Bijli Mahadev is a sacred temple in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is situated at an altitude of 2460 m in the Kullu Valley and is 22 km from Kullu across the Beas valley. The hill where the temple is located is called Mathan and is surrounded by Garsa, Paravati, Kullu and Bhunter valleys. The temple offers a panoramic view of Paravati and Kullu. The temple is a ‘kash’ style temple and has a Shiva lingam. The temple is located in a meadow with lush green surroundings. The temple got its name after a occasional miracle that occurs there. The Shiva Lingam in the temple gets struck by lightning, breaking into pieces. The priest then collects the pieces and joins them together using butter, acting as adhesive and sattoo. One can see charred parts of the inside of the temple resulting due to this. The 60 ft high staff of the temple glistens like a silver needle in the sun and is said to attract divine blessings in the form of lightning. Shivratri sees a large number of tourists visiting the temple.
To get there, one has to get to Kullu and take a bus up to the village Chansari. From Chansari one has to climb stairs to the temple. The distance is about 3 km uphill. The road has now been extended to 5 km, which lessens the amount of stairs required to reach to the top. One can now approach the village Halleni with a personal / booked vehicle. One can also trek all the way from Kullu to Bijli Mahadev and the trail has small villages, jungles and orchards on the way. There are also small stalls and restaurants along the trekking route.
From Bhuntar Airport , the distance is about 30 km and then 3 km by foot. From Kullu town, it is 20 km and from Manali town, it is 50 km and 3 km on foot.
