Shiva Temples Ranbireshwar Temple and Peer Kho Cave Temple are Aap Shambu Temple and Panjbakhtar Temple in Jammu region.
Aap Shambu Temple:
This temple is situated in Jammu where it is believed that Lord Shiva is present in natural Shiva Linga form. According to the old legend the place where the Syamabhu Linga is present used to be a dense jungle during the reign of Maharaja Pratap Singh. It is said that a Gujjar who was living nearby Sathrian, observed that there was no milk in the udder of his buffalo which along with other animals went for grazing in the nearby jungle. Due to which he became suspicious that someone must be milking her secretly. So, he followed the buffalo and was surprised to find that while other buffaloes and cows were grazing, his buffalo stood still near a specific stone and started releasing milk on the it (pindi). He thought that some evil forces might have overpowered his animal so he made an attempt to break the stone with an axe. To his surprise, the stone started bleeding. The Gujjar was frightened and later he realised that he has turned blind and his entire family suffered. When Maharaja Pratap Singh heard about this story he came to inspect the place and was very happy to see Lord Shiva in the form of a ‘pindi’. He wanted to shift the Svayambhu Linga in to a big temple so he ordered to dig out the ‘linga’ from that place.But what happened later surprised everyone as the area around the ‘pindi’ was dug out but the very next day it was found to be filled up. This process continued for some days and when the matter was reported to Maharaja, he understood the whole concept and decided to make a temple at the same place. One day in a dream, Lord Shiva told him that the jungle is the natural home of the Lord so the king decided to keep the ‘pindi’ as it is. And from that time, the Aap Shambhu linga is being worshipped in its original form at Sathrian.
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Panjbakhtar Temple:
Panchvaktar or the “five faces” Mahadev Mandir occupies a unique place in Jammu, the city of temples. It is one of the oldest Shivalya in the city. According to some belief Adi Shankryacharya visited this site and stayed there. While others believe that it was discovered much later, during the reign of Raja Mal Dev, in early fourteenth century. The Lingam in this temple is self manifested. This temple was also connected with Shri Amarnath Yatra in past and it was a Padayo (camp) for Sadhus visiting the Holy Cave Shrine of Shri Amarnathji. The temple of such a rare antiquity, heritage and spiritual importance, is situated in the heart of the city at Panch vaktar Road, Jammu. Panchbakhtar Temple also known by the name of Rupai Wala Mandir, is one of the oldest Shiva Temple in the region of Jammu.
By-Monica Saxena
