Kumaon's god of justice keeps two great courts: Chitai near Almora, and Ghorakhal — "the horse's watering pool" — on a pine ridge above Bhowali in Nainital district. Here too the approach announces itself in metal: lakhs of brass bells in every size sheath the walkways and canopies, rung and left by petitioners whose cases Golu Devta has heard and answered.
The Shrine
The temple crowns a short stepped climb from the road, its red-and-white sanctum holding the white-horsed rider with his bow. Offerings are charmingly specific: bells for verdicts delivered, and letters — some on court stamp paper — for cases pending. Tuesdays, Saturdays and the Navratris bring the crowds; on quiet mornings the wind does the ringing.
Golu Ghorakhal. Photo: Ritesh Sagar, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Visiting
Ghorakhal sits ~3 km above Bhowali (Nainital 11 km, Kathgodam ~30 km), beside the famous Sainik School and its colonial-era tea gardens. Open daylight hours; the walk up through the pines takes ten minutes. Combine with a Bhowali fruit-market stop — the hills' best apricots and plums in season.
Best Time to Visit
Year-round. October–June for lake-country weather; winter mornings add frost-silvered pines and empty courtyards.
UJALA Snowfall. Photo: Uttarakhand Judicial and Legal Academy, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Pair It With
Kainchi Dham is twenty minutes up the Almora road, Naina Devi half an hour into Nainital, and Mukteshwar an hour along the orchard ridge — the perfect Nainital-side day of our Kumaon journeys.
Ghorakhal temple. Photo: Lalit.bhandari86, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Combining Ghorakhal with Kainchi?
The two shrines are twenty minutes apart — we run them as one morning on every Nainital-side circuit.
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