Chamba is the ancient town of Himachal Pradesh. It is the land of beautiful curved stone temples. Each temple has its own significance and beauty. One of the oldest and largest temples in Chamba is Laxmi Narayan mandir that is visited by lot of visitors every year.
This temple was built in 10th century by Sahil Verman. It is constructed in Shikhara style. We can also find Bimana, mandapa and garbhgriha like structures. These mandir’s were decorated by the rajas that succeeded the throne of Chamba afterwards. This complex has got six temples that are arranged from north to south. This are either dedicated to Shiva or Vishnu.
One can definitely notice that the temple has got wooden chattris and shell roofs as this region receive snowfall. In this complex we can also find some other beautiful shrines like Radha Krishna, Shiva Temple of chandergupta and Gauri Shankar Temple.
The visitors can also find a metallic image of Garuda, the vahana of Vishnu on the dwajastamba pillar at the main gate of the complex. Raja Chhatra Singh had installed gold plated pinnacles on the temple roof that made it look very attractive in 1678. However the Mughal emperor Auranagzeb had later asked to demolition this temple.
The Laxmi Narayan Temple first opens for visitors in morning at 6 am to 12:30 pm and after that it is again open from 2:30 pm to 8:30 pm. The best season to visit Chamba is from March to June.
Though the town is located on hill it’s well connected by roads to the rest of the state and country. One can either take road route from Shimla, Delhi and Chandigarh or the tourist can also opt for rail route. The nearest broad gauge railway stations are Chakki Bank and Pathankot.
Temples in Himachal are truly fabulous and wonderful to visit. The tourist are easily attracted to the beautiful carving embed on woods and stones of the temples. Himachal Pradesh is also a famous pilgrimage centre visited by millions of devotees every year.
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