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| Raghunath Temple, Jammu dailyexcelsior.com |
There are ever so many temples dedicated to Lord Rama across India. One of the largest temple complexes in north India India, Raghunath Temple, Jammu has seven shrines each with a tall, attractive tower- Shikara. It is located at Sui 18 kilometres (11 mi), west of Jammu city in Jammu.
Built by Maharajah Gulab Singh and his son Maharaj Ranbir Singh between 1853 and 1860, it isa famous pilgrimage center in this part of Jammu. The are many shrines in the complex and the presiding deity is Sri Ram / Raghunath is consecrated in the central shrine. In the other shrines one can see the various incarnations/avatar of God Vishnu. Devotees visiting this temple never fail to visit the shrine dedicated to God Sun - Surya. The main deity Ram is made of granite and according to the priest, “Since Lord Rama is reincarnation of Lord Vishnu, the statue/idol in this temple was made of dark (Shyam) colour to depict Lord Rama in his truest form. J&K Dharmarth Trust is managing this historic temple along with about 122 more temples in the newly carved Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory (UT).
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| Raghunath Temple, Jammu jammu.nic.in |
This temple on November 24, 2002 drew the attention of the whole country when an unexpected thing had happed. This serene temple was under the attack by the terrorists - suicide bombers trained by the rogue nation Pakistan. That time the puja for the main deity was on and this violent raid by terrorists left more than 10 people dead and injured a large number of devotees on the temple premises. Since then the security has been beefed up at this popular temple.
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| Raghunath temple, Jammu. en.wikipedia.org |
It is often mentioned that ruler Raja Jagat Singh took up the construction of this temple in 1660 primarily to make amends for the sins he committed knowingly or unknowingly.
At the entrance to the temple are a portrait of Maharana Ranbir Singh and an image of Lord Hanuman an associate of God Ram. What is unique about this place of worship is one can see many deities as one will find in the Hindu pantheon. There are large size stone images of gods and goddesses, besides many Shiva lingas in a separate gallery. Some images of the divinity, it appears are made of saligram rocks found in the foothills of the Himalayas. Raghunath Temple houses about 365 stone images including that of Lord Rama, Sita and Laxman besides a large number of saligrams running in to thousands, collected from beds of river Gandaki near Muktinath in Nepal. The temple has four prakaras or Pradakshina paths (circling sanctum of the temple) where devotees walk around the innermost chamber of the temple housing deities.
The main shrine is adorned with beautiful paintings and there are 15 panels depicting episodes / scenes from the great Hindu epics-the Ramayana the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita.
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