Category: Travel

All those who liked my photographs in these posts would be interested to know that today onward I have decided to give you videos as well. It takes time to post these on You Tube.

For the earlier two posts in the series too, videos would be available in two days.

We began our journey from Kandaghat to Kaza, two days ago on 20th June 2017. You have to access: ‘Himachal The Beautiful State Part VI – Kandaghat To Kaza – First Part Of The Journey Up To Rampur‘ to see the complete route plan and some do’s and don’ts.

After that, on the 21st June 2017, I took you to the most beautiful Sangla Valley and Chitkul, the last inhabited Indian village next to the Indo-China border. You have to access: ‘Himachal The Beautiful State Part VII – Kandaghat To Kaza – Second Part Of The Journey From Rampur to Kalpa Via Sangla And Chitkul‘.

We (my wife and I) stayed the night at Powari, just short of Kalpa (Reckong Peo) at an army camp. Of course, I was quick to add that the civilians have a number of hotels in Kalpa and Reckonfg Peo (the capital of Kinnaur District ) to stay.

The army camp where we chose to stay had accommodation alluringly close to the Sutlej river:

On the way back, we stayed the night there again and I could take some more pictures:

The officers at Powari convinced us that we needn’t stay an extra day there for visiting Reckong Peo and Kalpa as we could finish the entire itinerary there in a forenoon. So we packed up our things and left for Reckong Peo and Kalpa and en route to Pooh.

Normally, weather gods are very kind to us and so were they during our visit to both the places. We had the most beautiful view of Kinnaur hills including Kailash Kinner.

From the NH5, there is sheer climb to visit these places with a number of hair-pin bends (I had counted about 15 of them). But then it is worth reaching Kalpa at an altitude of about 3000 metres. Reckong Peo on the way is about 700 metres lower.

Look at the sights along the way:

Even though the capital of Kinnaur district, there is nothing much to see in Reckong Peo. Hence, we climbed up to Kalpa and what a view it was from there.

Earlier, Kalpa was the capital of Kinnaur. One of the officers at Powari told us that at one time, it was called Cheeni village and Indira Gandhi, the PM of India, was afraid that the Chinese may lay a claim on it. Hence, she hurriedly got the name changed to Kalpa. The Indian Army Brigade looking after this sector is called Sugar Brigade as Cheeni is not just the Hindi word for Chinese but also Hindi word for Sugar.

The best sights from Kalpa are to be seen from the Buddhist Monastery and the Hindu Temple, both co-located. Have a look at this breath-taking video first:

Of course, the video above is self-explanatory since I have given the commentary too. Have a look at the hills from the Hindu temple next to the monastery:

When I was small I used to read about blue skies. However, rarely have I experienced blue skies with the smog that exist in our cities. Here, then was this wonderful sight of blue sky contrasted against whiteness of the shining snow peaks.

A few pictures to drive home the point as to why you must go there:

And of course almost 360 degrees view around:

Before leaving Kalpa, we decided to seek some more adventure (as if yesterday was not enough) and decided to visit the Suicide Point. It is just 7 Kms from the Monastery and I recommend it for those who have stout hearts. In the video, it didn’t come out that well but there is sheer fall of 1000 metres from the suicide point (I have said 1000 feet in the commentary). You have your heart in your mouth when you have to turn around even in a small car like Maruti Alto. Watch this:

For those who are too scared to watch the video, here are some pictures:

In that kind of narrow road, when you have a vehicle coming from the other side and you are towards the valley side to make and give way, sometimes by reversing, well, you pass your driving test for the next few lives too.

Alright, ladies and gentlemen, take your hearts out of your mouths and lets be on our way to Pooh.

Distance between Kalpa to Pooh is just 75 Kms and we started in the afternoon. Google recommended time taken to cover the distance is 2 hours and 8 minutes. We took longer because we kept stopping for pictures.

As far as the risk of crossing the distance is concerned, between Km 10 to Km 25, it should take you about an hour. All kinds of traffic is on the road, the road condition ranges from being narrow to non-existent. Going to Suicide Point had prepared us for the worst but soon realised things could get even worse than that. Have a look:

Incidentally, just to remind you, these pictures are pictures of what is known as National Highway. I have taken these pictures sometimes whilst driving and at others just momentarily stopping and moving on.

Scared? Well, I too was until I saw buses and army three tonners on this road.

A little after Pangi, it becomes better and then one passes through Rarang, Akpa, Rispa, Moorang, Jangi and Spello. You have no restaurants, tea stalls, any help anywhere. You are virtually on your own.

You would of course see adventure cyclists along the way.

You would see another thing in the pictures, which is that gradually the verdure becomes non-existent and then you see bare rocky dusty hills. Giving up? Don’t. Remember what I told you: the most difficult roads lead to the most beautiful destinations. If you were taken in by the beauty of the hills at Kalpa, then you haven’t seen anything yet. There is more to come.

You would have seen a signboard about Shooting Stones. Well, these signs are a plenty along the way. They ask you to exercise caution and I, for one, couldn’t really understand what is involved in exercising caution. After we left Kalpa and before Pangi, when you have these stones falling around you, ‘exercising caution’ is translated into prayers like these: “God, please I beg you, make sure none fall on my vehicle.”

Afterwards, you get as immune to these as people who live near Niagara Falls get used to the earth-shattering sound of the Falls.

And now I must tell you about the mistake that I made just 135 Kms short of our destination: Kaza. Near Spello, since the road became slightly better and since we were getting late reaching Pooh, I started enjoying more than usual by looking around. This is a mistake that you should never make because without any warning, suddenly, the road can become from good to very bad. With a thud we went over a rock and before I could slowly apply brakes on the gravel so as not to skid. The bottom of Alto scraped against the rock.

My reactions were pretty fast. I stopped the vehicle, inspected it and found nothing amiss. We reached the army camp at Pooh safely.

Next day was a rest day (the rest day that we didn’t take at Kalpa). It is only in the afternoon the next day that I saw a small oil patch under the vehicle: the gear box was leaking.

Emergency repairs to the gear-box shell were called for. Fortunately at the army station there, they could attend to it (for the civilians there are no mechanics, workshops etc anywhere close by). Therefore, in addition to 23rd June spent there, we had to spend 24th too at Pooh whilst the repairs were going on:

Ladies and gentlemen, we are, therefore, going to take two days break at Pooh and I shall take you further 135 Kms to Kaza on 25th.

