Long with hundreds of mythical legends about the origin of a temple in different parts of India, the very popular temple of Chintpurni temple is of the same type. The legend is that one ‘Bhagat Mai Dass’ was a great devotee of Durga deity and worshipped her with great devotion and never bothered over mundane affairs. He was a married man and his family along with others had shifted from Patiala side to village ‘Rapoh’ in Una district of Himachal Pradesh. The legend is that one-day Bhagat Mai Dass was going to his father-in-law’s place and felt tired while by a jungle and slept under a tree. He had a dream: a young girl appeared before him and wanted him to stay there and worship her. He woke up in bewilderment.
He came back to the particular spot from his father-in-law’s place and went on praying to Durga. The girl appeared this time in human form and told him the whereabouts where he would find her in the form of a ‘pindi’ (a round stone-ball). He should install the Pindi in a temple. The Devi blessed him that he would have no fright, as it was a ‘Devasthan’ (site of Gods) though so deserted. She disappeared and Mai Dass discovered the Pindi and installed it in a temple. It is believed that the place is where the toes of ‘Gati’ goddess had fallen being cut off by the ‘Chakra’ of Vishnu Lord, when he was cutting away the pieces of Sati’s dead body carried by Lord Shiva in his ‘Tandava Nritya’. The Pindi represents Sati’s feet and is a manifestation of her. Chintpurni Devi is believed to fulfill the desires of a person who comes there and devotedly worships her.
