Why Bijli Mahadev is a Famous Cultural Icon in Kullu

The Bijli Mahadev temple is an icon of Kullu's cultural identity. The trail to the temple is also well known for its scenic beauty. Thousands of pilgrims visit this shrine in Himachal Pradesh every year.

The temple famously gets its name from a legend, associated with an annual lightning (bijli) strike. It holds that lightning strikes Bijli Mahadev annually, breaking the shrine apart. The priest then restores it with sattoo, collected from the local villages.

But beyond this one story, how well do we actually know Bijli Mahadev ? Do we know the origins of its association with lightning ? How did the temple look when it was first built ? When did it come into prominence ? How is Bijli Mahadev connected to the greater deities of Kullu ?

So, read on for a deep-dive into all that surrounds Bijli Mahadev-- folklore, history, and fascinating geography.

The Setting

Bijli Mahadev sits atop the Mathan hill in Kullu. At 8100 ft above sea level, the meadowy clearing of Mathan is a beautiful vantage point. From here, you see four prominent river valleys of Himachal Pradesh-- Kullu, Parvati, Bhuntar and Gorsa. On the distant horizon, you gaze into the legendary snow peaks of Pir Panjal and Dhauladhar ranges.

Even the approach to the temple is magical. The trail snakes through beautiful forests of giant deodars. These are some of the oldest and grandest deodars of the country.

And then, the tall forests transition into a meadowy slope near Mathan. At the top of this slope, sits the Bijli Mahadev Temple.

Temple Architecture

The temple measures 36 ft in length by 24 ft in breadth. The lower parts of its walls are made of cut-stone, with no plaster being used throughout. A covered verandah of Deodar encircles the building and the sloping roof is formed of six tyres of planks of the same wood.
At the entrance there are fancifully carved uprights that join on the roof.

It is a fine specimen of Himachal’s indigenous timber-bonded, chalet-style architecture. Academics describe Bijli Mahadev as “one of the most famed examples of the pent-and-gable roof” among the wooden temples of Himachal Pradesh.  [Source:  May-June 2024 issue of the International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research]

Antiquity of the Bijli Mahadev Temple

The temple structure you see today is a 20th century construction. But it carries whispers of a grander structure that once stood in its place.

“Kulu, the Happy Valley”, published by the Punjab Public Relations Department in 1956, describes that the temple had “massive woodwork and beautifully carved deodar verandah and uprights, which were seriously damaged by a disastrous fire”. It is echoed in a book by Ramanujam S.R, which mentions “records from 150 years ago that testify to a grander multi-tiered temple which perhaps was lost to fire”.

Even though a lot went up in smoke, you still see very intricate sculptures on the temple’s wooden doors. Dilaram Shabab, in his seminal book on Kullu valley’s cultural history, describes these wooden carvings to “represent 18th century hill art of the highest order”.

Lightning and the Temple: How Bijli Mahadev Gets His Name

Just beside the temple, you would see a tall wooden pole. This sacred staff, called Dbuj, is a single deodar trunk, stripped off its branches and tipped with a muslin-wrapped silver coin. It is believed to attract Lord Shiva’s blessings through lightning (Bijli).

Popularly, lightning is believed to strike the temple once every 12 years. Others describe this strike to be an annual event. But everyone agrees that the shiva lingam inside the temple (pindi) shatters into pieces with each lightning strike.
“The temple priest collects butter and sattoo from each household to piece together the fragments of the defaced Pindi. Prayers and chanting of hymns from the ancient scriptures follow and soon the Pindi is restored to its original form”, writes Dilaram.
The Dbuj is replaced with the tallest deodar from the surrounding forests.

This connection, that Bijli Mahadev shares with lightning and the Dbuj, is a very prominent part of Kullu’s cultural identity. You would even find it mentioned in travelogues and journals from the colonial era.

A.P.F Hamilton’s 1933-account of Kullu in The Himalayan Journal mentions this Dbuj-- “tall staff, some sixty feet in height, which stands close to the building and is visible from Sultanpur”.

Kulant, the Demon and Whispers of a Buddhist Past

If history is one side of the coin, mythology is the prominent other.

Delving into the folklore surrounding Bijli Mahadev brings you to Shiva’s altercations with Kulant. Kulant was a demon, who hailed from the cold deserts of Lahaul-Spiti. He took the form of a huge snake and approached Mathan via Ghogar Dhar in Mandi. Other versions of the story describe Kulant to be a fire-breathing dragon.

At Ghogar Dhar, Kulant put his body across Beas to stop its flow and drown the villages in the valley. Shiva intervened by telling Kulant that his tail was on fire. When Kulant turned back to check, Shiva slayed him.

Kulant’s huge body then turned into a mountain. It is this mountain that is believed to have formed the watershed between Parvati and Beas rivers.

Kulant’s head lies at the Mathan. So, from time to time, Indra strikes the hilltop with lightning and Shiva bears the brunt of those strikes, through the unending cycle of shattering and restoration of His shrine at the Bijli Mahadev temple.

But the story doesn’t end here. There are a lot of interesting lines that you can draw from these mythical descriptions.

Kulant can be linked to the Kulutas-- traders who historically travelled from Kullu towards Spiti via Rohtang Pass. The Kulutas brought with them whiffs of thriving Buddhist culture from  the Tibetan Plateau.
Kulant being described as a large snake or a dragon, a prominent Buddhist icon, further reinforces this hypothesis.

