High on a Himalayan ridge near Dhanaulti in the Tehri Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, reached by a steep climb through deodar forest, stands the temple of Surkanda Devi. In the tradition of the Peethas, the head of Sati is said to have fallen here, from which the name Surkanda is drawn.
Counted among the revered Siddh Peeths of Garhwal alongside Kunjapuri and Chandrabadni, the shrine crowns a peak with sweeping views of the snow ranges, and the Goddess is honoured especially at the Ganga Dussehra fair. Surkanda Devi is among the most striking of the high-mountain Devi shrines of the Uttarakhand Himalayas.
