Motorists on the Chandigarh-Manali national highway have to go out of the way to pay obeisance, with a tunnel bypassing the revered Hanogi Mata temple located along the mighty Beas river that remains swollen in monsoon in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district.

The temple of the Hanogi Mata dedicated to Goddess Saraswati is located on the road where all drivers and commuters stop over for a few minutes with the belief that the goddess fulfills wishes of those who pray there.

Whether we are on a solo trip or a family trip, our visit to the Hanogi Mata Temple is mandatory while travelling towards Manali,” remarked Sangeeta Dutta, a tourist from Delhi heading to Manali.

“This time we came to know when we crossed through the tunnel that the temple had been left far behind,” she added.

Her husband Nakul added, “This is a temple blessing for safety while on the wheels in the hills. We don’t know how true the belief is, nor am I too religious, but certainly we do believe in the divine. So we can’t give the temple a miss and went back through the old route to pay obeisance before heading towards Kullu-Manali.”

The main temple of Hanogi Mata is at the edge of a cliff across the Beas.

As per locals, since trudging the hilltop for devotees across the river was tough and time consuming, a replica of the original temple was built alongside the highway so that the travellers can visit the temple and be blessed for a safe onward journey.

Worried over the massive decline in the footfall of devotees, temple priest Vivek Sharma told IANS during June-July (the peak tourist season) in previous years the daily offerings at the temple was from Rs 30,000-50,000.

“Now it has been reduced to mere Rs 100 to Rs 500 per day. We have been holding community kitchens and doing so many charity works. With the current meager income, it seems almost impossible to run community services,” he added.

Now the 12.5-km long twin tube tunnel is built between the Pandoh dam and Aut as part of the Kiratpur-Manali four-lane highway project, bypassing the landslide-prone stretch that passes via the Hanogi Mata temple.

In the past the Hanogi Mata temple near Pandoh remained in news owing to heavy landslides that led to snapping of the road link for days between Mandi and Manali towns.

Even on normal days the motorists are advised to travel with precaution between Mandi and Kullu towns owing to landslide-prone, narrow and sinking stretches due to loose rock strata and vulnerable to being flooded by the Beas river that ran along the highway.

At the closure of the road link, the Hanogi temple authorities was at the forefront for running community kitchens for stranded people, mainly lorry drivers.

The famous temple was partially damaged in a landslide in 2020. However, the sanctum sanctorum of the temple was safe.

A mound of boulders and debris from the hill atop dislocated and had hit Hanogi Mata temple and shops near it.

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is executing the four-lane road project that will shorten the distance between Kiratpur in Punjab and Manali from 232 km to 195 km, reducing the travel time by three hours.

The four-lane road will be ready for traffic movement by July, officials told IANS.

Himachal Pradesh has been aptly called Dev Bhoomi since ancient times as it is the home to ancient temples and shaktipeeth.