Surkanda Devi Temple Dhanaulti Uttarakhand

Surkanda Devi Temple is a famous temple, situated between Dhanaulti and Kanatal. This famous temple is situated on Surakut mountain, about 7 km from Dhanaulti. To reach the Surkanda Devi temple, there is a trek of about 2 km from the village of Kaddukhaal. This temple is made at an altitude of about 3000 meters above sea level. This temple is dedicated to Goddess Durga, which is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas. The temple of Surkanda Devi is also mentioned in Kedarkhand and Skanda Purana. The statue of Goddess Kali is established inside the temple. There is also the temple of Lord Shiva and Hanuman Ji in this temple premises. According to legend, once the goddess Sati's father Raja Daksh organized a grand yajna, in which he had invited all deities, except Lord Shiva. The yajna had the place of all the gods except Lord Shiva. Seeing this insult of Lord Shiva, Goddess Sati jumped into the yajna kund. Upon hearing the news of jumping in the yajna of Goddess Sati, Lord Shiva happened indignantly and cut off the head of King Daksh. Lord Shiva, while mourning, kept the body of Sati on the shoulder and began Taandav. All the gods began to urge Lord Vishnu to calm Lord Shiva. After that Lord Shiva raised the body of Goddess Sati on the shoulder and rotated in all four directions, During this, Lord Vishnu had split the body of Sati into 51 parts with his Sudarshan Chakra, where-where the Sati's limbs part fell, those places became Shaktipeeth. It is believed that Goddess Sati's head fell on this place, hence this place is called "Surkanda", which is why this temple was named "Surkanda Devi Temple".