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Champawat is a new district
town in the Uttaranchal
that offers a
captivating view of the
delightful wooded
country. This place is
also known due to its rich historic wealth.
Earlier Champawat was the capital of the Chand
rulers of Kumaon. The ancient shrines of Champawat lost their main sanctum, but the remaining structure, the ancient temples of Baleshwar, Nagnath
and some ruins around
the temple are still
present which reflect
the creative energy of the hill artists.
The tradition of the present appellation of Kumaon is associated with Champawat. It
was believed that Lord Vishnu assumed the tortoise incarnation (Kurm Avatar) and
was punished for several hundred years on a mountain in Champawat. The place where he
was punished came to be
known as Kurmachal and Kumaon
was its natural temple evolution.
On the top of the
Kumachal mountain, the temple of
the Ghatotkach of the Mahabharata is
located. This term was first applied to eastern part of present Kumaon and later extended to the entire region. The places
which are worth seeing
in Champawat are the Narsingh Danda, Hingla Devi, Ghatotkach temple, Maneshwar, Kranteswar and the Surya temple at village Ramak. |