Stay tuned. The most exciting parts of the journey are yet to come.

We began our journey from Kandaghat to Kaza, yesterday, 20th June 2017. You have to access: ‘Himachal The Beautiful State Part VI – Kandaghat To Kaza – First Part Of The Journey Up To Rampur‘ to see the complete route plan and some do’s and don’ts.

Now if you have seen the map and the route planning, you would notice that Sangla and Chirkut are not there on the route to Kaza. I recommend this one day detour for seeing the Sangla Valley described by an American tourist as one of the four most beautiful valleys in the world. Also, if you are bold enough to proceed further to Chirkut village, you would have come to the last Indian village next to China.

Naturally, you are interested. Very good, here we go.

Yesterday, I also told you that this would be the most treacherous part of the journey; not only that the roads are bad (Remember the good old saying: ‘the most difficult roads lead to the most beautiful destinations’) but one small mistake and this would be the last journey for us.

If you zoom on the map, you would notice that the NH5 from Rampur goes through Jhakri, Ganvi, Sungra, Wangtu and Tapri before taking a diversion to the right for Sangla and Chirkut.

In the above pics, you would have noticed two things: One, that at a place called Nigulsari we entered the district of Kinnaur that will be with us all the way to Kaza. Nigulsari is just 40 Kms from Rampur Bushahr. Second, that the NH5 although retains the same thickness on the map, gradually becomes smaller and smaller in width. Henceforth, as the scenery around becomes more and more beautiful, the roads become worse:

Indeed, this is one thing that one has to remember all the way to Kaza: even when the roads are alright, these can suddenly become poor. One has to be on one’s guard all the while. The plus point is that there is not much of traffic and whatever is there is well-behaved.

At Karcham, then, we took the detour towards Sangla, the first milestone that we came across was the Karcham-Wangtoo BASPA II Project. In this area, one comes across a number of such projects and number of tunnels.

What one doesn’t come across, for miles altogether are any eateries and tea stalls. Here we had tea with Bengali labourers working at the project:

From the Karcham-Wangtoo 300 MW dam, we came up to the main Karcham (1000 MW dam), a beautiful site:

Karcham to Sangla is amongst the world’s most dangerous roads, a distance of about 19.5 Kms. Often, your heart will be there in your mouth and the margin for error is just a few feet that look like inches. It is also a sheer climb since from about 1800 m of Karcham-Wangtoo dam you have to get to about 3000 m plus of Sangla and finally to 3450 m of Chitkul village (another 19 Kms), the last Indian village before the Chinese border.

In our case, as you can make out the road visibility was reduced due to drizzle. Fortunately, the same God who sends the drizzle, gives you strength and at the end of it, you are met with wonderful sights, some of the best in the world:

I have put down the experience of watching the beautiful Sangla Valley in the form of this video, which I am sure you would immensely enjoy:

By the way, ladies and gentlemen, I was the one who was driving and I had taken all the pics. My wife had preferred to keep her eyes closed at some of the dangerous spots. I took a few videos but not whilst driving. Just to give you a feel of the drive, here is one from You Tube:

Our first destination was Banhara Camps being run by a retired army officer Captain Ajay Sood. Not just amongst picturesque surroundings, Ajay and his team has done well to provide facilities for both types of people: those seeking adventure and those who want luxury everywhere they go. We had lunch at his restaurant:

The road from Sangla to Chirkut is really very bad; it has gravel, rivulets on the road, everything. We did it in a Maruti Alto. However, at places you would actually require a 4 X 4 gear. Here are some of the pics. Once again, as the road becomes worse, you are greeted with amazing sights. The river Sutlej, at this place is totally white because of its velocity and going over rocks:

And finally, we reached Chitkul, the last Indian inhabited village near the Indo-China border. Even in the month of June, it was chilly and windy there.

Here is a video of seeing Chitkul for the first time:

The place has narrow cobbled streets, slate roof and tin roof houses, and a few Buddhist temples including the famous Kagyupa temple. There is only one Hindu temple there and the deity is supposed to be a sister of the deity at Gangotri. Look at our luck: a procession of the deity is held there annually and when we reached there the procession started:

Here is a video of Mata Ka Procession that we were lucky enough to see:

It was a packed day. Fortunately, except for a slight drizzle, the weather gods were kind to us and we could see everything that we wanted to.

The return trip to Karcham was as scary, if not more, as the trip up to Chitkul. We stayed at an army camp at Powari, a little short of Kalpa. As far as civilians are concerned, there are adequate hotels in Kalpa and Reckong Peo.

By the way, on the way back I managed to take pictures of the most dangerous spots on the way of whose You Tube video I put up earlier. Here these are:

I can assure you, these afford you a sheer fall of 1000 metres or so.

Thank you for staying with me all throughout this really well-packed day. Tomorrow, we shall take it easy when I take you with us to Kalpa and Raeckong Peo, places with such breathtaking views that you would ask for videos and I shall give you those.

Good night. Grab some sleep before we have another day of sheer adventure.

Lets begin with a few questions. The first is: Why Kandaghat? 

The answer is very simple: it is my home place (Please read: ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is – Kandaghat In Shimla Hills’ and ‘Himachal The Beautiful State Part V – Kandaghat’s Surroundings’). If you are headed towards Kaza from the Manali route, you won’t come across Kandaghat (you can access the route map here: https://goo.gl/maps/8kWwcEtZ5p52):

However, the route from Manali to Kaza is often closed due to snow, whereas the Kandaghat to Kaza route is open during most parts of the year. I had one more reason, which is that I had been from the Manali route up to Rohtang Pass in the year 2016 and hence it was for me not so attractive as going via Rampur, Sangla, Nako and Tabo as given on the Google map above.

The second question is: Why Kaza? Once again, the answer is simple: Kaza, situated at an altitude of about 12000 feet and the route leading up to it are some of the most beautiful places that I have come across; and, I am a retired navy officer who had the privilege of seeing many picturesque places in India and abroad.

The third question is: Why am I writing about it now? Everything about me is simple: the reason is that last year, less than a month and a half of my actually visiting these places, I lost my mother and couldn’t complete my travelogue. Today, happens to be exactly one year after the journey and hence you can take this journey with me as if it is the year 2017.

