Jhula devi temple is located near Chaubatia gardens, Ranikhet, and is about 7 kms from town. The main temple is about 700 years old but the present temple was renovated in 1935.
It is believed that, 700 years ago, Chaubatia was a dense forest and wild animals like Tigers and Leopards could be seen. They used to attack people and devour their livestock.
So people prayed to Maa Durga for protection. Then the goddess appeared in a shepherd’s dream and asked him to dig up a particular place, where he would find her idol and told him to build a temple. So the villagers dug up that particular place, found the idol and built a temple. From that day villagers were freed from the menace of wild animals.
The original idol is kept on a window, which is on the left side of sanctu. The belief is after some years Maa Durga appeared in someone’s dream and asked for a swing. So people thereafter placed the idol on a wooden swing inside the sanctum. Since then Maa Durga is called Jhula Devi.
She is known to bless people with whatever they wished and after getting their wishes fulfilled, people would tie a bell. Hence one can see plenty of bells all around the temple.
The temple is in serene place and is believed to fulfill the wishes of devotees even to this day.
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