Divine heights Bhurshing Mahadev temple comes alive with devotion

The spiritual essence of Himachal Pradesh feels alive at Bhurshing Mahadev — a serene mountaintop shrine nestled in the Kwagdhar range of Sirmaur’s Pachaad region. At nearly 6,800 feet above sea level and just 12 km from Sarahan, this ancient temple is more than a place of worship — it is a seat of living mythology.

Local lore holds that it was from this very peak that Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati watched the great war of Mahabharata unfold in the distant plains of Kurukshetra. In that moment of divine observation, a Swayambhu Shivling is believed to have emerged from the earth, sanctifying the site for eternity. That Shivling still rests on this sacred hill, venerated today as Bhurshing Mahadev — a form once known in scriptures as Bhuri Shringa, the milk-consuming Bhureshwar.

Surrounded by deodar, kafal, buransh and pine, the temple offers breath-taking views of Chandigarh, Solan, Shimla, Morni Hills and Churdhar. But what draws pilgrims more than the views is the divine energy of the place. Every year after Diwali, the temple hosts the traditional Dev Utsav.

Unlike many deities in Himachal carried in palanquins, the power of Bhurshing Mahadev enters the temple priest, who treks the steep mountain path on foot, adorned in ceremonial attire and bearing the divine chhatra. Along the path, at seven sacred stones, the priest offers streams of raw milk, before reaching the eighth spot at the temple threshold and finally entering the sanctum.

The temple’s history also holds a royal connection. In the 16th century, the Maharaja of Sirmaur, moved by the temple’s sanctity, prayed here for a child. His wish granted, he returned to appoint the priest as custodian of the temple and initiated an annual silver offering — a tradition still acknowledged in revenue records today.

Legends of the land speak of a brother and sister from Pajarli who used to graze cattle around the Shivling. During a fierce storm, their calf went missing. Sent back into the mountains by their stepmother to retrieve it, the brother never returned. He was later found lifeless near the Shivling, believed to have merged into divine energy.

Years later, the sister, passing by in her wedding palanquin, halted at the same place and leapt out, refusing to go further without her brother. She disappeared, reemerging as a sacred stream — now known as the Dehi river, which still supplies water to nearby villages.

As Shravana brings thousands to Shiva temples across India, Bhurshing Mahadev sees its own surge of faithful. Pilgrims arrive bearing raw milk, chanting prayers and climbing the same ancient path with reverence. The red bloom of buransh in spring, the healing berries of kafal and the mystical air of devotion blend here into a timeless landscape.

In Bhurshing Mahadev, myth, memory and the divine remain intertwined — and in this sacred month of Shravana, the mountains once again echo with the quiet, eternal presence of Shiva.