Seven Memorable Days in and around Himachal Pradesh, Himalayas, India (June 13-19, 2010)
By
Dr. A. K. Srivastava
(Flat no.: 2-D, PDIL/ Srijan Aptts .,B-9/8,Sector-62,Noida-201307(U.P.),India.
‘Most great men have not achieved their distinction by having some new talents or opportunity presented to them. They have developed the opportunity (to their benefit) that was at hand.’
Bruce Barton—American Writer
Tourism is essentially, yet always, not for tourists. Most wise people prefer to take a packaged-tour. Visit the pre-destined locations by scheduled carriers, stay in pre-confirmed luxury rooms in star hotels, eat, drink and see what is already defined in the package, come back home on completion of package-duration, with full satisfaction that a cozy-tour is done! . It is like you play the music you had always been having on an i-pod/ MP-3, all known, all good music of your choice and of best selections and nothing more to look at / ask for. Things are very simple. No fuss, No anxiety, no anticipation, nothing challenging and probably nothing new also. Then, how can it be memorable at all? It is like a banking- transaction, nicely and exactly performed. The level of satisfaction derived many times seems to depend on the quantum of money paid for the package-tour, and how big and reputed the hotels/groups/travel agents were etc. But life is not like that. It is like a FM radio-station, where all sorts of programmes --be it good/bad/ average, news, entertainment, current- affairs, music, classical, Bhajan, Bolly- wood songs etc are played and are to be enjoyed as such, what, when and where!.
For many others the package do not suit, as they prefer to go for made-to-order, boutique style. For them pleasure/satisfaction depends entirely what one is looking for out of the tour? It can be one and / or a combination of many out of the merely sight- seeing, meeting new people of different back-grounds; going to variant geographical / topographical locations /regions; enjoy seeing different cultures, religions, faiths; places of educational importance; pilgrimage of religious places; even spending quality time with one’s own loved ones away from heat and daily-grind of life-routine at a picturesque place etc. Then every body has to go according to his / her own pace and heart-feelings; if you feel at ease to move from one thing to another, from one place to another-- it is perfectly right for you. The whole question is whatever one does it should be a deep satisfying pleasure, without any tension? . Forcing one against one’s own nature, according to me, is a sin and going in harmony with one’s nature is a virtue. Always go along with the river of the life. Never try to go against the currents and never try to go faster than the current of the river. In Sanskrit it is said: ’anugachhatu pravaham’ meaning : ‘Go with the Flow’. Just move with your own pace, in absolute relaxation, but with open mind, eyes; eager to see, eager to meet, eager to face, understand and finally enjoy all that which comes and when ever it comes, so that each move / moment makes one at home, at ease, at peace with one’s own self and with the surroundings. Then, your trip easily and automatically becomes fulfilling and, hence, memorable and shear bliss.
I have always been attracted towards Himachal Pradesh & near by places and wishing to visit these places, because of its famous natural beauty, big and dense green forests, home to vast plantations of various exotic fruits, inviting and mysterious snow-clad mountains, life-sucking deep gorges, gushing wild rivers, great flora and fauna, vibrant & colorful culture, hard working but peace loving simple people, great festivals, spicy and mouth watering cuisines, famous temples & gurudwaras and other pilgrimage places , and above all present day modernized tourists entertainment facilities & infrastructure at nominal costs like water / winter sports, both for adventure and fun-loving.
I, along with my beloved family, consisting of wife: Mrs. Shanti Srivastava, son: Dr.Biplav Srivastava, daughter-in-law: Mrs. Vandana Srivastav and grand-children: Master Pranjal and Ms Saina-after considering various available options chose to cover the whole trip of our own, by our family owned ‘Toyota Innova’ car, Regn. No: DL – 7C.G.-1978 to be driven by our driver: Mr. (Jay) Kishan for the said Himachal Pradesh trip.It was scheduled to be completed in 7days/ 6nights. In order to minimize the risk when moving with small kids, through the famous portal / tourism-site: Yatra. com , we made some bookings for the lodging arrangements in the deluxe-rooms (with breakfast/ and also dinner at Manali) in Star/ luxury Hotels. The hotel- bookings were at Kullu (near Bhuntar Airport) for one night and at Manali for three nights. Food and other incidentals were excluded from the package as to provide flexibility / economy to the package. We found our medium paced itinerary was more suitable to us, keeping in view the requirements of the group, with small kids. Generally, on a single day we traveled by car 150-300 KM s, but as road conditions in Himachal are generally good, there was no adverse strain and also no need to travel in the mountain after the sun-set. For rest of the two nights we had to make our own arrangements at the spots, as venue and timings were not decided in advance.
