Chhatarpur Temple


Chhatarpur Temple is located in a down town area in south of Delhi - Chhatarpur, India. This temple is dedicated to Goddess, Katyayani. The entire complex of the temple is spread over a wide area of 70 acres.. It is located at Chhatarpur, on the southwestern outskirts of the city of Delhi and is just from Qutub Minar, off Mehrauli-Gurgaon road.
The temple was established in 1974, by Baba Sant Nagpal ji, who died in 1998. His samadhi shrine lies in the premises of the Shiv-Gauri Nageshwar Mandir within the temple complex.
This temple was considered as the biggest temple in India and second largest in the world, before the Akshardham Temple was created in 2005 in Delhi. This temple is totally constructed from marble and on all the facets there is jaali work. It can be classified a vesara style of architecture.
Surroundings are an important biodiversity area within the Northern Aravalli leopard wildlife corridor stretching from Sariska Tiger Reserve to Delhi. Historical place around sanctuary are Badkhal Lake, 10th century ancient Surajkund reservoir and Anangpur Dam, Damdama Lake, Tughlaqabad Fort and Adilabad ruins. It is contiguous to the seasonal waterfalls in Pali-Dhuaj-Kot villages of Faridabad, the scared Mangar Bani and the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary. There are several dozen lakes formed in the abandoned open pit mines in the forested hilly area of Delhi Ridge.

The complex

The entire temple complex spread over, has over 20 small and large temples divided in three different complexes. The main deity in the temple is Goddess Katyayani, a part of Navadurga, the nine forms of Hindu goddess Durga or Shakti, worshipped during the Navratri celebrations.
A side shrine within the main temple houses a shrine of Goddess Katyayani, which opens only during the bi-annual Navratri season, when thousands of people throng the premises for darshan. One nearby room has been made as living room with tables and chairs made in silver, and another regarded as the Shayan Kaksha, where a bed, dressing table and table are carved in silver. This shrine opens on a large satsang or prayer hall, where religious discourses and bhajans, are held. Just at the entrance to the main temple, stand an old tree, where devotees tie holy threads for wish fulfillment. Another shrine of Goddess Durga is open to devotees morning to evening, it lies above the shrines dedicated to Radha Krishna, and Lord Ganesh.
Apart from this the complex also has other temples dedicated to Lord Rama, Lord Ganesha and Lord Shiva. The temples have been built in both South and North Indian style of temple architecture.