And the fourth question is: What about the route planning? Well, if you are undertaking this journey with me, you can possibly follow the same planning:

1. Day #1 (20th June 2017): Kandaghat to Rampur (157 kms). Night halt at Rampur.
2. Day #2 (21st June) Rampur to Sangla, Chirkoot (120 Kms), and then to Kalpa (Kinnaur) (63 Kms). Night halt at Powari and spend one day at Reckong Peo (Day #3, 22nd June)
3. Day #4 (23rd June) Powari to Pooh (77 Kms). Night halt at Pooh.
4. Day #5 (24th June) Pooh to Kaza via Nako and Tabo (136 Kms). Night halt at Kaza and spend one day at Kaza (Day #6, 25th June).
5. Day #6 (26th June) Kaza to Pooh (136 Kms). Night halt at Pooh.
6. Day #7 (27th June) Pooh to Powari (77 Kms). Night halt at Powari (Kalpa)
7. Day #8 (28th June) Powari to Rampur (87 Kms). Night halt at Rampur and spend one day to visit the Rampur Dam (Day #9. 29th June).
8. Day #10 (30th June) Rampur to Kandaghat (157 Kms).

My planning went awry only once in that my car (Maruti Alto) developed defect. I had to spend a day extra at Pooh whilst emergency repairs to the car were attended to. However, I made up for it by not spending an extra day at Rampur on the return trip and made it back to Kandaghat on the 10th day.

Being from the armed forces, I stayed with the Army. However, as I go along I can suggest alternate places to stay.

And now for the last two questions: What kind of a vehicle would you require? And, what about communications? I thought of doing it by a Maruti Alto but I soon discovered that isn’t the right vehicle. You would require a vehicle with high floor clearance since the roads are bad and you have to be careful about your undercarriage accidentally touching the bumpy roads.

As far as communications are concerned, no mobile phones work beyond Pooh except BSNL ones. It may be, therefore, a good idea to have a BSNL phone for the journey. For additional support system, it may be a good idea to travel in a group of two to three vehicles. My wife and I were alone and fortunately nothing went wrong. However, in case we required help, we had no communications.

Alright, with this, ladies and gentlemen, lets begin our journey.

The first part of the journey is just 32 Kms from Kandaghat to Shimla and hence there is nothing much to write about. The state of the road is good. Indeed, the road is good all the way to Rampur.

It is a distance of 130 Kms passing through Kufri, Theog, Narkanda, and Kotgarh. We stopped near Kufri to have tea at a road-side stall and had our first view of Yaks. The road is at about the same level all the way from Kufri to Narkanda; Kufri is at about 2630 metres and Narkada at 2760 m. Yaks and tea stalls are to be seen up to Theog, a distance of about 15 Kms and tourists enjoy taking pictures with them as also in pahadi dresses. There was light drizzle, slight fog and freshness in the air. If you have seen my planning, you would have noticed adequate time given by me along the way for stopping and taking pictures. My wife and I are in our sixties now and we love our journeys as much as we love to reach destinations.

From Theog, you pass through Parhain, Kadog, Matiana, and Shillaru on NH5. The valley is on the right hand side. Because of the slight drizzle, the visibility was excellent and we could see far distances. Large nylon nets are used to protect the fruit from hail and birds. Have a look at some of the pictures along the way:

My father was the Joint Director of Horticulture in Himachal and on the day he was killed in a jeep accident just 9 kms from home in Kandaghat, he was being promoted to be Additional Director of Horticulture. He used to visit all the orchard farmers everywhere and would have done this route all the way to Kinnaur and Kaza a number of times. many of the orchadists would make their own wines and ciders. Nearly fifty percent of all fruit cultivation in Himachal is apples and the yield is about 8 Lakh tonnes, making it 85 percent of all fruit yield and second only to Jammu and Kashmir.

Himachal is also known as Dev Bhoomi (Land of gods) and one can see temples everywhere, even whilst driving. Many a times, these announce approaching town:

From Narkanda to Rampur Bushehr it is downhill since the latter is only about 1000 m or so. Because of this, at places, the road is slightly bad; during rains the rainwater would take with us mud, gravel and even heavy stones and these would be on the road at places.

There are thick cedar forests with no forests until one starts seeing apple orchards at distant hills:

On the way back, we stopped at some of these places to buy fruits and could get both stone fruits (Plums, Apricots and Peaches) but also early variety of apples. Some of the views from there are breathtaking especially as you start seeing the Sutlej river good 30 Kms before reaching Rampur:

As we came down to the river level, the views of the Sutlej, as given in the pictures above, were very alluring. For those of you who’d like to see this in video as we gradually came down, here it is:

After having left Kandaghat at about 7 AM and stopping everywhere to see and click pics, we still reached Rampur Bushehr by lunch time.

We stopped at a wayside restaurant to have lunch before entering Rampur so that we won’t have parking problems in the city.

Rampur Bushahr is famous for the annual mela that is held here. Bushahr was exploited by the British when they ruled India due to its geographical advantages: Spiti in the North, Tibet in the East, Garhwal in the South and apple orchard towns to the West. It is just 10 Kms short of Jhakri, the site of Naptha – Jhakri hydroelectric project, the biggest in India.

On our return passage we visited the dam and the underground power station and we were impressed by its scale and efficiency. We were not permitted to take pictures of the power station but we could take pictures outside, especially from a view-point provided along the highway. Here are some of them:

Of course, the water of the river that you see here is not the one used for running the turbines. For that the water is tapped many many kilometers up and supplied through tunnels. After running the turbines, the water is released back into the river.

Before we finish the first part of the journey from Kandaghat to Kaza, lets take up some of the pictures of the town including a pic of the temple next to the town-hall:

If you are with me so far, tomorrow, 21st June, we would undertake the most treacherous journey along the way, that to Karcham, Sangla valley and Chitkul. It is treacherous because of the roads and sheer fall to death in case you make a small mistake.

Whilst the road from Kandaghat to Rmapur and Jhakri is a broad two lane road, now onwards we shall go on roads that don’t look like roads at all and obliterate any distinction between roads and nallahs.

