HIDIMBA DEVI TEMPLE, HIMANCHAL PRADESH
Hidimbi Devi Temple, also known variously as the Hadimba Temple,It is located on a deodar covered hill in Manali, some 3kms from the bus stop and few minutes walk from Old Manali, a hill station in the State of Himāchal Pradesh in north India. It is an ancient cave temple dedicated to Hidimbi Devi, sister of Hidimba,who was a character in the Indian epic, Mahābhārata. The temple is surrounded by a cedar forest at the foot of the Himālayas. The sanctuary is built over a huge rock jutting out of the ground, which was worshipped as an image of the deity. It is an ancient cave temple built in 1553 by Raja Bahadur Singh. Built over a huge rock, the sanctum is covered by three tiered roof of wooden planks. The fourth metal umbrella completes the outermost covering. The ‘shikhar’ or the wooden tower is 24m tall. The wooden facade and windows of the temple are richly carved. The quadruple wooden door frame is ornamented with carvings of various deities and other desi