Lehra Durga Mandir – Goddess Lehra Devi Temple at Durgapur near Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh

Lehra Durga Mandir is located at Durgapur Village, which is around 54 km from Gorakhpur, in Uttar Pradesh. This Goddess Lehra Devi Temple is considered to be Siddha Shatipeetha. Located on the banks of Pavah River, the name of the goddess is derived from the estate called Lehra in which the shrine is located.

Legend has it Pandavas during their exile period in the Mahabharata discovered the murti of Goddess Durga worshipped here and installed it and performed the first pujas. Thousands of years ago it is said that Goddess Lehra was sitting on the banks of Pavah River. She asked a boatman to drop her on the other side. But the boatman tried to snatch her jewelry. The boatman died immediately and Goddess turned into a stone remained on the boat. Pandavas discovered the murti on the boat years later.

The present Lehra Durga Mandir was built around 200 years ago.

Goddess Lehra Devi is worshipped here in the form of three pindis. The pindis are always covered with colorful clothes. The face of pindi is adorned with marigold flowers and vermilion.

For the convenience of devotees, a statue of Goddess Durga sitting atop a lion with eight arms is placed above the three pindis.

There are also murtis of Goddess Kali, Ganesh, Hanuman and Bhairav in the temple.

The temple has numerous other statues including that of several elephants.

Mundan, or tonsuring of head, is an important ritual here.

The most important festival here is the Navratri (September – October).