In the Kangra valley of Himachal Pradesh, Jwalamukhi is among the most wondrous of the Shakti Peethas, for the Goddess here has no image at all: she is worshipped as eternal natural flames that burn without fuel from clefts in the rock. In the tradition of the Peethas told in the Devi Bhagavata Purana, the tongue of Sati fell at this spot, and so the Goddess blazes forth as living fire, honoured in Adi Shankaracharya's stotram as Vaishnavi Devi at Jwala.
Nine flames, each named for a form of the Goddess, flicker perpetually within the temple, its dome and pinnacle plated in gold by the offerings of devotees over the ages. Pilgrims come to behold the Mother as flame — an emblem of the ever-living divine energy that needs no form.
Among the Himalayan Devi shrines often visited together, Jwalamukhi holds a place of special awe, for here the Goddess reveals herself not in stone but in undying light.
At Jwalamukhi in Kangra there is no idol to see. Nine natural flames burn from the rock, and those flames are the Goddess.
Source: Temple administration, Himachal Pradesh
