Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis c9.97

c9.97

The hillock on which the temple stands is a very ancient religious site, undoubtedly one of the oldest seats of Śāivite worship in northern India.² The oldest cycle of legends referring to the place relate to characters of the *Mahābhārata*, especially to Karna. A shrine to ‘Rāja Karan’ still exists on the slope of the hill. Another group of legends refers to the dishonouring of Devī at the hands of a rāja of the Panjab. After her body had been dismembered, her right hand fell at this spot and sank into the ground. In this story there is, evidently, a confusion of the older story, about the dismembering of the Devī’s body, and later elements, possibly Musalmān. A temple was erected here by Ratannāth, a disciple third in descent from Gorakhnāth. The site is still under the authority of the monastery Ratannāth at Sawārikot in the Nepalese Hills.