Vasuki Nag Temple Bhaderwah

Vasuki Nag Temple- Bhaderwah

Vasukinag Temple is dedicated to the snake god Vasuki and is located at Bhaderwah in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir. Two idols of Nagraj Vasuki and Raja Jamute Vahan, are made of black stone which stands at an angle of 87° without any support from either sides are found in the sanctum of the temple. The statues have been standing as they are, on small feet in their original position for thousands of years, although the place has witnessed so many upheavals and geographical changes, including quakes of intense severity. Vasuki Nag is the presiding deity of the Bhaderwah region and there are four Vasuki Nag temples in Bhaderwah: one at Gatha, second at Nalthi, third at Bheja and fourth at Nagar, Bhaderwah, which is greatly revered amongst the local Hindu devotees.

Temple History

Bhadrevaha is also known as ‘Nagaon Nadu’. Between the 8th and 9th Vikrama Samvatsara, the Bhadrevaha Chandravamshi king, Maharaja Dhuri Pal started the construction of a Vasuki Naga temple in his kingdom. Although the construction work of the temple had started, even after many attempts, there was a hurdle in enshrining the idols in the temple. Then the king called the priests and asked the reason for this, they said that an evil spirit was living here and a Brahmin had to be sacrificed to get rid of it. On the advice of the Pandits, the king asks to capture the Brahmins in his territory, Devaraja and Bodharaja for sacrifice.When the soldiers left, they saw a Brahmin, Bodharaja, meditating. When the king’s soldier raised his sword to behead the Brahmin, his hands froze in the air.

Then when the Brahmin awoke from his meditation, he asked the soldier why he wanted to kill him. Meanwhile, the Brahmin’s brother Devaraja also returned to the camp from the forest. The soldiers told about the king’s orders. Bodharaja agreed to come before the king for this. On reaching the king’s palace, the king politely told him the story and pleaded for help. To this Bodharaja made a condition that he would cut off my head from durva grass but give the territory as far as my body goes, to his brother and his family. The king agreed to this and his head was cut off.The king agreed to this and his head was cut off. However, his body starts roaming around the province without being found by anyone.

In the end, Vasuki himself appeared in the form of a cow and stopped the body. Later the mortal body of holy saint Bodharaja was cremated at this place with all religious rites. Enraged by this incident, the Brahmin Devaraja declared that after the last ritual his family would not enter the Vasuki temple to worship or accept any offerings in the form of prasada or charanamrita.

A 3-day yearly ‘Kailash Yatra’ of Bhaderwah starts only after the ritual puja at this ancient temple. Pilgrims from all over the country come to visit the temple and offer their homage to Lord Vasuki, considered incredibly sacred in Hindu mythology.