Tara Devi Temple, Shimla

The temple's origins are told through the history and traditions of the Sen dynasty. Wikipedia dates the building of the temple by Sen kings to around 1766. According to a tradition reported by Amar Ujala, a ruler of the Sen line brought the image of Tara from Bengal to the Shimla hills about 250 years ago, and Raja Bhupendra Sen built her temple after he saw the goddess, along with Hanuman, while hunting in the dense forest of Taradevi. Wikipedia adds that a later ruler, Raja Balbir Sen, had a vision asking him to establish the temple on the hilltop, and that he installed an image of the goddess made of ashtadhatu (an alloy of eight metals). These accounts are traditional and differ in their details.

According to state archives cited by IANS in 2018, the Keonthal estate, with its capital at Junga about 26 km from Shimla, was founded in 1211 by Giri Sen, the younger brother of Vir Sen, founder of Suket state. The rulers of Keonthal used to ride on horseback to the temple, and built resting huts and water channels (kuhls) along the way. Until the 1990s devotees had to trek up the hill; the first road to the hilltop was built while Virbhadra Singh was Chief Minister in 1993–98.

By the 2010s the wood of the old temple had weathered, and it was demolished entirely and rebuilt at its original site. IANS reported in July 2018 that the reconstruction took three and a half years and cost over ₹6 crore, with a ₹2 crore contribution from the public-sector Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam. The image of Tara was reinstalled on 20 July 2018 in rites performed by 90 priests.

Architecture and sacred features

The present temple, completed in 2018, follows the hill architecture of the original. According to the temple's in-charge, quoted by IANS, it was rebuilt in the original Pahari style with intricate wood carving, and gold and silver obtained by melting temple offerings were used extensively in the sanctum. The doors and wooden structures are decorated with miniature images of goddesses.