And along these lines, Dbuj’s association with lightning was interpreted by A.P.F Hamilton as “a survival of Buddhism which existed everywhere in the valley in the 7th century AD”.

Of Mountains and Rivers

With time, these whispers of a Buddhist past have disappeared. Today, you see stone-carved statues of a bull and a lingam right at the temple-entrance. These paint the perfect picture of a Shaivite shrine.

It is set against an incredible backdrop of the Dhauladhar and Pir Panjal Ranges. You see several imposing peaks like Parvati, Kullu Pumori, Kullu Makalu (first successful Indian ascent happened only recently in June 2023) and even the Hanuman Tibba (immortalised as the “Solang Weisshorn” by C.G. Bruce).

Beneath the snow-peaks are the green hills of Kullu. Numerous spurs and ridges shoot off in all directions. The turquoise thread of Beas winds through these hills before merging with Parvati’s muddy torrent near Bhuin.
Dr. Hiranand Shashtri interpreted the revered “Kulantipitha Mahatma” text and described this sangam is the holiest location in the greater Kullu landscape.

While Bijli Mahadev stands over this holy confluence, Mata Parvati (Bijli Mahadev’s wife) of Chong and Bhagga Siddh (Bijli Mahadev’s sister) of Pini carry His influence into the Parvati valley. Covered in silver masks and decked with flowers, Bhagga Siddh visits Bijli Mahadev each year on an auspicious day in Shravan.

Bijli Mahadev, Sidh Pal and Hidimba

The story of these silver masks brings you to the rise and fall of dynasties in this remote Himalayan kingdom. Rajah Man Singh (1688-1719) is known to have donated silver masks to Kullu deities for commemorating victories.

Man Singh was one of the greatest conquerors of Kullu’s famed Pal dynasty.

But who were the Pal rajahs? And how did their dynastic name change to Singh? Again, a mythical tale holds answers.
[Source: “History of the Punjab Hill States [Vol-II]” by Drs. Hutchinson and Vogel]

Vihangamani Pal established his rule over Kullu in 1st century AD by ousting cruel Spiti chieftains. With blessings of Goddess Hidimba, his successors ruled the region until 1450 AD. The kingdom, then, fell to the Kunindas and the Ranas.

After this takeover, Sidh Pal arrived at Kulu and noticed the shrine of Bijli Mahadev on a hilltop. He learnt that carrying water from the holy sangam of Beas and Parvati to the temple would earn him the God’s favour. From the sangam, it is a very steep ascent to the temple. But Sidh Pal performed the feat. Tired, he then fell asleep at the temple premises.

Bijli Mahadev appeared in his dream and implored Sidh Pal to visit Jagatsukh.

At Jagatsukh, Sidh Pal took refuge at a potter’s place. There, he met an old woman and carried a heavy kilta (basket) for her. The old woman was none other than Goddess Hidimba herself. She was impressed by Sidh Pal’s selfless, moral act.

As an act of blessing, Hidimba raised Sidh Pal on her shoulders. The folklore even puts a number to this incident-- they describe Sidh Pal to have been raised 32 kos above the ground

“How far do you see?”, Hidimba had asked, after raising Sidh to that 32-kos vantage.
“Up to Dalasni in one direction, to Chorot plain on the other and till Kale Kanaur in the third direction”, Sidh Pal had replied.
“All of that land belongs to you now”, Hidimba said and disappeared immediately.

Everyone in Jagatsukh immediately recognised Sidh Pal as king. But having no army to fight the Ranas, he stayed hidden at a Brahmin’s place in Jagatsukh.

One night, when Sidh Pal was helping the Brahmin’s wife milk a cow, a lion (singh) entered the shed. Sidh fought the lion with bare hands. This instilled great confidence among his subjects. Together, they waged a successful war against the Ranas.

Thus, Pals regained Kullu (circa 1500 AD) and earned the dynastic epithet of “Singh”.

The Ebbs and Flow of Time
The Pal Dynasty was threatened again, in the 1800s. There were repeated Gurkha invasions. The Sikh Empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh extorted the Pals in the guise of protection. 

Kullu’s identity as an independent mountain kingdom lingered weakly till the reign of Ajeet Singh. He was the last Pal Rajah. After Ajeet Singh’s death, Kullu was virtually annexed by Sikhs.

The region came under British rule when the Sikh Empire ceded ground after the first Anglo-Sikh War (1846). The Bijli Mahadev Temple committee lost 874.7 bigha land to the British Land Tenancy Acts.

Bijli Mahadev stood on the Mathan Hilltop and saw all of this unfold. His temple endured the test of time. Thus, it stands today, where it has always stood. When you trek to Bijli Mahadev temple, these are the stories you stand amidst.

At Indiahikes, we do run regular batches for the Bijli Mahadev Trek from Manali. But if you are just looking for information and want to do the trek on your own, you can go through this detailed guide.

The Kais Dhar Connection

From the magical vantage of Bijli Mahadev temple, you can see many fascinating features of Kullu valley. Among them, is Kais Dhar, a ridge named after the quaint village of Kais.

Kais used to be a quiet hamlet, tucked away into the interiors of Kullu valley. But things changed after the inauguration of Dagpo Shedrupling Monastery by the 14th Dalai Lama (2005) brought it to limelight.

But that is the story of a different trek for a different day.