Day 1: June 13, 2010: Sunday
Delhi-Chandigarh - Anandpur Saheb (Ropar)-Bilaspur (By Road: 402 KM s)
We got up early and started our journey by road in the morning from Noida at 6:45 AM. The weather was reasonably good, keeping in view the Delhi’s summer morning-time. We wanted to cover as much distance as possible in cool morning hours and stopped only for fuel (gas) filling and breakfast at a Haryana Tourism restaurant, about 124 km from Delhi near Karnal.
Haryana Tourism‘s Oasis tourist complex lies at Uchana village on Delhi-Ambala (National Highway No.1) . It has along with A/C sitting arrangements, an open-air-sitting plan, a conglomerate of glittering gift shops, temporary parking sheds, filling station and well cared for public facilities invariably inspire the traveler s to stop for a break. There are small swings for little ones. Adjoining the resort Kraft Bazzar is operational. The travelers have the option of shopping for some of the finest handicrafts and handloom traditions of the Haryan on display at Kraft Bazar. Local made Achar and Murabbas are one of the attractions. The restaurants are clean & cozy, with modern rest- rooms and has lot of choices to order for morning breakfast, with moderate pricing structure. There is self- service.
After about 257 KMs, reaching Chandigarh, we took National High way 22 to reach Pinjour and from Pinjour took National High- way 21A for Anandpur Saheb (336KMs from Delhi), via Baddi, Nalagarh, Kiratpur. Earlier we wanted to take a short- cut from village Lalru to reach Panchkula and to save some time, miles by avoiding Chandigarh city, but it could not materialize, as at one place after about 12 KM, the road was closed, being a truck getting struck on the main village-road. So, we abandoned the scheme, revert to and instead followed the earlier route of Chandigarh- Panchkula- Pinjour. We reached Anandpur Sahib at around 3:30 PM. It was a hot summer after- noon, we were a bit tired, hungry as having not taken the proper lunch on the way but very curious and excited to see the famous sikh religious places. My daughter-in-law was especially excited as it was her first visit and encounter with this type of religious place. We made a special precaution to cover our heads with either handkerchiefs or for ladies with dupatta, which we took from Delhi for this purpose.
Anandpur Sahib "City of Bliss'; is one of the most holy places of the Sikhs. it is closely linked with their religious traditions and history. Situated 45KM from present day city of Ropar on the left bank of the river Sutlej, Anandpur Sahib has a number of historical Gurdwaras. The town gained further importance with the construction of Nangal and Bhakra projects nearby, 20 KM to the north. These projects have brought Anandpur Sahib on the rail and road map of India. It is located at a distance of about 80 KM from Chandigarh - the modern, well planned capital city of Haryana and Punjab, also an union territory.
Today, Anandpur is one of the five most important religious places of the Sikhs. This is the birth- place of the Sikh faith. Here Guru Gobind Singh Ji founded the Khalsa Panth on Baisakhi day in 1699 AD. The Takht Keshgarh Sahib stands at the place where the tenth Master baptized the 'Panj Pyaras', the five beloved ones, and administered Amrit to them.
For pilgrims and tourists, a visit to Gurudwara Kessgarh Sahib, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Museum is a must. The museum was set up in the memory of Guru Tegh Bahadur who made the supreme sacrifice for sake of liberation of the oppressed and for the freedom of conscience and belief. The great saga of Sikh history of this period is full of struggle and sacrifices, which are depicted here through the medium of paintings prepared by eminent artists. These paintings are primarily in realistic style covering the most turbulent significant and epoch-making period of the Sikh history.
