 Sthaneshwar Mahadev Temple is located at Thanesar, a holy town in the Kurukshetra district of the state of Haryana. This ancient temple is entirely dedicated to Lord Shiva or Mahadev. The Pandavas of the Mahabharata along with Krishna prayed to Lord Shiva and received his blessings before conquering the destructive war of Kurukshetra in Mahabharata. Having his blessings they had won the war. Again, the 9th Guru of the Sikh community, Shri Tegh Bahadur stayed at a point near the Sthaneshwar Tirtha. A Gurudwara just beside the temple marks it. This is the main reason; here visitors can see a Sikh Gurudwara besides Sthaneshwar Mahadev temple. During the festival of Mahashivratri, visitors and followers of Lord Shiva gather here to get the blessings of God.
Legends of Sthaneshwar Temple According to the folklore, the pond’s water near the shrine is considered holy as it has spiritual power to heal various diseases. King Ban, the King of Benwick or Benoic (according to European myth), was cured of his leprosy with a few drop of water of the holy tank. It is believed that no pilgrimage of Kurukshetra was entirely complete without a visit to this holy Temple. The tank and temple lie a short distance from the Thanesar town, which gets its name from this temple. The devotees believe that the temple of Sthaneshwar is the abode of Lord Shiva. According to the Indian history, this place used to be a capital city of Harshavardhana, the great Indian emperor of the Pushyabhuti Dynasty. However, there is no proper evidence of its construction but it is said that the shrine was built during the period of Mahabharata. According to some other belief, Lord Shiva was first worshipped here in the form of a "Linga". Parashuram, the great warrior and the sage had killed many Kshatriyas here and the ancestor of the Mahabharata heroes, Kuru, performed penance on the banks of the Yamuna River. Structure of Sthaneshwar Mahadev Temple The temple follows a regional type of architecture with a domical roof. The fascia of the roof is shaped like an ‘amla’. Attached to it is a tall pinnacle. The ‘Linga’ here is ancient and worshipped with love and reverence by the pilgrims and the devotees. The shrine with an artistic dome-kind of roof greatly follows Indian kind of architecture. The major attraction of the shrine is a sacred Shiva Lingam. How to Reach Sthaneshwar Temple One can visit Sthaneshwar Mahadev Temple by using several transport systems of Haryana. The nearest airport is the Chandigarh Airport. Some of the nearest railway stations are Thanesar town railway station only 1 km, Kurukshetra junior railway station 3 km and Dhoda Khedi railway station 4 km distance from Sthaneshwar Mahadev Temple. Visitors or devotees can easily get road transportation such as buses, cabs and taxies throughout the state to reach at the temple. |
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Sthaneshwar Mahadev Temple
| This ancient temple in entirely dedicated to Lord Shiva or Mahadev. |
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