Not Only God, But A ‘Demon’ Is Also Worshiped In This Temple

Living in the lap of the Himalayas, the religious beliefs in God’s land (Devbhoomi), in Uttarakhand are somewhat different from the rest of the world. Here, they also respect those who are even rejected by the deity. During the worship of deity, Lord Vishnu had cut off the neck of the ‘demon’ with his Sudarshanchakra and after that, a temple for Rahu was made and he is worshiped here.

This temple is located in Paithani in Thalisain block, about 150km from Kotdwar in Pauri district. It sounds strange but where there is faith, there nothing is impossible. This is the reason why people also avoid the sight of ‘Rahu’ while Rahu is worshiped in this ‘Rahu Temple of Paithani’ and that too with Lord Shiva.

This is the only temple in the whole country where Rahu is worshiped. It is said that when Rahu, with some sort of ruse, came during the churning of the Milk Ocean and drank the Amrit (the elixir of immortality). To stop him from becoming immortal, Lord Vishnu separated his head from the trunk.

It is said that Rahu’s chopped head had fallen at the same place where Paithani is located, and then a temple was constructed at the same place. A temple of Rahu along with Lord Shiva was established there.

In this temple, there is a trunkless statue of Rahu with Lord Shiva.
It is said that by worshiping here, one can get rid of Shani‘s defect along with Rahu and Ketu.

Featured Image Credit: Incredible Uttarakhand/Facebook