Salasar Ji

Salasar Ji

There are several theories associated to how the Salasar Balaji Temple came to be. A popular one about it dates back to one Saturday of Shravana Shukla, of Navami Samvat (1754 AD), when a Ginthala Jat farmer of Asota village in Nagaur unearthed a stone idol of Balaji while ploughing his field. The news of this discovery soon spread throughout the village and reached the ears of the Thakur of Asota. It is said that the Lord Balaji appeared in Thakur’s dream, asking him to send forth the idol to Salasar in Churu district. It was on the same night that Mohandas Maharaj, a Hanuman devotee in Salasar, dreamt of Balaji too. Mohandas sent forth a message to the Thakur of Asota, who was highly surprised to learn of all the tiny details that the prior had mentioned, without having visited Asota. The idol was then consecrated at a place that is now recognized as Salasar Dham. As per another version of the same story, the Thakur of Asota after having the dream, ordered for the statue to be moved to Salasar and placed within a temple. For shifting the idol, the Thakur purchased two bulls tied to a cart. It was decided that a temple would be built on the spot where these bulls would stop.