Kol Kandoli Temple, Nagrota, Jammu

Kol Kandoli Temple is situated in the town of Nagrota which is almost 14 km far away from the Jammu City. This is the temple of Vaishno devi and the mata is established here in the form of Pindis. It is believed that every pilgrim should visit this temple first before starting his/her journey to Shree Mata Vaishno Devi. People call this temple first glimpse of Mata vaishno devi.

This temple got its name from two words Kol-Kandoli. Which means bowl (Kol) and marbles (Kandoli). Nagrota was earlier known as Nagraj and was spanned across over 13 kosa area.

History of Kol Kandoli Temple

Mythology says, at the age of 5, Mata Vaishno appeared here and did penance here for almost 12 years. And after the penance, Maa Vaishno settled down here in the form of a pindi. The Goddess herself appears in front of her devotees in the form of pindi and also fulfill all the wishes of every devotee. It is believed that the Goddess in the form of girl had herself played marbles and had also swing with the local girls. The goddess performed many havans during her 12 year penance for the world peace. Mahamaya had also presented the silver bowls for around 4 times here. Mahamaya offered 36 different kinds of food which was prepared in the silver bowls to 330 million devotees.

The water started coming out of the ground when the goddess shook the bowl on the ground and all the devotees drank the water from there. After that the devotees made a well there and also named it after the Mata Vaishno.

In the Mahabharata era, Pandvas got to know about the goddess of village nagraj when they were on the agyaat vaas. So in order to end their agyaat vaas, they all went to Goddess in the nagraj village and then prayed to her and also prayed for retrieval of their kingdom. Then the Goddess appeared in front of them and asked the pandavas to build a temple there. Then they all built a temple there in one night before the name of the goddess.

A temple of Gandeshwari Jyoti Linga is also situated there in the temple campus. During the time when the Pandavas were building the temple, Bheema felt thirsty and start asking for water from the Goddess. Mata told Bheema that there was no water there. Then Mahamaya went back to the backside of the temple and produced a bowl. When she rubbed the bowl there, suddenly AapShambhu Gandeshwari Jyotirlinga appeared there. Then Goddess announced to them that where there is Shiva there is Shakti. Then she said further that Shiva and Shakti are both incomplete without each other. All the planets (grahas) can be pacified only by worshiping the Shiva.

As mentioned above, there is well there in the premises of the temple. People use to drink the water from the well, One feels very relaxed and peaceful after drinking the water from the well. One gets cleansed by sprinkling the water over body. The festivals like Durga Puja, navaratas are also celebrated in the Kol Kandoli Temple. The temple is always decorated with flowers and lights all over. For the peace of mind and body, the atmosphere of the temple is very soothing for the devotees. It is said that the flowers which are offered to the Goddess here are converted into ‘Babooti’ after a differnt treatment. It is believed that this Babooti is very much beneficiary for the skin diseases, and it can be cure just by eating or appling it on affected area. 

Vipul Koul................