Holy weapons at display at the Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Museum
The following holy weapons which are prominently put at display at the Gurudwara are: -
· KHANDA -double edged sword with which the holy nectar (Amrit) was prepared.
· KARPA BARCHHASteel Armour piercing lance.
· SAIF Double edged sword of Hazrat Ali,presented to Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji by the 7th Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah.
· NAGIN BARCHHA Cobra lance with which Bhai Bachittar had made the enemy's drunken elephant retreat from Lohgarh Fort.
· MUSKET It was presented by a devotee to Guru Gobind Singh Ji.
· KATAR Small cutlass used in hand to hand fighting.
· Two lances, Shamshir-i-Teg, a remarkable sword, Dah-i-Ahni, a forked lance with steel handle, a Golden Chakra kind of an attacking Quoit with 22 stanzas of the holy scriptures of Sri Jap ji Sahib engraved on it and Rhino - skin shield --- these weapons were retrieved from England in 1966.
In spite of the large crowd, mainly village folks, heat due to high sun, the rush at many counters in the gurudwara complex, it was very clean, organized and peaceful. With out asking from any body, one felt from the very beginning to be at peace, no talking, no running about even by children, though at some places, in spite of the wet jute–mat, the floor was very hot. We did some offerings at one of the counters for which we were given proper receipts and also good quantity kadah-prasad in stainless steel thali’ s (plates), duly covered with pattal, a type of plate made from leaves. It was to be deposited at one of the main counters at the gurudwara(which was subsequently collected and given as prasad to all visitors) and in turn we got our share of prasad of kadah-prasad in dona(a sort of bio-degradable deep plates made of leaves).Pure ghee was dripping from the prasad. At the main entrance the flowing water which washed/ made wet out feet was very soothing. We bowed down at the main Guru-granth sahib, patiently enjoyed the guru vani being sung by 4 white-clad sikh sahiban, with flowing equally white beards. Though the recited-lines were mainly in gurmukhi- punjabi, which we all are not very familiar, the music, rhythm and way of rendering was unique and directly resonated with ones heart and soul. We enjoyed all this sitting silently for some time , till children woke us up from our slumber as they were very hungry. We did parikrama and headed for the ‘lungar’-a free community kitchen. We took our lunch of lungar-prasad of chapattis, dal and Karhi (a sort of lintal- curies). The dining halls were very large in size, neat and clean and hundreds of people could be accommodated at one time. Kadah- prasad did a good job as substitute desert, after the lungar.
At about 04:30 PM, we left Anandpur Sahib, came back 10 KM s to Kiratpur and then headed for NH 21 .Our target was to reach Bilaspur (60KM) and stay the night there. As it was getting late and we were tired, we could get good two nos. hotel- rooms(Nos.103/104) at ‘Shivalik Hotel (Phone no.01978-222123)’, at good rates, situated on the main high-way, at Lakhanpur about 5 KM, before Bilaspur. The rooms were of good size (one room had two number king size double beds), sofa -set, CTV with cable connections, attached bath, etc, both neat and clean, air-cooled, nicely located on the first floor, facing the high way and valley, and also moderately equipped. Restaurant was at the ground floor, choice of foods was also plenty but service was not very satisfactory. The night- time was moderately cool and blanket was not required. In totality, It was good to stay for a night.
Day 2: June 14, 2010: Monday: Bilaspur- Bhunter (Kullu) (By Road: 145 KM s)
After a short morning walk in the hills, wherein my grandson collected some stones of different colors, shapes and sizes and some exotic plants, we got ready quickly for our next destination and after breakfast left the hotel at around 9:15 AM. The condition of the high way was generally good and it was most of the times parallel to the Beas river. Beas river is always at its best, with gushing water with great speed. On the way we noticed cool, breezy, moderate temperature, greenery al along, dense and long forests, with trees laden with fruits/flowers of various colors, deep bone-chilling gorges on both side of the river, some small, but famous temples at the top of the mountains, road switching sides on the banks of the river through mostly steel bridges. In animals we found mostly black mountain dogs with long and thick-fur- tails, red-faced monkeys with long tails. At many places warning was written on the notice- boards suggesting not to feed the monkeys, to avoid road-accidents and their concentration at the road-sides from their natural habitat in the forests.