Word of caution, though; I saw maximum accidents along the road leading from Kandaghat to Rampur than beyond. That’s because good roads promote reckless driving. With that sobering thought, stay tuned for tomorrow’s journey:

The last time I wrote about Kandaghat, my home place, was on 31 Mar 2012 (Please read: ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is – Kandaghat In Shimla Hills‘). As far as I am concerned, it is the most beautiful place on earth. In the month of June, my wife and I visited Rampur, Jhakri and Sarahan (all in Rampur Bushair district); Sangla Valley, Banjara Camps, Chitkul, Karcham, Powari, Reckong Peo, Kalpa, Pooh, and Nako (all in Kinnaur); Sumdo, Gue, Tabo, Dhanker and Kaza (all in Lahaul Spiti). These are really very beautiful places (write-ups about them coming up shortly). When we returned to our house in Kandaghat, it was drizzling and we found that our village Ded in Kandaghat (Kandaghat Tehsil has 269 villages as per the 2011 Census) looked equally beautiful.

Last week, my wife and I climbed the hill on the North-West of our house and were able to discover the most beautiful Kandaghat that we had never seen before. The occasion was the first birthday of the son of our Up Pradhan (Deputy Head) (our village in Ded (it is exactly One and half kilometres from Kandaghat and hence the name) is in Mahi Panchayat) of Mahi. We could climb up to Mahi by car, a distance of about 5 Kms from our place.

We looked around because the weather was heavenly, with low clouds and fog, moisture and freshness and because of these the already beautiful scenery was covered with alluring enchantment. We looked down because we could see our house – Whispering Winds – from there:

And we looked up because we had a fair bit of climb to do to reach Laik Ram’s village Kudhar:

We passed through some of the prettiest sights, made even more fascinating because of the mist and slight drizzle. Have a look at what and who we saw on the way:

In the third picture on top, you must have seen a man carrying a gunny-bag and a large basket of vegetables down on his back. Well, just 1000 to 1500 feet from our house Whispering Winds on the National Highway 22 (with easy access to amenities), everything from those villages has to be carried either manually or on mule-back. And then, two questions would arise: One, why would anyone want to live there when it is so inaccessible? And two: How is life there? I shall answer both these as I go along.

First, the air is clean and pure. Second the land is fertile and third the schools, primary health centres and community centres are within easy reach.

As we neared the village Kudhar, we could hear enchanting sounds of community singing. In the hills people join in to celebrate all events and festivals together without worrying about whose party is it in the first place. For example, I have seen the same people in the local gurudwara that I would have seen in the mandir.

Here is the one year old boy whose birthday we had climbed the hill to attend, with his proud and still so simple parents:

We took time out from the celebrations to look around and discovered a different Kandaghat than we had ever seen. The villagers had built a temple on a cliff with steep and – due to the rain – slippery steps leading up to it. One slip and one can go down a thousand feet. One could see the hills of Shimla, Chail, the Air Force Navy Housing Board Colony (with red-roofed houses), HUDCO (Himachal Urban Development Corporation) Colony (with green roofed houses), the road leading from Kandaghat to Shimla, Mahendra Resorts, Bahara and Jaypee Universities.

Getting back from the temple was a sigh of relief that with the grace of God we could return in one piece. Laik Ram had invited over a thousand people and they all had bhoj (lunch) there.

The best part of seeing these beautiful places and meeting such beautiful people was that the return trip offered as much picturesque sights as the trip up there.

Before I end this photo essay, I hope you have been able to observe the following, amongst other things:

1. Whilst on the main highway people have littered extensively by chucking things from the buses, cars etc, these villages are clean. Even when there was a party in progress of more than a thousand people you couldn’t see heaps of garbage everywhere.
2. There is easy availability of electricity, water, solar lights, clean air etc.
3. The views all round are just beautiful.
4. Himachal is beautiful not just in those places that are declared as tourist destinations but everywhere, especially in the villages.
5. You could see my place Whispering Winds from various angles.
6. You could see the National Highway as well as the UN Heritage Train Track.
7. I have whetted your appetite for seeing more of this beautiful state.

My Fantasy Place

It is within three hours of drive from my place in Kandaghat (Please read: ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is – Kandaghat In Shimla Hills’) and yet, I hadn’t been there except with my parents when I was small.

It is my fantasy place. My fantasy is all about a boat in a lake on a moonlit night with a partner. So what if this time the boat happened to be not a rowing boat but a paddle-boat with a dragon face and so what if the moon was out in the forenoon itself? It was still my fantasy place.

The Journey to and from Renuka

My wife and I were on return passage to Kandaghat from Haridwar. We spent the night at the Special Forces Training School Mess at Nahan and started from there after breakfast. The distance of 38 Kms from Nahan was spent looking at the beautiful scenery:

On the way back from Renuka to Kandaghat via Kumhar Hatti, we realised that even if we had gone straight from Kandaghat, we would have been blessed with equally beautiful sights:

Largest Natural Lake in Himachal

Renuka Lake is the largest natural lake in Himachal (the Gobind Sagar Lake in Bilaspur being the largest man-made reservoir in Himachal). We took a Golf Kart to go on the track around the lake and the driver told us that it is about 3.5 Kms (the actual circumference of the lake being 3.214 Kms). Many people feel that the Khajiar Lake near Dalhousie is most serene and isolated. Well, you have to be at Renuka to experience the quiet. You can hear the birds, the fish (the lake is house to large Mahseer fish), and even the dry leaves fall from the trees. You can whisper to your inner self; it is so quiet.

Religious Significance

Renuka Lake is not just a tourist spot of outstanding and enchanting beauty, it is a place of great religious significance. The lake is named after the goddess Renuka or Renu who is the avatar of goddess Parvati or Shakti, the wife of Lord Shiva. Indeed when we went boating, we had to do so bare feet as the lake is considered the abode of Renuka ji (the name literally meaning Mother of the Universe).

The temple of Lord Parshuram stands on the bank of the lake. Lord Parshuram was the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Bhagwati Renuka Ji, Lord Parshuram’s mother and her husband Maharishi Jamdagni performed deep meditation (known in Hindi as Tapa or तप, from the Hindi word Tapsaya और तपस्या) at a place appropriately called Tape Ka Tibba (Meditation Hillock). Lord Vishnu was pleased with their meditation and took birth as their son. He was named Ram by his parents but came to be known as Parshuram because he in turn pleased Lord Shiva with his meditation (Tapa) and received the divine weapon Parshu from him.

