PARNERA TEMPLE FAIR

Parnera hill is situated near Valsad city of South Gujarat near the Par River. It  is famous for its divine temples. The hill has an estimated height of 300m and has a historical fort built over it by a local king. The Fort's relics and structure speaks about the brilliant engineering methods of the good olden times. The Hill even has three stepwells. Shree Maha Kali Mata temple is situated on the top of Parnera Hill in the south direction of the fort inside a cave.. There is another temple, where the statues of goddesses Shree Chandika, Shree Ambika, Shree Navdurga, Shree Sheetla Mata statues are installed in the temple. Based on a folktale, five goddesses Shree Chandika, Shree Ambika, Shree Navdurga, Shree Sheetla and Shree Kalika resided together on the hill. One day, Goddess Kalika became sad and went inside the cave. From that day, Parnera hill has two temples dedicated to the feminine divinity. One for the five goddesses and one inside the cave for Goddess Kalika. Neighboring the temple is the temple of Swayambhu Rameshwar Mahadev and the temple of God Hanuman ji . One has to climb 400 plus stairs to reach these temples. Every year during Navratri , it is believed that on Saatam – Aatham, Kalika Mata comes out of her cave. During this time, a massive fair is organized on Parnera Hill. People from all over Valsad crowd the place and more than lakh devotees come to offer their prayers.