Devotees offer bells to Golu Devta after 'God of Justice' fulfils their vows

The temple priest reads this application and narrates it to Golu Devta after which the application is hung on the temple premises. Many people send their applications by post as well. It is said that this temple was built by a commander of the Chand dynasty in the 12th century.

Almora: At the Golu Devta temple in Chittai in the Almora district, the devotees do not ring a bell, a regular practice at all temples, instead they offer a bell once their wishes are fulfilled by the 'God of Justice'. Every year, lakhs of devotees from across the country and abroad visit the sacred temple situated on the Almora-Pithoragarh road around 10 km from the Almora district headquarters.

It is said that Golu is the reincarnation of Bhairav, that is, Lord Shiva. The devotees who get 'justice' offer bells and the sight of thousands of wonderful bells in the temple is a clear sign of God fulfilling the wishes of many devotees. There is also a unique way of making vows or pleading for help as devotees give a written application at the temple.

The temple priest reads this application and narrates it to Golu Devta after which the application is hung on the temple premises. Many people send their applications by post as well. It is said that this temple was built by a commander of the Chand dynasty in the 12th century.

According to the legend of the Golu deity, King Jhal Rai of the Katyuri dynasty had seven queens none of whom had children. The king used to be very upset about this. One day he had gone hunting in the forest where he met Rani Kalika. Raja Jhal Rai was mesmerized by seeing the queen and he married her after some time the queen became pregnant.

Seeing this, the seven queens turned jealous and hatched a conspiracy with their mother-in-law. When Queen Kalika gave birth to a child named Golu, they removed the child and placed a stone in its place. The child was put in a crate and thrown into the river which was brought up by the fishermen. At the age of eight, the child insisted to go to the capital Champawat.

When his foster father asked how he would go to Champawat, the boy asked for a horse. Considering it a joke, the father brought him a wooden horse and gave it to him after which the boy came to Champawat with the same horse. Here, the boy started offering water to the wooden horse at the pond where the seven queens of the king were bathing. The queens started laughing and said it was foolish to offer water to a wooden horse.

The boy replied that “if Queen Kalika can give birth to a stone, then can a wooden horse not drink water” to the queen's utter shock. Soon the news spread all over the state. The king also came to know about the whole truth. He punished the seven queens for conspiring and declared little Golu as his successor. It is said that many temples were established after the Golu deity and he has fulfilled the wishes of many devotees.

Shalini Kapoor, a devotee showed a letter of her wishes and said they also offer bells according to their ritual. Rani Panth, a local said, "We present our wishes as we do in a court to the Golu Devta, who is so generous that he fulfills all our wishes". As per Rajendra Garg, five of them came to the temple in 2010 and offered charity after which the wish of one of them was fulfilled 2010. "We came here in 2018 and all of our wishes were fulfilled," he said.

Vishal Vivek, another devotee said that the practice "shows unique culture and devotion to deities". "Golu devta does justice which is acceptable to all the sides," Himanshu Bora, a shopkeeper said.