Dwarahat is a serene town, nestled in the stunning Kumaon Hills of the Uttrakhand. As a lesser-known place in Uttarakhand, Dwarahat doesn’t have lots of places of interest and sightseeing places to draw many tourists, but it’s quite popular for the ancient and holy temples built by the Katyuri Kings. These temples architecture is pretty similar to Gurjari School of Arts. The ancient shrines and temples definitely fascinate the history lovers. The key highlight of Dwarahat is the Dwarahat Temples.
Dwarahat is full of lovely and attractive temples with remarkable sceneries in Almora’s Kumaon mountains. Home to nearly 55 vintage temples, it includes eight group of temples including Mrityunjay, Badrinath, Dhwaj, Duijar Deval, Durga, Kachri, Maniyal, and Ratan Dewal. All of them date back to the 11th century and they have an exquisite architectural excellence. Other than being historically significant, the temples have a few of the most admired deities in the Hindu Mythology. Hence, they are frequented by the devotees from across the world.
Dwarahat town is the home to lots of Hindu temples. Among them the temple that blesses this place is the Dunagiri Temple, the most prominent one. Situated on a hillock between the Kumaon Hills, the temple is devoted to Goddess Durga. Devotees and tourists from the state and even outside come here to get the blessings of Maa durga.
The main temple in this group is devoted to Lord Vishnu where he is worshiped as Badrinath. It consists of antrala, mandapa, and garbhagriha. The temple is an attractive example of Gahadavala style architecture. It’s believed that Pandavas had spent some time in this area during their exile. The shrine here is thought to be built in Sikhara style.
This temple stands in the mid of cultivated field present on the bank of a quite small stream – Khiru Gange. The pyramid shrine here represents the initial built temple of the central Himalayas.
A masterwork of temple’s architecture Gujar Deo Temple is constructed in Sekhari Sikhara style. In the Central Himalayan region, this temple represents highly developed nagara temples.
At Dwarahat, this is the most sacred group of temples. The main temple here is devoted to Lord Shiva, whereas another famous temple in this complex is devoted to Bhairav.
A group of 9 temples, Maniyan Group of Temples is another popular holy place. Some shrines here are dedicated to the Jain section while other look to be Brahmanical deities.
The Kacheri Group of Temples date back to 11th century to 13th century. These temples are devoted to Lord Vishnu and Lord shiva. This group also has a circular shaped well that is made of stone blocks.
This temple complex has 9 shrines, out of which only 6 temples are intact. The temples are believed to be from the 11th century to 13th century period.
