Mata Chintpurni Devi

The Chintpurni Temple langar bhavan is the building in the centre.

Location

The village of Chintpurni (altitude 940 metres) is part of Amb tehsil, Una district, Himachal Pradesh. The temple is situated on one of the highest peaks of the Sola Singhi range. It is about 3 km west of Bharwain village which is located on the Hoshiarpur - Dharmashala road. This road is part of the State Highway network and is normally kept in good repair.

Private vehicles are usually not allowed beyond the Chintpurni bus stand which is about 1.5 km from the Temple. You would have to walk this distance. About half of this distance is up a gentle incline.

Then you walk up the steps to the top of the hill where the temple  is located. If you are not in good health, you may find this climb somewhat strenuous. 

The temple is open from 4.30 am to 10 pm in summer and 5 am to 9.30 pm in winter. More details are available on the Temple Opening Times page.

Weather

Spring : About mid-February to mid-April. The winter starts losing its bite around mid-February.

Summer : Mid-April to end of June. It is hot in summer and light cottons are recommended. 

Rainy season : July - September. Still quite warm and, of course, humid. Lots and lots of rain.

Autumn : October - November. Days are pleasantly warm, nights are cool. May need light woollens at night or early mornings.

Winter: December - January. It is quite pleasant during the day and you may get by with one layer of woollens. The winter nights are cold and an extra layer of woollens is required.

In general, temperatures in Chintpurni are about 5 Celsius lower than in the Punjab and Haryana plains.

Accommodation

The Navaratra fairs in Shravan (August), Kartik (October) and Chaitra (March-April) are very popular with devotees when accommodation is very tight. Other popular days are Sankranti, Purnima and Ashtami.

There are a number of dharamshalas, guest houses and hotels of varying quality in and around Chintpurni. Himachal Tourism runs a Yatri Niwas at Bharwain  which is only 3 km from the Chintpurni temple. It has a magnificent view of the Swan valley to the south. At night to the west you can see the bright lights of the Temple and its bazaar. Looking towards the northeast are the shimmering waters of the Govind Sagar. 

More information on accommodation in and around Chintpurni is available from these pages -

Hotels around Una and Chintpurni and Chintapurni Devi - matashiri.com page

How to get there

There are a number of ways to get to Chintpurni from Delhi.

1. Delhi - Chandigarh - Ropar - Nangal - Una - Mubarakpur - Bharwain - Chintpurni
A number of trains (including a Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi Express which departs Delhi at 730 am and arrives at Chandigarh at 11 am) run between Delhi and Chandigarh. There are also very frequent buses plying on the Delhi-Chandigarh route (about 5 hours). Chintpurni is another 5 hours away by bus from Chandigarh.

Delhi and Himachal State Transport run buses on the Delhi-Chandigarh-Chintpurni route. Buses running on the Delhi-Chandigarh-Dharamshala and Delhi-Chandigarh-Palampur route stop at either Bharwain or Chintpurni. Frequent State Transport bus services are also available from most important cities of Punjab, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir.

Himachal State Road Transport Corporation runs a Volvo tourist coach service from Delhi to Dharamshala which stops at Bharwain by request. The coach leaves Delhi Inter State Bus Terminus, Kashmiri Gate at 8 pm and arrives at Bharwain just after 4 am. The fare is approx. Rs 600. This is a very comfortable and fast service. The downside is that you arrive very early at Bharwain and have to wait for at least 1 hour before you can catch any kind of transport for the 3 km to Chintpurni. For the return journey to Delhi, you have to go to Kangra in person to make the necessary bookings.

2. Delhi - Jalandhar - Hoshiarpur - Gagret - Bharwain - Chintpurni
You could take the Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi Express from Delhi (departing 7.20 am and which arrives at Jalandhar around 12.0 noon) or you could take an overnight train from Delhi to Jalandhar. Then take a bus or taxi to Chintpurni. Jalandhar - Chintpurni journey should take no more than 4 hours.

Rail: Closest railheads are at Hoshiarpur ( 42 km) and Una ( 55 km). Frequent bus and taxi services to Chintpurni are available from these towns.

Airport: Nearest airport is at Gaggal which is near Kangra. Distance to Chintpurni is about 60 km. Indian Airlines flies to Gaggal via Chandigarh. Other airports are at Amritsar (160 km) and Chandigarh (200 km).

Some distances -

1. Delhi - Chandigarh - Ropar - Nangal - Una - Mubarakpur - Bharwain - Chintpurni : 430 km

2. Chandigarh - Ropar - Nangal - Una - Mubarakpur - Bharwain - Chintpurni : 200 km

3. Jalandhar - Hoshiarpur - Gagret - Bharwain - Chintpurni : 90 km

4. Hoshiarpur - Gagret - Bharwain - Chintpurni : 42 km

5. Kangra - Jwalaji - Bharwain - Chintpurni : 70 km

6. Naina Devi - Nangal - Una - Mubarakpur - Bharwain - Chintpurni : 115 km

7. Vaishno Devi - Jammu - Pathankot - Kangra - Bharwain - Chintpurni : 250 km 

© 2004 Maintained by: Arvind Kalia | Date Last Modified:8 April 2008