Shortly we crossed Mandi city (without entering in the city) on the left bank of the river Beas, after crossing small towns of Ghaghas, Barmana, Sundarnagar, Nerchowk. At Mandi the NH-21 bifurcates and a section goes to Dharamshala as NH-20.We continued driving, with out break as wanted to reach Kullu as-soon–as possible. After Mandi, we crossed Pandoh, Aut and on the way, it was noticed that the Beas river and the High way were all parallel. There were boards at many places inviting for the white water rafting. At a picturesque place at the bank of the river, just away from the main High way, we stopped our car for a break and spent some time, dipping our feet in the river- bed. Water was chilling cold and soon we had to take it off. Children were busy splashing water, playing with each other and collecting stones. After some time we resumed our journey .The weather was cloudy. And many times it had already drizzled. We crossed the most famous and nearest air-port of Himachal at Bhuntar and after about 1 KM, we reached our hotel at about 2:30 PM, at Shamsi: Hotel Sandhya Palace, Shamsi, Kullu District (Manager Mr. Rajendra Thakur@ Raju,(M)91-98170 30992).Unfortunately, there was some confusion as tourism portal -Yatra.com people did not informed about full details of our bookings to the hotel and it took some waiting time of about 45 minutes, before room nos.302/303 were made available and given to us. It was a good hotel with three star facilities, situated in the down- town, at the banks of river Beas. It was deluxe rooms, with AC, clean attached baths, CTV, with cable connections, good quality wood- work and other furnishings. Menu choices and quality of food, room- service were excellent. After some rest, we went city for a stroll and some shopping. In the evening went for a walk at the river- side and while coming back at a local wine shop purchased a bottle of chilled Kingfisher Beer. As usual to all our trips, roasted almonds, cashew nuts were always there to give company in our this small celebration of the fine Kullu’ s weather at the hotel. Dinner and night-stay at the hotel.
Day 3: June 15, 2010: Monday: Bhunter (Kullu)-Manikaran -Kullu-Manali (By Road: 115 KM s)
We planned to go in the morning to Manikaran (about 1 ½ hours drive each way and 35 Km s away) ,before heading for Manali later in the day. Accordingly, we started our day early with a short morning walk at the hotel roof- top, and finally sumptuous breakfast at the hotel.
The journey to the Manikaran was very pleasant as weather was all through very good, road was single-lane, but generally in good condition, greenery al along on both side the road with fruit’s-orchids laden with ripe-plums, pears, apple, Khumani etc. and in the back ground of snow covered mountain-tops at a distance. At many places there was congestion due to lot of trucks on the road, because of a nearby cement factory and our car was required to give pass by coming on the brink of the road. It was very dangerous, due to high mountains at one side and deep gorges on the other side. It was really a test for one’s driving skills as some times the fight was barely for a few inches of space. On the way, we stopped at one of the fruit-orchids and plucked some ripe-plum with our hands, with hesitantly given permission from the owner-lady. We also purchased some fruits from her and finished it out then and there sharing with all of us, as it were very sweet, tasty and fresh. The owner-lady was equally fair in color, beautiful, charming, slender thin, accommodating and a small sleeping-child tied at her back with a piece of cloth. She allowed us to choose the fruits from the lot. Nothing could have be better than this. My grand- kids were very excited as it was their first encounter when fruits were still attached with the trees. We did some snaps and went on. We reached Manikaran at about 11 Am.
Manikaran is situated in the Parvati Valley near Kullu- Manali at an attitude of 1,737 M, famous for the great Hindu and sikh pilgrimage places as Ramchandra temple & Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji Gurudwara. High up under the snowy peaks, of the Parvati Valley is situated three nos. of the hot springs at Manikaran. The water from the steaming springs is noted for its healing properties. The springs in the area are hot enough to boil rice in it.Sri Ramchandra temple is located in the center of the town and one can have a very good look in and around this temple. The Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji Gurudwara provides some extraordinary sights. One can enjoy a dip in the hot waters from the springs. There are altogether three hot water springs baths, one is located under the Gurudwara itself and the other two are privately owned and located in guesthouses.