On the opposite side of the temple, across the lake is the holy spot where there is an icon of Renuka ji:

Renuka ji resides permanently in the lake after she took Jal Samadhi (meditative absorption in water) after King Sahastrabahu killed Maharishi Jamdagni for the latter’s refusal to hand over the Kamdhenu cow as the Maharishi explained that it was the property of Lord Indra given to him in trust. Renuka ji promised her son Lord Parshuram that every year on the occasion of Devprabodhini Ekadashi she would emerge from the lake to meet him. A five day international festival is held in Renuka on this occasion every year. This is immediately after Diwali and my wife and I missed it by a few days. A visit to the temple of Lord Parshuram is a must. You would be served with free Langar (community kitchen) whilst you are there:

Tourist Interest

There is a HPTDC hotel and restaurant at the entrance itself. Both the rooms and food are available at reasonable prices (Rooms ranging from Rupees 2500 to 3500 per day and night).

To go around the lake, one can hire boats and these are reasonably priced too (A four seater paddle boat costs Rs.250 and six seater Rs.350). There is a Security or Guard Boat on duty to help in case of distress.

Boating in the lake is an unforgettable experience. My wife and I did it starting 11 AM to noon on 22 Nov. The sky was totally blue, the sun shone pleasantly and as its rays shimmered on the surface of the lake, these were reflected into the branches of the trees around. Whilst boating, if you keep hearing the words: “this is heaven on earth“, chances are that you yourself are saying them as a litany as you go from one enchanting sight to another:

One can go on the 3.5 Kms track around the lake in the HPTDC provided Golf-Kart. They charge Rs. 50 per head. My wife and I took the trip by ourselves. There are pens of a mini-zoo all along this track:

Parshuram Sarovar and Renuka Temple

Both are right next to the lake. Indeed, the way to the lake is through the Sarovar on the bank of which is the temple and a Forest Rest House:

Memories Forever

Renuka Lake is definitely the place to spend a day and night and make precious memories that will last you a lifetime. In the end, here are some that we made:

Sunbyanyname brings you personalised experiences of travel. Please await my next destination.

When my wife and I planned to visit Kulu-Manali, a friend who runs a travel agency in Shimla recommended that we should spend at least two days at Raju Bharti Guest House. I put it away in my mind at that time. Later, when I checked about the Guest House on the net I came across dozens of excellent reviews and pictures about it; most of them calling it amongst the best guest-houses in the world. My curiosity was aroused. Even though we had requested my friend months before to do the reservations, just a few days before our visit, he dropped the bombshell that no accommodation was available. I spoke to Varun Bharti, the owner’s son, on the phone and obtained accommodation.

Now that we have had one of the most pleasant experiences of our lives, I have decided to pen down a detailed review of the place so as to help others too.

How to Book?

You can get in touch with Raju ji or Varun or Karan or Vicky on the following phone numbers:

How much will it cost?

It will cost you between Rupees 1500 to 1700 per day per person that includes all your meals, tea, coffee, juices etc. Please remember it is a guest house and there is no a la carte menu. Drinks of all varieties are however available on cost. We were there for two days and we can assure you that they give you more to eat and drink than you can take in. And the dining room is really your home there in addition to the cabins:

How to Reach

Even if you go to Kulu by air (Bhuntar Airport), you have to reach the Guest House by road. We traveled by car all the way from Kandaghat. To our pleasant surprise we found that it is very well-marked on Google Maps and Earth. From Mandi, it is a distance of 82 Kms. The Google recommended time is 2 hrs and 25 mins but you are likely to take more as you will be stopping every now and then to take pictures (the valley is that beautiful). You travel along the highway (NH3) from Mandi towards Kulu. Just before entering the Aut tunnel (53.6 Kms from Masndi) that would cut across the hill to Kulu, you continue straight to NH 305 and follow directions to Banjar (fairly easy; from the Aut tunnel you have to go only 28 kms to the Guest House, and Banjar is 19 kms away). At Banjar, after you cross the bridge over Tirthan River, you should be on the look-out for sharp left turn towards the hill (chances are that you cannot negotiate this in one go; perhaps it would be better to go further (10 to 20 metres), take a U-turn and then go towards Gushaini (10 kms away and the Guest House is 1 Km short of Gushaini). For most of the passage from Banjar, you have the Tirthan River to the left. When you cross the river and it comes to your right, you should be on the lookout for the Guest House. It is opposite the milestone on Banjar-Gushaini road that says Gushaini 1 Km.

Your first view of the parking place for your vehicle, the ropeway to cross the river and the Guest House would be like these. You can see the Gushaini 1 Km clearly in the first pic:

Who Should and Shouldn’t Go There?

If you are one of those who are accustomed to ticking off places of tourist interest (monuments, temples, museums et al) that you have seen, this place is not for you. This place is meant for those who want to put their hair down for two or three days and just let the beauty of the Tirthan Valley soak into their skin. Please remember that there is no staff in the Guest House. Raju Bharti the owner, his wife Lata, sons Varun and Karan and their cousin Vicky would personally look after you including helping you with your baggage, serving you in your rooms and dining rooms etc. Raju runs an 80 Bigha apple and other fruits orchard. The labour helps in the upkeep of the Guest House.

Raju Bharti, the man with the dark grey cap in pics below is the owner of a huge apple orchard and by all standards, a very rich-man. However, it appears that he and his family take the tenet Atithi Devo Bhava (Guest is Like God) very seriously. Hence, they don’t mind subjecting you to their personal hospitality, making you feel totally at home and even helping you with your baggage. In personal conversation with me, Raju ji told me that the idea occurred to him in the year 1999 and in the last 17 years they have had guests from all corners of the world.

What Can You Expect in the Guest House?

Raju ji and family have maintained this as an eco-friendly guest house. From the top building of the guest house (suitable for large families and groups) the next morning, we could see the labourers clearing the waste in an incinerator. All cabins and most of the fittings are wooden and it would come as a pleasant surprise to you that everything works: the faucets, the WC, the hot water geyser, and the lights. The cabins are very tastefully done and in the lower guest house (we preferred to stay there even though the view from the upper guest house is breathtaking), since it is right next to the gurgling Tirthan river, you get the vibrations all the while.

Dogs and cats keep you company. You can’t forget the names of the dogs: Bhalu, Bulbul, Yeti, Ghoju and Spiky and they follow you wherever you go in the orchard. We went at the time when the apples had been harvested. However, there were still some apples left (for birds to eat), persimmons, pomegranates and walnuts.

