Hanuman with them . All of them decided to stay here .Their successors can be seen roaming in this area even today . Lord Hanuman had even promised the sage Yaaku to meet him during his back journey .However due to shortage of time as a result of wickedness of Kaalnemi, he had to return back to Lanka via shorter route .The waiting sage got very sad .At the same time lord Hanuman appeared before the sage and told him the reason for not keeping his promise .When lord Hanuman disappeared , an idol of lord Hanuman appeared by itself and is present in the temple till date . This temple of lord Hanuman was constructed by the Yaaku sage in remembrance of lord Hanuman.
Location :
The Jakhu Temple in Shimla is situated on the top of Jakhu Hill, at an altitude of 2.5 kms
Famous For :
The Jakhu temple in Shimla is dedicated to lord Hanuman, and is said to be existing from the times of Ramayana.
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The Legends :
The Jakhu temple is said to be formed when lord Hanuman visited Jakhu hill. As per legends, Hanuman visited this place during the famous Rama - Ravana fight. Lakshman, the younger brother of Rama, was critically injured during the fight and the only medicinal herb which could have saved his life was available in the Himalayan range. Hanuman came to Himalayas, but got confused, so as to which was the particular herb. Out of desperation, he dug out the whole mountain, which contained the herbs and flew to Lanka, where injured Lakshman and his doctor were waiting for him. On his way back, Hanuman rested on the Jakhu hills, and the top of the mountain got flat by his and mountain’s weight. The temple of Jakhu has since been highly revered by the locals. The shrine of the temple is the foot prints of Hanuman. In most of the Hanuman temples in India, one can come across numerous monkeys and Jakhu is no exception. There are hundreds of monkeys in and around the temple. Though mostly very peaceful, they can attack a person, if provocated. Pilgrims offer them eatables, which they readily accept.
Reaching Jakhoo Temple Shimla :
Jakhu Temple is situated at a height of around 2 Km from the base of Jakhu hill. To reach the temple, a trek of 2 kms, through dense pine forests is required. The trek is very tiring. One can also hire ponies from the base of hills, to take a to and fro ride to temple. Walking sticks are also available at the shops on the base of Jakhu hill.
