Jwala Ji (Pahari: जवाला जी, Punjabi: ਜਵਾਲਾ ਜੀ, Hindi: ज्वाला जी, Urdu: جوالا جی) is a Hindu Goddess. Alternative spelling and names for Jwala Ji include Jvala Ji, Jwala Devi and Jwalamukhi Ji. The physical manifestation of Jwala Ji is always a set of flames burning off natural gas,[2] and the term Jwala means flame in Sanskrit (cognates: proto-Indo-European guelh, English: glow, Lithuanian: zvilti)[3] and Ji is an honorific used in the Indian subcontinent.
Historically, shrines dedicated to Jwala Ji were based on fissures from which natural gas seeped by itself. The number of flames is usually either seven (for the seven divine sisters) or nine (for the nine Durgas).[4] Several schools of Buddhism also share the symbolism of a seven-forked sacred flame.[5]
Jai Jwala Maa The best known Jwala Ji shrine is located in the lower Himalayas in Jawalamukhi town of the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh state of India, about 55 kilometers from the larger town of Dharamsala.[6] The temple style is typical of Jwala Ji shrines, four cornered, with a small dome on the top and a square central pit of hollowed stone inside where the main flame burns endlessly. [7] An annual fair is held in the environs of the temple every April.[6]
The temple had an associated library of ancient Hindu texts, many of which were translated from Sanskrit into Persian at the orders of Firuz Shah Tughlaq when the Delhi Sultanate overran the Kangra area.[8] [9] According to legend, when Sati's body was divided into 51 parts, her tongue fell here. This is represented by the flames.
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