What can you do there?

First of all being there is a great thing; I mean to say how many of us have joyous river flowing next to your bedroom and being in the  midst of a thriving apple orchard? As you can see in the above pics, going for walks in the vast premises, sitting in the gazebos, or around the fire at nights, and going to the river and fishing (we had trout fish for dinner that Vicky and Karan caught from the river) are great pastimes there. And then in case you are interested, you can go for a trek to the Great Himalayan Park or just laze around in Gushaini with a hanging wooden bridge that shakes when you move over it.

Raju ji and family have provided you with a sitting room too and everywhere there are periodicals and books and a few indoor games to play too. You can even spend time in reading all the messages left by the previous guests. I left one of my own too:

What is your take-away?

Two days spent here add two years to your life. In those parts, hills are not apologetically standing there but do so majestically. The river Tirthan flows blithely and refreshingly. The verdure of the orchard, the freshness of the clean air, the birds, the dogs and cats and above all the hospitality of Raju Bharti and family provide life long memories.

This was our first stop in Kulu-Manali hills. All throughout we also noticed the efforts made by the authorities in keeping the places clean, eco-friendly and litter-free.

Stay tuned for more travelogues.

This is the place wherein I spent seven years of my childhood and early boyhood. I studied in the then Vijay High School Mandi from 2nd to 8th standards, from the years 1959 to 1966. During our recent trip to that side of Himachal, my wife and I just skirted Mandi on our way to Manali from my present hometown in Kandaghat, Shimla Hills. My first reaction was that it has now grown into a crowded (concrete jungle), dusty and warm place (in early September, that is; Mandi is a little less than 3500 ft in altitude), unlike a hill station:

But, on our way back, we stopped at Mandi and re-discovered its native charm.

First of all, since it is indeed nostalgic for me, I start with a visit to my school: Vijay High School, named after the 16th rajah of Mandi: Bijai or Vijay Sen. If you think that his surname sounds Bengali, you are indeed right! Mandi as a princely state was founded by Bahu Sen, a descendant of the Sen dynasty of Rajputs from Bengal. Initially, his title was that of a Chief (Rana). However, his descendants became the rajahs of Mandi, which came up as a city only in 1526 in the reign of Ajbar Sen.

When we asked for directions to Vijay High School, the locals just blinked their eyes. Later, during my calling on the principal, I came to know that when the school became a senior secondary school, the name Vijay was dropped. However, the name board behind the principal’s (Sh. Paras Singh Saini) seat in his office still had the name Vijay on it.

The present office building of the school houses the science laboratory and I compared it with the slate-roofed building in which I sat as a student of the 6th class, on a mat on the floor:

The erstwhile new L block, next to the assembly ground is still there. This is where I did my 7th and 8th standards from:

But, more than anything, I was interested in the old school building which was to be declared a UN heritage building. The principal saddened me by informing that it had not yet been accepted as a UN heritage building since there was some controversy about the year of its construction. I could see massive renovation work in progress to restore it to its old glory:

The block behind the old building also used to have slate roof and this is where I studied in my primary classes:

I also located the erstwhile main gate of the school (now kept closed):

The first view of the school, as one descended the steps from the school gate used to be this:

One’s school is important to oneself only and hence you must have been eagerly waiting for me to take you around the rest of Mandi. Alright, here we go:

First of all, Mandi is not a big town. In the 2011 census, Mandi’s population was only about 26000, which is less than one-tenth of the population of Kharghar in Navi Mumbai wherein I reside half the year. Mandi is called the Kashi or Benares of Himachal because of innumerable temples there. I take you first to the Tarna temple atop the hill adjoining the Vijay High School. The hill itself is called Tarna Hill and the temple was built by Rajah Shyam Sen in honour of goddess Kali.

When I was small, we could see most of Mandi from here including the Paddal Ground. We asked a street-sweeper next to the temple and he shrugged his shoulders. I walked in the general direction that I remembered of more than 50 years ago and there it was hidden by the houses having been constructed around it. Paddal ground is next to Mandi university. The view of the Beas from the place from where I could see this ground is also awesome. Here are a few pictures:

Bhootnath Temple (a temple devoted to Lord Shiva) was in the route of my walking to school from my home in Jawahar Colony (A colony of the Horticulture and Agriculture department (my dad served in the former) to my school. Mandi owes its existence as a city to Raja Ajber Sen and the way he founded it, it was built with the temple (1527 AD) being the centre of the city:

How important this temple is to the city of Mandi can be made out from this: Raj Madhav Rao, the ruling deity of Mandi, used to offer prayers here before commencing the festival of Maha Shivratri. However, during my childhood no paint was used over the stone structure of the temple:

Maha Shivratri is the most important festival in Mandi and silver and gold idols of the deities from neighbouring temples (81 of them) are brought to the centre place of Mandi (near the Ghanta Ghar (Watch Tower). During this year, it was held from 7th to 14th of March. It has assumed widespread recognition nowadays and is called International Maha Shivratri festival of Mandi:

However, Himachal as I have already told you, is an abode of gods (Dev Bhoomi) and some festival or the other is always in progress. During our visit on 13th Sep, therefore, we could see one or two of the idols on the roads. In the olden days when I resided in Mandi as a child and boy they used to walk all the way. However, now they walk only the remaining one or two kilometers.

Because of the ever increasing importance of International Maha Shivratri, the Madhav Rai (a name for Lord Krishna holding the flute) is the most famous temple of Mandi now. I told you about Mandi city having been founded by Raja Ajbar Sen. His successor, Raja Suraj Sen built the temple in the 17th century.
BMadhav Rai temple is one of the famous and religious temples of the Mandi district. This temple was built by the Raja Suraj Sen in the 17th century as one of the several temples of Lord Vishnu. He became the ruler of the Mandi after the Raja Ajbar Sen who is the one of the greatest ruler of the Mandi district. This Madhav Rai temple is of Lord Vishnu, in this temple there is an idol of the Lord Vishnu is placed. During his time period he had made so many temples and all of them are of the Lord Vishnu. This was to offset the focus on only Lord Shiva (the Bhootnath Temple) by his predecessor.

We went to the Victoria Bridge, a suspension bridge built during the reign of Raja Bijai or Vijay Sen who also built my school and hospital etc. From there we could see the Madhav Rai temple, next to River Beas.

