Maa Bamleshwari (Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh)

About 2200 years ago, Dongargarh was a fairly renounced territory named Kamavati ruled by Maharaja Veersen. When his Queen gave birth to a son they named him Madansen. Since Raja Veersen considered it a blessing of Lord Shiv & Parvati, he constructed the temple of Shri Bamleshwari Mandir at Dongargarh. Now Raja Madansen had a son named Kamsen because of whom the area became famous and came to be known as Kamakhaya Nagari.

Dongargarh is a city and municipality in Rajnandgaon District in the state of Chhattisgarh, India and the site of the Bambleshwari Temple. A prominent pilgrim destination in Rajnandgaon District, the city lies about 35 kilometres west from Rajnandgaon, 67 kilometres west from Durg and 132 kilometres east from Bhandara which are situated on National Highway 6. Featuring majestic mountains and ponds, Dongargarh is derived from the words: Dongarh meaning ‘mountains’ and garh meaning ‘fort’. The Maa Bamleshwari Devi Temple, situated on a 1,600 feet high hilltop, is a popular landmark. It is of great spiritual importance and several legends are associated with this shrine too. Another prominent shrine in the vicinity is Chhoti Bamleshwari Temple. Shivji Temple and temples dedicated to Lord Hanuman are also located here. These temples are revered by lakhs of people of Chhattisgarh who flock around the shrine during the Navratris of Kavar (during Dusshera) and Chaitra (during Ram Navami). There is tradition of lighting Jyoti Kalash during Navaratris here.

The ropeway is an added attraction and is the only passenger ropeway in Chhattisgarh.. The town is known for religious Harmony and has considerable population of Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians and Jains apart from Hindus.