Mehandipur Balaji Temple

The story

Long ago this valley was a thick forest full of wild animals. Temple tradition says that Gosain ji Maharaj, an ancestor of today's mahant family, had a strange dream. He saw thousands of lamps coming in a line, and a great army bowing before three divine forms: Balaji Maharaj, Bhairav Baba and Pretraj Sarkar. In later dreams he saw the same three murtis and a large temple, and a voice asked him to take up their seva. At last Balaji himself gave him darshan and told him to worship every day.

The next day Gosain ji reached the spot between the two hills, and with the help of nearby villagers he began regular puja and bhog. The temple says that since then about fifteen generations of the mahant family have served Balaji. The main temple building came up in the time of Mahant Ganeshpuri ji, who is also remembered for building dharamshalas and a Sanskrit school.

Devotees believe the murti was not carved by any craftsman but is part of the hill. The small kund at Balaji's feet never runs dry, and the stream near his heart does not stop even after the chola (sindoor coating) is offered.