Legend have it that in the ‘treata yug’ while wandering of in the forests of
the Himalayan ranges Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati came across a place now
called Manikaran. The mountain-locked area, the lush green patches and the
forests charmed them and they decided to stay there for sometime. For as long
as eleven hundred years they remained at this place. At one time, when the Lord
was relaxing with the Goddess, in the beautiful waters of a stream running by
the side, the 'MANI' (Jewel) in an earring of the goddess dropped somewhere.
Parvati was much distressed and there was a thorough search but efforts to find
out the jewel failed. Lastly, the Lord ordered his attendants, to trace out the
jewel, wherever it may be. That was also unsuccessful. Lord Shiva got enraged,
as a result of which his third eye opened. With the opening of the third eye of
the Lord Shiva, a very ominous event, there was a great commotion all over the
universe. The entire universe was very upset and apprehended a great calamity.
'Shesh Nag', the serpent god, was approached. In order to subside the anger of
Lord Shiva, Shesh Nag hissed and hissed and there was a flow of boiling water,
which passed over the area and out came a number of precious stones of the
type which were lost. Lord Shiva was pacified. The water still continues to be
hot. Before the earthquake of 1905, which affected this area also, it is said,
that this boiling water used to rise, to about ten-feet high.
The second chapter of 'Brahm Puran' recites the story of Manikaran as given
above.
Lord Ramchandra Temple: There are several temples in the Mani Karan
village. The most important is that of Lord Ramchandra. The Pandas or priests
of the village claim that the idol of Rama was brought from Ayodhya and
installed in this temple by the Raja of Kulu but this lacks a historic confirmation.
There was also an idol of Lakshman the younger brother of Lord Rama Chandra,
which has now disappeared. On the left hand side of the Lord is the idol of
Goddess Sita. The temple is very old and on one of the stones in its wall, the
history of the temple is written which is not legible.
Temple of Lord Shiva: There is another very old temple of Lord Shiva, which got tilted during the earthquake of 1905. The great prestige with which Manikaran is held is seen by the fact that the Devatas of Kulu valley pay regular visits to
Manikaran.
The followers of the individual deities at different places in the Kullu
valley carry them ceremoniously in a procession to Manikaran on specified
auspicious days for ceremonial puja and baths..
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji Gurudwara: The place is also held sacred by the
Sikhs.During
Third Udasi, Guru Nanak Dev ji came to this place in 15 Asu 1574 Bikrami with
his disciples Bhai Bala & Bhai
Mardana.
There are many incidence of miracle performed at Manikaran. The visit of Guru Nanak Dev Ji is also predicted by Maharishi Ved Vyas on page 28 verse 33-44 of the Bhavishya Puran. The famous tenth Guru Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji also visited this place with his Panj Pyaras.
In the recent times,Saint Shri Narayan Hari came to Kullu in 1940 from his native place Kaimalpur (Pakistan) and settled in Manikaran. Initially there was nothing here except two hot water springs. According to local sources, he first built a small Gurdwara using timber, but local villagers protested and would come again and again to demolish it, but with blessings( santokh/sabar) of Guru Nanak Dev ji he would re-build it all over again every time but never indulged into any sort of violence with them. In fact Sant Narayan Hari ji used to offer those people water/tea whenever they got tired doing destruction,so finally locals gave up and he worked on the Gurudwara building and the 50 years long service bore fruit in the shape of present Gurudwara. Saint Narayan Hari used to bring Cement and construction material from Bhuntar to Manikaran sahib on his back, and to construct the shrine. And, now this Gurudwara can accommodate more than 4000 people with free ‘Langer’ facility. Sri Narayan Hari had worked day and night to give Manikaran a proper name, the result of which the Gurudwara stands tall today.
