CityDekho
Chinnamastika Temple (Chintpurni)

Chinnamastika Temple (Chintpurni)

pilgrimage site · Himachal Pradesh

State
Himachal Pradesh
Type
Pilgrimage Site
Best season
Winter

Chinnamastika Temple (Chintpurni) in Chintpurni, Himachal Pradesh is one of the Shakti Peethas, the sacred shrines of the Divine Mother in the Shakta tradition of Hinduism. According to tradition, this is where the **feet** of Goddess Sati fell when Lord Vishnu's Sudarshana Chakra divided her body. Here the Goddess is worshipped as **Chhinnamastika**, and her guardian Bhairava (a form of Shiva) as **Rudra Mahadeva**. Shakti Peethas are among the holiest pilgrimage sites for devotees of the Goddess, drawing pilgrims especially during Navratri and Durga Puja. Each is tied to the legend of Sati, whose body parts fell across the Indian subcontinent and beyond, sanctifying the ground where they landed.

When to go

Navratri (around October and April) is the most auspicious time; winter months are comfortable for a quieter visit.

Why visit

One of the five Devi temples people do as a circuit through the Himachal foothills, with Jwalamukhi, Naina Devi, Kangra and Chamunda. Weekends and Navratri mean long queues; a weekday morning is a different place entirely.

Cultural notes

Presiding deity (Shakti): Chhinnamastika. Bhairava (consort/guardian): Rudra Mahadeva. Associated relic: the feet of Goddess Sati. The site forms part of the Shakti Peetha pilgrimage circuit rooted in the Daksha Yagna legend.

Chinnamastika Temple (Chintpurni) guide & itineraries

More to explore in Himachal Pradesh

Other places worth pairing with this visit — tap a mood to reshape the list.

Key Monastery
Culture

Key Monastery

Key Monastery is a thousand-year-old Tibetan Buddhist monastery belonging to the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) lineage. At 4,166 metres, it sits on a prominent volcanic cone hill overlooking the wide Spiti River valley floor. Located roughly 14 kilometers from Kaza, it stands as the largest monastery, primary spiritual archive, and leading training school for resident Lamas in Spiti Valley. The unique architectural layout of the monastery has evolved over centuries of restructuring, resulting in a tightly stacked, fortress-like profile known as the Pasada style. The close grouping of white-washed mud-brick rooms, multi-tiered chapels, and narrow defensive corridors gives the complex the appearance of a monolithic castle emerging naturally from the mountain slope.

Details
Khajjiar
Hill station

Khajjiar

Details
Jibhi
Place

Jibhi

Details
Jwalamukhi (Jwala Ji) Temple
Spiritual

Jwalamukhi (Jwala Ji) Temple

Details
Tirthan Valley
Place

Tirthan Valley

Details
Naina Devi Temple
Spiritual

Naina Devi Temple

Details
Kasol
Place

Kasol

Details
Kangra Fort
Culture

Kangra Fort

Details
McLeodganj & Dharamshala
Hill station

McLeodganj & Dharamshala

Details
Spiti Valley (Kaza)
Place

Spiti Valley (Kaza)

Details

Travellers exploring here also loved

Kullu

Kullu

Great Himalayan National Park
Attraction

Great Himalayan National Park

Details
Culture

Rang Mahal (Chamba Fort Palace)

Details
Chandratal Lake
Attraction

Chandratal Lake

Details

Keep exploring

Discover more of Himachal Pradesh

Open the guide

Reviews & ratings

What travellers say about Chinnamastika Temple (Chintpurni)

CityDekho traveller reviews

★★★★★★★★★★

No CityDekho reviews yet

Be the first traveller to review this place.

Sign in to write a review

Community

Ask questions and share tips about Chinnamastika Temple (Chintpurni)

Sign in to ask a question or share a tip about Chinnamastika Temple (Chintpurni).

Loading…

Been to Chinnamastika Temple (Chintpurni)?

Write what you would tell a friend — where you stayed, what you would skip, the thing you wish somebody had mentioned before you went. We read every submission before it goes up.

Share your story

More spiritual places to explore

More places you'll love

Assam

Hajo

Hajo is an ancient pilgrimage town near Guwahati in Assam, revered across three faiths. The hilltop Hayagriva Madhava temple draws Hindus and some Buddhists who believe the Buddha attained nirvana here, while the nearby Poa Mecca is an important Muslim shrine, making Hajo a rare centre of shared devotion.

Andhra Pradesh

Srisailam (Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga)

Srisailam, set amid the forested Nallamala Hills above the Krishna River, is home to the Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Temple, a rare site that is at once one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Shiva (as Mallikarjuna) and one of the Shakti Peethas (as Bhramaramba Devi). This dual sanctity makes it one of southern India's most powerful pilgrimage destinations.

Maharashtra

Siddhivinayak Temple (Mumbai)

Shree Siddhivinayak is Mumbai's most beloved Ganesha temple, built in 1801 and today one of the richest and most-visited shrines in India. Its inner sanctum enshrines a black-stone idol of Lord Ganesha whose trunk curves to the right, a rare and especially auspicious form that draws millions of devotees, film stars and cricketers alike.

Maharashtra

Trimbakeshwar (Jyotirlinga)

Trimbakeshwar, near Nashik in Maharashtra, enshrines one of the twelve sacred Jyotirlingas of Shiva and marks the source of the Godavari, India's second-longest river. Its distinctive lingam bears three faces representing Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, and the town is a key site for the Nashik Kumbh Mela.

