The charming hill resort of Nainital gets its name from the Goddess Naina Devi. A temple dedicated to the deity stands here. The Naina Devi temple is situated atop Naina hillock in Nainital. Thousands of pilgrims gather here every year around September to worship Goddess Parvati. The temple of Naina Devi is situated about 7 miles from Anandpore Sahib on Bhakra Nangal rail –line. The temple is situated on Shivalik Mountain and devotees have to cover a distance of above 2 km on foot. It takes for the normal Devotee about half an hour to reach the temple from the foothill.

The temple is dedicated to the Goddess Bhagwati (Durga). The Goddess Naina Devi is worshipped as a single self born pindi. There is another pindi of Ganesha and a third established by the Pandavas. This is believed to be the 'shakti pita' where Sati's eye fell. Naina means eye. The temple is also known as Mahishapitha because of it's association with Mahishasur.
Naina devi temple is one of the 52 Sati piths according to Hindu scriptures and is perched at 11000mtr.above sea–level, on shivalik range in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, India. It's scenic beauty is marvelous and all the devotees gets peace and blessings of Ma Naina Devi. It's surrounded by Govind Sagar lake and Bharka Dam. Naina Devi is a great source of comfort, strength and influence on the soul searching. Those yearning for solace, peace and salvation, it is a dream destination and abode of peace.

Legend
Legend is that Sati, another name of goddess Parvati and wife of Lord Shiva, jumped into the sacrificial bonfire. To mourn the death of his beloved wife, Lord Shiva carried the body across the country. Then Lord Vishnu unleashed his Chakra and cut the Sati’s body into fifty one pieces to save the earth from Shiva’s wrath. Parts of her body fell at various places which became sacred worship places for the Hindus. The temple here is said to have been built on the precise spot where Sati's eyes had fallen.The picturesque blue green Naini lake located near the temple is said to be the eyes of Sati.

Histroy
Near the Shivalik mountain, there used to live a community of Guzars among them was a devotee of durga named Naina he used to take is cattle on to the shivalik mountain for grazing. There was a papal tree which is existing even today in the temple premises. Naina often observed that milk would flow down from the breast of cows which have not given birth to the babies when they stand under that papal tree, Naina wondered over this incidence. one day Naina went under that tree and saw that there was an idol of durga beneath the leaves of the tree. The same day Durga Maa appeared in the dreams of Naina at night and said to him "I am Adishakti Durga " you should build a temple at this place under the papal tree and I will become famous with your name. Naina was a staunch devotee of Durga and in the morning the next day he laid down for the temple. Very soon the information and importance of this place went around in all directions and devotees started powering in for darshan. This beautiful temple is known as Naina Devi Temple since then. There is also a cave near the temple which is known as the cave of Naina Devi.

Places to see
Near the temple is the Tibetan market which sells many interesting items. The Nainital Boat Club is a popular tourist attraction.Many of our film directors have captured the lake for song sequences. Many of our film directors have captured the lake for song sequences. The sunset over the lake is an amazing sight. The reflection of the surrounding mountains in the lake creates a image which is indescribably beautiful.

Main Attraction
Naina Devi welcomes one and all throughout the year .More so, the volume swells on the auspicious occasion of 3 festivals Navratris, Shravani & Chaitra .The Navaratri celebration in Sept –Oct is the largest fair and two more annual melas i.e. Shravani Mela in July-August & Chaitra mela in March-April, attract lakhs of people of divergent religious faith, caste, creed and culture. The colourful melas become the melting pot of Hindus, Sikhs and others-a unique sight of real Unity in Diversity.