Shaktipeethas.org

This is my first post on this forum- pardon me for any mistakes I may commit hereforth.
The first Shakti Peetham on the list is Hinglaj in Pakistan and I was intrigued and curious to know more. Many years later, I was surfing around the 'net when I came across a Pakistani website devoted to offroad travel using 4-wheeler cars like Toyota Landcruiser etc. One such trip was to the Hingol National Park along the Hingul river. It looked like a very fascinating trip- the conditions are awful. Even earlier travelers and pilgrims to the Nani Mander had to undergo lot of difficulties and privations to get Darshan of the Devi. The starting base was usually Karachi and towards the west. Soon after leaving the sylvan banks of the Indus, the pilgrim first encountered the terrible arid seaside deserts of Coastal Makran and the tall inhospitable mountains of Southern Baluchistan.
You can see some pics here:http://offroadpakistan.com/pictures/hingol_2005/ As you may very well appreciate, the travel conditions (usually on foot) for the pilgrims were not at all easy. After reaching the Hingul river, the road turned right and North, along the eastern bank of the river, before crossing over at a ford to the western bank. One has to be careful as the river has crocodiles in it. Fortunately, since the place is situated within the Hingol National Park, the kílling of wild animals is prohibited. After a little distance, the left turn is taken and one arrives at a base camp for pilgrims, where basic facilities and amenities are present, presently maintained by Hindu religious groups based in Karachi. From here on anther walk takes one deep into the hills, with towering mountains looming over the track. And quite suddenly, along a steep cliffside, one arrives at the temple. During this visit, they also paid a visit to the 'Nani Mander' or the Hinglaj Mata. You could see the pic here: http://offroadpakistan.com/pictures/hingol_april_2007/temple_at_nani_mander.html Most of the pilgrims hail from Sindh, where there is still a resident Hindu population. Of late, there has been a steady trickle of pilgrims from USA, UAE, UK, East Africa, Hong Kong, where there is an expatriate population with origins from Sindh, Baluchistan and Gwadar, for whom the Devi is the Kula Devata. Even the local tribal Baluchis refer affectinately to the Devi as Nani, or maternal grandmother. This was one reason why the temple was spared during the terrible times following Partition in 1947.
I have tried to locate the temple on Google Earth, and you can see the base camp at these coordinates: 25°30'51.82"N, 65°31'6.57"E
I would very much appreciate if there can be more material presented on the glory of Mata Hinglaj.

Thank you very much Moorthy, for giving exact location of Hinglaj Shaktipeeth. I updated 51 Shakti temples map as per your information.


And, I found that the website you are telling is giving "Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license" for it's content, very similar to that of Shaktipeethas.org. So, we can share their photos here too.

Hinglaj mata in cave

Hinglaj temple external view

The name Hinglaj itself means Reddish. Hingula is color of Sindhur and/or Blood.

Once upon a time a demon named Andhakasura spread his rule all over the world. All human beings and even deities suffered because of his acts. He is cruel and basically anti to the belief on God. He laughed at people observing Vedas and with his logic he conquered the minds of well-known. His era was dark as his name was. All deities including Indra, went to Lord Vishnu for a solution. He told that the situation can be set-right only by a person who got victory on passions and advised them to seek help of Lord Shiva. Devatas went to Mandara giri, where lord Shiva was practicing Yoga, along with his shakti - Prvathi. They surrendered themselves to Pashupati, Lord Shiva, and prąyed for defeat of Andhakasura. Lord Shiva told assured them. Actually Andhakasura is the son of Shiva. He born when shakti closed the three eyes of Shiva, for fun, while he is doing Meditation. He was gifted to Hiranyaksha in his very childhood, as a boon.

Andhakasura not being known of Lord Shiva living in Mandara giri, went for a vacation there. Shiva is in disguised form as a Yogi. Parvathi is serving him. Andhakasura saw Parvathi. Attracted with her astonishing beauty, he sent army to capture. They straightly approached Shiva and asked him to submit Parvathi and Mandara giri to their King. Shiva told that they can take Prvathi if she wishes so, but he couldn't give Mandara giri as it was donated to him by his friend Indra, with love. Parvathi keeping the prayers of deities in mind set a condition. If Andhakasura defeats Shiva shakti, he owns her too.

Hinglaj mata story begins now, from Vamana Maha Purana :

Demon Andhakasura has a unique power. Each drop of his blood will give birth to a new Andhakasura, with equal energy, if it touches the earth in battle field. Lord Shiva took the form of Maha Bhairava to conquer Andhakasura for the sake of common good. War started. Army of Andhakasura is steadily gaining dominance by the help of mystic powers. He approached Shiva with a mace and thrown a blow on his head. Lot of blood came out of the wound. From that blood Sapta Bhairavas originated to help Shiva. Shiva pierced the chest of Andhakasura with his Trishul and lifted him up into the sky. Profuse blood came out of the chest of Andhakasura and generated innumerable new Andhakasuras. They covered entire battle field. Shiva is fighting with all of them almost singly. Due to severe stress, sweat came from his fore-head and fell on ground. From that sweat, Charchika [one who is sprinkled allover her body with blood] and Mangala [one who gives all happiness] took birth. They ate all Andhakasuras. They drank all blood, without leaving a single drop. They turned the war towards Shiva within seconds. Shiva lightened main Andhakasura with his third eye.

Lord Shiva gave boons to Mangala that he will get a planetary position in the sky, as Mars. He told Charchika that she will be worshiped by all human beings and deities as an incarnation of Adi shakti. Charchika went to Haingulatadri and then-onwards called as Hingula.

Dear Admin
Thank you very much for the Pauranic story relating to Shri Hinglaj Mata Rani. One thing that struck me was that the temple is still a cave in the wall, much like Shri Vaishnodeviji and Virupaksha cave in Arunachala mountain. Mata Hinglaj is worshipped by Hindu communities in Sindh, Baluchistan, Punjab, Rajasthan, Kutch, Gujarat (especially Saurashtra, where some Kshatriya Rajputs owe allegiance to Hinglaj Mata) and Maharashtra, where a few of the temple names can be linked to Hinglaj, as in the temple town of Gadhinglaj (probably meaning Fort of Hinglaj mata), in Southern Maharashtra.
Another thing was in the Google Map posted above where I could not fail to notice the 'Tantric' origin of places around Hinglaj Mata Temple, as in the place called 'Aghor', which is also an epithet of Lord Shiva in his form as Bhairava, the subject of many Tantric books of late.
Online I had also read at another place- I can't seem to recall which, that the spot of Hinglaj Mata temple was probably a place of worship for many, many more years before the temple was constructed. Caves are naturally linked to Tantric worship, and as places where Raw, Divine, Positive Power 'oozes' out from the Earth, blessing all those who have come, often resulting in miraculous cures, peace of mind, and answering of prayers.