Victoria Suspension Bridge over Beas was the next focus of our attention. This bridge was made during the reign of Raja Vijay in 1877 and I have many nostalgic memories of this bridge. This was the bridge I crossed twice a day from Jawahar Colony to my school via the Bhootnath temple during my schooling from 2nd to 8th standards. We noticed now that the bridge has steel sheets and sides. During my childhood, these were all wooden planks and I used to walk on the side planks. Whenever a vehicle would cross over the bridge, the entire structure used to shake and I used to hold on to the sides for dear life. I remember during the 1965 war when a military convoy passed over the bridge my raincoat flew out and I nearly followed the raincoat into the river. The river used to be full of pine and cedar wood logs being transported through the river. Divers with inflated leather bags would swim along the banks guiding the logs to midstream. All these memories came back to me as negotiated the bridge and took pictures:

The next thing (the most nostalgic, of course) for me to do was to find our ealier house in the Jawahar Colony. First, some pictures of my childhood/boyhood days in that house:

And this is how we found the house now:

Finding our old house after fifty years did bring a lump in my throat. From here, we used to walk to the Gurudwara on the other end of the city on Sundays (on Manali Road). The Gurudwara is named after Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs who came to these parts (Also read: ‘Himachal The Beautiful State, Part I – Rewalsar’) gathering support in war against the Mughal King Aurangzeb. The Gurudwara is also called Gurudwara Palang Sahib since it adorns the original palang (cot) on which the Guru Sahib used to sleep:

If you have read ‘Himachal The Beautiful State, Part I – Rewalsar’, you would have read a mention of Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) having been burnt alive by the raja of Mandi for teaching tantric vidya to the princess Mandarava. If you recall I had told you that his pyre burnt for a week until he appeared in the midst of lake (Tso Pema) as a young lad sitting on a lotus. The raja of Mandi then repented his deeds and married Mandarava to Pdmasambhava. Mata Kuan Rani temple in Mandi has the idol of the deity Mandarava:

The last place that we visited in Mandi is equally nostalgic for me: the Ghanta Ghar (Watch Tower), the centre-place of the city of Mandi that is equi-distant (within walking distance) from both, my erstwhile school Vijay High School and the Bhootnath temple. It is here that I used to go during the lunch-break from the school with my tiffin. On the stage here I acted in a school-play during the Maha Shivratri festival. Overlooking this is the Rajah’s palace. During my childhood days, all the deities from the temples used to gather here for the Shivratri. Nowadays because of larger crowds, these gather at the Paddal Ground. We also saw that the stage has now got a thriving farm-produce market and we ourselves bought some walnuts from there. Enjoy the pics:

As we bid good-bye to the historic city of Mandi, the name that derived from the market-place that you saw in the heart of the city and also because of the sage Mandav who prayed in this area, I had re-lived, even for half a day, my childhood and early boyhood spent there. Mandi, to me, shall always remain a city next to the beautifully flowing Beas river and the temples and Gurudwara situated right next to it.

Please await my next travelogue about my state, the most beautiful state of Himachal.

In my earlier article: ‘Himachal The Beautiful State, Part I – Rewalsar’, I had brought out the journey to this beautiful lake town, 24 kms from Mandi. I had also brought out that Rewalsar is a confluence of three religions: the Hindu, the Sikh and the Buddhist.

I had covered the Guru Gobind Singh Gurudwara of the Sikhs and the three main temples of the Hindus: the temple of the Lomush sage, the Shiv temple and the Krishna temple.

I had then just embarked on the Buddhist shrines when I ended the article to be covered in this part.

The local name for Rewalsar (called Tso Pema by the Tibetans) is Trisangam (confluence of three). Right now, the most prominent and most impressive structures are the ones put up by the Tibetans. We went to three of them.

The first one is the shrine and the statue of Padmasambhava on the hill opposite to the Gurudwara Hill. Here is a picture of these taken by me from the Gurudwara:

And then a closer picture from the lake. Unfortunately the sun was against me even though I tried various angles.

Why is this place so important to the Tibetans that they would go about erecting an 123 feet high statue of Padmasambhava at this sight that was inaugurated by the Dalai Lama on 01 Apr 2012 and also go about making an impressive and ornate shrine for him? Padmasambhava was an Indian ‘Tantric’ who left from here for Tibet to spread Buddhism. He was and is known as Rinpoche (the Precious one). It is, thanks to him, that Buddhism spread to Tibet.

There is a local belief that the islands of reed found in the lake are the ones in which his soul resides. This belief has its origin in the legend that the king of Mandi had Padmasambhava burnt alive after rumours that he had tried ‘Tantras’ with his daughter. Padmasambhava or Guru Rinpoche’s pyre burnt for a full week with billows of smoke. After this period, a lake (Tso Pema) appeared at the spot and the Guru appeared as a young boy, sitting on a lotus in the middle of the lake. The king, in repentance, married his daughter to the Guru.

After climbing the small hill, one has to undertake these steps (62 of them) to reach the first stage of the shrine:

As you reach the top, on the right side of the shrine, somewhere near the steps is the commemoration stone of the shrine.

Rinpoche is the recognised avatar of Buddha. One of the locals from whom I asked for the way to the shrine told me that the local population has gone crazy by going to the court and getting a stay-order for opening anything but the ground floor to the public since permission was taken for a shrine of Buddha but the shrine is a tribute to Padmasambava!

The first thing that you notice about the shrine is how immaculate it is. The second is the imposing statue of Padmasambhava and the third is the beautiful entrance:

As we entered the shrine, we observed the chanting by the monks to the beat of a drum and the maginificent statues of Buddha, and the beautiful paintings on the walls and the ceiling.

We left the shrine saddened that we could not proceed to the first and second floors because of the court-order. Before we go any further, here is what you can expect in Rewalsar as far as Buddhist shrines are concerned:

Next we went to the Zigar Drupka Kargyud Institute, within walking distance (five minutes walk). We couldn’t go around the entire institute but we could see the shrine and once again took in the exquisite and splendid beauty of the shrine:

By now, you must be wondering if anything can be as beautiful as the interior of this shrine or monastery. Well, you haven’t seen enough yet.