We went across the various places in side the complex,as the famous Gurudwara,temples, hot springs all are located near by in the same complex.There was great rush at the gurudwara and the Ram Chandra and Lord shiva temples.We did puja at the temples (prasad was typical to this place a semi-cooked dry rice),went to the gurudwara for offering our respect by bowing down at the Guru Granth Sahib. We sat-down at the hot water springs dipping our feet for some time and enjoyed warm vapour coming out of the spring in the mid day at summer time of june month. We did some donations ,both at the Shiva temple and the Gurudwara,before taking prasad of dal,roti and karhi, at the Lungar- a free community kitchen and some photographs at the various strategic locations.
We also visited a cave called "garam gufa" or "hot cave" in Gurdwara sahib where found many people sitting for few hours to get rid of lot of diseases, as it is done through natural healing.
The wether soon became cloudy . It was already 12.30 PM and we felt it was time to be back for our forward journey to Manali,throgh Kullu.The journey upto Bhunter was not much with any speciality,except jams on the roads at a few places.There was some road construction going on at the National high way at a few places,which slowed us down,otherwise we went through Kullu,Raison,Katrain,Jagatsukh and reached Manali at about 03:30 PM.Manali welcomed us with rains at It was raining there at that time. We went directly to the hotel: Hotel Ishaan Resorts ,Hiddimba Temple Road,Manali(Phone: 01902-253320,Chief Op.Officer: Mr.Amit Kumar,(M)098570-00079,098570-21005,website:www.ishaantresort.com) and checked in at Room Nos. 302/303, at the lower third floor.In Manali the hotel reception was at the ground floor,conference room at the first floor,dining Hall at the seconf floor and rooms were at the lower four floors.It was a big hotel with about 200 rooms, having a common corridor of about 200 feet long,which I used subsequentally for my morning walks.The tariff included welcome drink,fruit basket, mineral water, morning tea,breakfast and dinner. The hotel was in the main down town area, about 1 Km from the Mall/Bus stand. It was going to be our home for next 3 nights. It was superior deluxe rooms with a bouble bed,attached toilet/bath with modern fittings including a tub,CTV with cable connection, sofa sets etc. and an attached small balcony.
We decided to take some rest, enjoy the rainy season,while sitting in the hotel’s room-balcony, with freshly prepared hot vegetable pakoras,alongwith the tea and enjoy the natural scenic beauty of the mountains at the sun-set time, when it is also raining. What a sense of relaxation,away from all known tensions, in a hill station and it deemed as mere bliss?.
Day 4: June 16, 2010: Tuesday: Manali (Hidimba Temple,Vashistha Temple) (By Road: < 5 KM s).
Besides offering quite a few places for sightseeing, Manali is also famous for adventure sports like skiing, hiking, mountaineering, paragliding, rafting, trekking, kayaking, and mountain biking. In brief, Manali-the veritable "valley of the Gods"-is an ideal place for the ones in search of both adventure and comfort. The Kulluis in brightly patterned puttoos, Tibetan women wearing ankle-length rainbow-striped pinafores, Nepali porters, Buddhist monks, and even the odd party of Zanskaris, swathed in fusty woolen gonchas, muddled together with souvenir-hunting Indian and Western tourists-all add up to the welcoming hubbub of Manali. We got up late in the morning , as the days programme was to see the city at our pace, at the most visit a few near by tourist-places.
Though, hotel’s breakfast timings were 7:30AM to 10:00 Am, by 08:30 AM, there was a call from the dinning hall inviting us for the breakfast. Hurriedly we got ready, it was still raining out side but intermittently .We finished the breakfast by 09:40 AM and came out to go to near by Hidimba Devi temple about 1 ½ KM away from the hotel. It was a steep climb and as we did not take our car from the hotel. Children were not very cooperative to go on foot and our youngest grand-daughter: Ms Saina had been enjoying splashing the rain-water flowing at the road, we were wondering whether it was a wise decision to go out like this, when it was cloudy and rains were expected any time. Actually, it did drizzle a few moments and we took shelter at the side of a big Fir tree. How ever, on reaching the temple, we found it was almost empty, with about 4/5 families moving in the temple complex, a few reading Archeological Survey of India (ASI) historical facts on the bill-boards, taking photographs of their group, children playing at the temple’ open courtyard. As there was no official place to deposit shoes and shoes were prohibited to go with, it was clear one person of the group has to be at guard till others were back from the temple sanctum sanatorium.
