The Khatu Shyam Temple is in a village in Rajasthan named Khatushyamaji. This temple is dedicated to Bhagwan Krishna and Barbarika (Khatushyam), the son of Ghatotkacha and Queen Maurvi.
He is highly respected and often depicted as Kuladevata. According to the visitors, the temple has Barbarika’s head as the main deity of the temple.
He was a great, powerful warrior but sacrificed his head on losing Krishna’s command before the Kurukshetra war.
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History of the Khatu Shyam Temple
Before starting the Mahabharat war, the last wish of Barbarika was to see this Great War. Therefore Shri Krishna took Barbarika’s head and placed it over the top of a high place for him to view the war.
The place where the head was placed eventually got covered with soil with the passing of time. The head was well buried until the villagers discovered it during the Kali Yuga. One day a cow was passing from where the head was buried.
When she came near the place, milk started to flow unstoppably from her udder. This surprised villagers; therefore, they decided to dig the area, and that is how the people discovered the head of Barbarika.
People handed the head to the Brahmins, who had worshipped it for a long time. Then one day, Roopsingh Chauhan, the king of Rajasthan, dreamt that he should make a temple and place the head inside it. And eventually, a temple was built where Barbarika’s head was placed as the main deity.
But there is another version of the story of how the head was discovered and the temple was built. On the other hand, Roopsingh Chauhan’s wife, Narmada Kanwar, dreamt of the place where the head was buried, and in the dream, God asked her to take his image out of the earth.
When the place was dug, the idol was found, and the place where it was found was named Shyam Kund. The king and his wife made the original temple in 1027 AD, and a nobleman known as Diwan Abhaisingh in 1720 AD renovated the entire time when the ruler of the Marwar ordered so. Since then, the temple has been in the same structure.
The idol of the temple has been in the same structure. The temple’s idol is made from rare stones and placed in the Sanctum sanctorum. Khatushyam is also Kuldevta of many families. Another temple is in Gujarat, and the idol is called Baliya dev. People bring their newborns to get blessings from lord Khatushyam.
Architectural Feature
The Khatushyam temple shows a rich and beautiful architectural feature. The principal items used in constructing this temple are lime mortar, tiles, and marble.
The most amazing part of the temple is that the Sanctum Sanctorum gate is entirely covered with gold.
The prayer hall outside is called Jagmohan, and the walls of the temple’s halls are carved and beautifully colored depicting scenes from legends. The entry and exit gates are made from marble depicting ornamental floral prints.
The open space in front of the temple’s entrance gate is where flowers are picked and offered to the deity. Also, for any other purpose, flowers are taken from here. Inside there is a Samadhi of great devotee Aloo Singh near the temple.
There is a holy pond called “Shayma Kund” near the temple, where Khatushyam’s head was found. Barbarika is also known as Khatushyam. This is the holy pond where devotees take a bath. It is believed that when a person takes a dip in the pond with pure devotion, all their physical and mental problems can be healed.
In the South-East of the temple is the Gopinath temple. There is also the Gaurishankar temple near the Khatushyam temple. According to history, some soldiers of Aurangzeb came to destroy the Gaurishankar temple and even used their spears to attack the Shivling. However, as they tried to destroy Shivlingam, the fountain of blood came out of the Shivling, which scared the soldiers so much that they ran away. Even today, the marks of the spear are visible on the Shivling.
The Khatushyam temple is about 80 km away from the town of Jaipur.
Timings of the Temple
The Public Trust and the members of the Shyam Mandir committee organize and manage the festivals and events in the village. They are also responsible for the maintenance of the Khatushayam Temple. These are timings for the people to have Darshan of the temple and deity.
In winter: 5:30 AM to 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM
In summer: 4:30 AM to 12:30 PM and 4:00 PM TO 10:00 PM
Five aartis are performed in the Khatu Shyam temple every day. The temple has a spiritual and holy environment while these aartis are performed.
These are the timings of the temple.
Aarti Winter and Summer
Mangla aarti 5:30 AM 4:30 AM
Pratham/shringar 8:00 AM 7:00 AM
Bhog aarti 12:30 PM 12:30 PM
Sandhya aarti 6:30 PM 7:30 PM
Closing 9:00 PM 10:00 PM
Way to Reach Khatu Shyam Temple
By Road: Khatu Shyam temple is accessible through roadways. There are several private as well as government buses that will take you to your destination. In addition, there is the Khatu Bus stop; you can take an auto or rickshaw to the temple from here.
By Train: The railway station nearest to the temple is Ringas Junction which is about 17km away from the temple. After getting down at this station, you can see lots of cabs and jeeps ready to take you to the temple. They are private and shared. Many trains run from Delhi and from Jaipur to Ringas.
By Plane: The nearest airport is Jaipur International Airport which is about 80 km away from the Khatu Shyam temple. From there, you can take roads like Agra-Bikaner road, also called NH 11.
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