We went back to the Gurudwara hill (by our car) to have a look at this most beautiful monastery of the three in Rewalsar. Here is our first look as soon as we stopped the car:

Here is how the Gurudwara appears from there:

By the way, I made a number of videos about our visit to Rewalsar and I shall put them on You Tube under the same name: Sunbyanyname. Our first visit in the monastery was to the wax-lamps room and there is only a video about it which I shall put on later. Have a look at the imposing entrance and pay attention to the most enchanting mudras of dancing-girls at the bottom of the shrine walls:

In one of the pics above you would have seen a small Gompa on one end of the monastery. Here is a large prayer wheel on the other end:

Now that we have seen the exterior, lets see the interior on the ground floor:

Here are the stairs we climbed to go to the first floor:

And here is what we say (You must remember that most of what we saw is available on the videos and would be put up on the You Tube. This is only an introduction):

The spiral stairs leading to the second floor are simply awesome and a bit scary too:

You are breathless when you reach the top and not only because of all the physical work you put in to reach there:

As you come down, you can’t keep your eyes off the beautiful exterior of the shrine (in addition to the most beautiful interior) and you  have one last look at the giant prayer wheel:

As you leave with all that beauty in your eyes, heart, mind and of course the camera, you wonder if you can get a cup of hot tea or coffee and you discover that they have provided that too free of cost:

As we drove away from Rewalsar, there were many thoughts in our mind; the foremost being of course that Himachal is a beautiful state indeed. The second was about the beauty of the Buddhist shrines in this part (in the first part I described the Sikh and Hindu shrines). And the third, naturally was that Emperor Ashoka (a Maurya king) and his successors did a lot about the spread of Buddhism in India and abroad and it prospered in India for twelve centuries before Mahmud of Ghazni and his successors arrived in Indian sub-continent and used violence to do away with this religion from most parts of the sub-continent. Padmasambhava took the religion to Tibet and from there it returned to India and it is alive in Rewalsar. On the birth anniversary of Padmasambhava in 2004, for example, the Tsechu fair was held and attended by 50, 000 Buddhists from all over the world.

I am sure I must have convinced you to visit this extraordinarily beautiful town of Rewalsar just 24 kms from Mandi.

Please await my next edition of beautiful Himachal.

I stay in Kandaghat, Shimla Hills, Himachal Pradesh (Please read: ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is – Kandaghat In Shimla Hills’). Earlier because of my job (I served as an officer in the Indian Navy and retired as a Commodore and then took up job as a Senior VP in RIL) I was able to spend only my leave holidays in Kandaghat. But, now that recently I am fully retired from all jobs, I have started rediscovering the state wherein I have lived all my life. It is possible that through my own visits, you may too discover/rediscover this state that introduces you to beauty that you may not have seen elsewhere. I was recently in Manali and met an erstwhile Austrian Martin (now Indian; he runs a watering hole and eatery by his name) who married a pahadi woman just so that he would continue enjoying the enchantment of Manali hills.

My wife’s and my visit took us this time from Kandaghat to our first halt at Raju Bharti Guest House in Gushaini (near Banjar in Manali Hills) next to Tirthan River and next to The Great Himalayan National Park, Manali Hills.

A write up about this guest house would follow later. Next we went to Manikaran to see the historical Sikh Gurudwara and Hindu Mandir co-located in the same complex there. Then we went to Manali via Out, Bhuntar, Nagger and stayed with the Army there in their Palchan Transit Camp. We visited Rohtang Pass, Solang Valley, Nagger Castle, Roerich Art Gallery, Museum, Memorial and House, the ancient Hidimba Temple, Vashisht Temples and Hot Springs. Thereafter we visited Mandi whereat I had spent seven years of my childhood from 1959 to 1966. The write-ups about all these places would follow.

Why am I starting with Rewalsar? Well, for one thing, Himachal is known as the Dev Bhoomi (The land of gods) and Rewalsar is one place wherein there is a confluence of three major religions: the Hindu, the Sikh and the Buddhist.

We took the direct 25 Kms route from Mandi, close to the school wherein I studied: Vijay High School (now Vijay Senior Secondary School). In this way we avoided the Ner Chowk way where the road is bad due to four-laning work in progress. Also, this isolated stretch of road is very picturesque:

The middle picture shows you a roadside pooja (prayer) place, in the wilderness, which is the speciality of Himachal (you can pray anywhere anytime).

And soon we were there in Rewalsar (the last three letters indicating a lake). The Tibetans call it Tso Pema (though in the vidoes that I shot I mispronounced it as Tsang Po). Here is our first view of this serene, beautiful and remarkably clean lake:

Our first stop was at the Gurudwara (Sikh Temple). This Gurudwara was erected by Raja Joginder Sen of Mandi in the year 1930 to honour the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh, who visited Rewalsar and stayed here for a month seeking support from the Hill Rajas in fight against the atrocities leashed on Hindus by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (the cruelest of them all).

Naturally, as you would have seen in one of the pics above, we partook of the Langar (24 hours free community kitchen as per Sikh traditions).

From the height of the Gurudwara, we descended to the lake and admired its beauty:

Of course, next to the lake is the Hindu Havan Kund (for performing the fire-ritual) and the Temple for the Rishi Lomush (Sage Lomush) who meditated in these hills (there are other seven lakes on the heights; but, we didn’t go there):

The meditation done by Rishi Lomush enabled him to be favoured by Shiva and Parvati to reveal the secrets of gods and heavens. Next to this temple are thus located the temples of Shiva and Krishna:

Having visited the Sikh and Hindu holy shrines, our next visits were to Buddhist or Tibetan shrines, However, before that, we climbed up to the Lake View Hotel to have a breathtaking view of the lake:

You can see various Buddhist shrines along the lake. The most prominent of this is not seen here since we were at that end. It is a huge (123 feet high) statue of Padmasmabhava (Rinpoche) that was inaugurated by the Dalai Lama on 01 Apr 2012.

Rumour has it that the king of Mandi had Padmasambhava burnt alive on the suspicion that he had tried to convert his daughter to Buddhist ways. Even after burning for days, the Padmasambhava appeared as  a boy from within a lotus in the middle of the lake.

I shall stop here now and cover the other most ornate and beautiful Buddhist shrines in the next part.

I hope I have aroused your curiosity enough to visit the place called Rewalsar and Tso Pema as the Tibetans call it.

Rest in the next part: ‘Himachal The Beautiful State, Part I – Rewalsar (Tibetan)’.