Kerala

Guruvayur (Sri Krishna Temple)

Guruvayur is a temple town in Kerala centred on the revered Sri Krishna (Guruvayurappan) Temple, often called the Dwarka of the South. The deity is worshipped as the young Krishna, and the shrine is one of the busiest Vaishnava pilgrimage centres in India, famed for its strict rituals, temple elephants and devotional music.

Kerala

Padmanabhaswamy Temple (Thiruvananthapuram)

Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram is a Vaishnava shrine where Lord Vishnu reclines on the serpent Anantha in the Anantha-shayanam posture. Blending Kerala and Dravidian styles with a towering seven-tier gopuram, it became world-famous when vast treasures were documented in its vaults, ranking it among the wealthiest temples on earth.

Karnataka

ISKCON Temple (Bengaluru)

ISKCON Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Rajajinagar is one of the largest ISKCON temples in the world, a striking blend of modern glass-and-steel architecture with traditional gopuram-topped shrines. Opened in 1997 on Hare Krishna Hill, it is a major centre for Krishna devotion, cultural programmes and prasadam distribution in Bengaluru.

Gujarat

Shatrunjaya Hill

Shatrunjaya Hill, near Palitana town in the Bhavnagar district, is a world-famous sacred mountain rising above the Shatrunjaya River. It stands as a unique structural wonder, being the world's only mountain holding a fortified complex of more than 860 carved marble temples built over a millennium. Considered an entirely holy landscape by the Jain community, no vehicles are permitted past the base database, requiring pilgrims and travelers to scale approximately 3,500 stone steps to reach the mountaintop complex.

Gujarat

Pavagadh Hill

Pavagadh Hill is a volcanic plateau rising about 822 metres from the plains of the Panchmahal district, at the heart of the UNESCO-listed Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park. Its slopes hold Rajput fortifications, medieval gateways and reservoirs, and a much-visited Kalika Mata (Shakti Peeth) shrine near the top.

Gujarat

Valsad

Valsad, once known as Bulsar, sits at the southern tip of Gujarat on the Arabian Sea. It is known for its mango orchards — the source of much of the region's Alphonso (Hafoos) crop — and mixes an industrial economy with easygoing coastal and temple tourism. With black-sand beaches and the union territory of Daman close by, it is a popular weekend break for visitors from Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Gujarat

Jamnagar

Jamnagar, once the princely capital of Nawanagar under the Jadeja rulers, sits on the southern Gulf of Kutch. Known as the 'Jewel of Kathiawar' and, for its many temples, as 'Chhoti Kashi', it pairs royal-era architecture — lake palaces, colonial squares and a solar observatory — with a large modern industrial belt. Nearby lie coral reefs and coastal wetlands rich in birdlife.

Gujarat

Gandhinagar

Gandhinagar, the meticulously master-planned capital city of Gujarat, stands on the west bank of the Sabarmati River. Designed by visionary architects H.K. Mewada and Prakash M. Apte, it is internationally recognized as one of India's greenest administrative capitals, laid out in an orderly grid of 30 structured sectors. Beyond its primary role as a political and bureaucratic powerhouse, Gandhinagar handles a massive leisure and spiritual tourist footprint due to its high-capacity exhibition facilities, lush urban forest canopy covers, eco-nature parks, and monumental temple installations.

Trending in Himachal Pradesh

Shimla

Shimla

Shimla, the former summer capital of British India, is one of the country's most popular hill stations. Its colonial Mall Road, the Ridge, Christ Church and the UNESCO-listed Kalka-Shimla toy train make it a perennial favourite in the Himalayan foothills.

Manali

Manali

Manali is really two places, and knowing which one you booked matters more than anything else about the trip. Mall Road Manali is a busy Indian hill-station town — traffic, hotels, shops selling the same shawls. Old Manali, up the hill across the river, is quieter, low-rise and where most people actually want to be. Vashisht, on the other side, has the hot springs and a similar feel. Hadimba temple, in the deodar forest above town, is four hundred years old with a tiered wooden roof and is worth the twenty minutes. Solang and Rohtang are the standard day trips and both are congested in season; Rohtang needs a permit, which is capped daily and must be arranged in advance. The Atal Tunnel changed the geography here. Lahaul, which used to be a full expedition, is now well under an hour away, and going through it for the day gives you a completely different landscape. May and June are the peak and are crowded. October and November are clear, cold and quiet. Do not expect snow in town below about December, whatever the photographs suggest.

Dalhousie

Dalhousie

Dalhousie is a peaceful colonial-era hill station built across five distinct hills of the Dhauladhar mountain range, sitting at an altitude of 1,970 metres. Established in the mid-19th century under the British Raj, the town has systematically preserved its old-world charm, characterized by wide pine-fringed walking loops, traditional stone mansions, and vintage Scottish architecture. Tourism in Dalhousie centers around the historic public squares of Gandhi Chowk and Subhash Chowk, linked by wooded walking paths like Garam Sadak. The town is the quiet alternative to the commercial hill stations, with views of the winding Ravi River and the distant snow-covered peaks of the inner Himalayas.

Bir Billing

Bir Billing

Bir Billing is India's paragliding capital and one of the best free-flight sites in the world, set against the Dhauladhar range in Himachal Pradesh. The twin spots — the take-off at Billing and the landing meadows at Bir — have turned a quiet Tibetan-settlement village into a buzzing hub for adventure seekers, digital nomads and cafe-hoppers. Beyond paragliding, Bir has quietly become a workation favourite, with fast Wi-Fi cafes, co-working stays, Tibetan monasteries, a tea-garden landscape and a thriving long-stay community. It blends adrenaline, Buddhist calm and remote-work comfort in a way few Indian towns do.