Siya Devi Temple, Balod,
Chattisgarh
Siya Devi
Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to the Goddess Sita
located in Naragaon near Balod Town in Balod District
in the state of Chattisgarh in India. The
Temple situated amidst dense forest abounded with greenery and a natural waterfall.
Legends
Siya Devi:
During
Ramayana, this place was called as Dandakaranya. Lord Rama visited this place during
his exile along with Laxman & Sita. Goddess Parvati in the form of Goddess
Sita, to test his loyalty towards his wife, Sita (at the time when he was in search
of his wife, who was forcibly kidnapped by Demon king, Ravana). Lord Ram
recognizes Goddess Parvati and greets her as his mother and asks the reason for
coming in the middle of Jungle all alone. Satisfied by the loyalty of Lord Ram, Goddess
Parvati feels shame for her deed and discusses all the matter with Lord Shiva
and apologizes. Lord Shiva advises her to settle down at Siya Devi as the
incarnation of Goddess Sita. Hence, the place came to be called as Siya Devi.
Tiger Statue with iron chain:
There
is another belief that the tiger of Goddess here awakes (comes into life) in
night times and protects the holy region. Hence, the statue of tiger here is
fastened here by a thick iron chain.
The Temple & Waterfall
The
Temple situated amidst dense forest abounded with greenery and a natural
waterfall. There are statues of Lord Ram with Sita & Lakshmana, Shiva
Parvati, Hanuman, Radha Krishna, Siya Devi and Budhadeva. The waterfall
here is about 15-20 feet high and 35-40 feet wide. The downstream of the falls is
full of boulders, it becomes easy for tourist to come quite near to fall and
enjoy the beauty of it.
Another
interesting place is the cave situated on left side bank of upstream, which is
actually a joint fracture between rocks which leaves a thin space to enter
inside and has an end outside. It is believed that Valmiki performed meditation
here. Hence, the cave came to be called as Valmiki Gufa.
Festivals
Navratri
and Maha Shivrathri are the festivals celebrated here with much fanfare.
The Temple is located at
about 21 Kms from Balod, 22 Kms from Balod Bus Station, 23 Kms from Balod
Railway Station, 40 Kms from Dhamtari, 93 Kms from Bhilai Airport and 108 Kms
from Raipur Airport. The Temple is situated on Balod – Charama State Highway.
From Balod, one has to reach Jhalmala and then one has to travel on Balod – Charama
State Highway to reach this temple and Siya Devi Waterfall.
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