Hadimba Devi
Temple is one of the oldest temples of Himachal and is situated in Dhoongri, a
small village in Manali district. It is dedicated to the wife of King Bhim,one of the
five Pandava brothers in the Indian epic Mahabharata. As the legend goes, King
Bhim married Hadimba, after killing her demon brother named Hidimb. She undertook a penance
and gave birth to a son known as Ghatochkach. Later on, Hadimba left the place and became
a spiritual. Maharaja
Bahadur Singh, on the place of the original temple, later on in 1553, built a four
storeyed wooden temple, now known as Hadimba Temple. The temple is in pagoda
style and originally did not have any idol within, albeit, some footprints are
engraved which were worshiped by devotees. However, of late only a
7.5 cm (3 inch) tall brass image representing goddess Hidimbi Devi along with other Hindu
deities were erected and some of them are placed on the walls near the entrance
in the sanctum sanatorium. The sanctuary is built over a huge rock
jutting out of the ground, which was worshiped as an image of the deity.
Hadimba Devi Temple has 24 m high tower. The three tiers of its square roofs
are covered with timber tiles, while the conical roof is clad in metal. The
unadorned walls of mud-covered stonework contrast with the wooden doorway,
which is elaborately decorated with miniature depictions of Goddess Durga in
main theme and her attendants, animals and stylized foliation. On the beams
above the doorway appear the Navagrahas, female dancers an isolated scene from
the Krishna story.
As per another legend, the architect of the temple had to lose his hand for this masterpiece. King was afraid of duplication of the master craft and he ordered architect’s hand to be cut. This anecdote might have some portion of reality and truth, with only the temple being a mute witness. It is also said that this could not stop the master architect, who trained his left hand and at the request of the people, executed an even finer temple at Trilokinath in Chamba. In May every year, a fair is arranged in the temple of Hadimba. Another fair is held during Dussehra.
We did darshan at the temple, had some photo-shoots in and around the temple and went directly to the adjacent ’Great Himalayan National Park’, maintained by Biodiversity Conservation Society (BioCDS, Shamsi, Kullu). Entrance fee Rs.5/- for adults and children below 8 years free. It was really a wonderful place. The park was all through very green, dotted with tall Fir, Cedar and other mountain trees, so even on the sunny day- time it was dark at many places. There were not many people there. The natural topography of the place is maintained, and it all looks very magnificent, soothing, peaceful and enjoyable. At many places swings and other plays for children were placed, along with sitting-benches for others. It looked like a good picnic spot in the middle of the city. It is spread for a length of about 2-2 ½ KM, covering up to the main Mall of the city, but not very wide at many places. At some places, it may be just 200 Meters wide. We spent some time in the park, walking, running, playing, rock-climbing etc, as weather was also favoring us. Sun was shining brilliantly and all the rainy-clouds from the morning were not traceable.
After some time, we came to the near by place,which is famous after Ghatochkach, about 80 Meter away from the main Hadimba temple. There was no permanent structure, but a small idol was placed under a big banyan tree. Lot of small stalls selling mainly local stuffs were there. I purchased good quality Gent’s leather purse, made of yak-skin as souvenirs.
We came back hotel for a good cup of coffee and went to see famous Vashistha Muni ashram situated in the city itself. Vashisht Muni Aashram is around 3 km from Manali city, also boasts a pair of old stone temples, opposite each other above the main square. Dedicated to the local patron saint Vashista, the smaller of the two opens on to a partially covered courtyard, and is adorned with elaborate woodcarvings. Those lining the interior of the shrine, blackened by years of oil-lamp and incense smoke, are particularly fine. As per the temple-priest the present day temple is about 1200 years old and was re-built on the site of the old temple from the ‘Dwapar’ times. The temple tanks are underground hot-water/sulfur springs and lot of people take splash in it for its medicinal properties. As the temple closes in the after noon between 2PM to 3 PM, we went for lunch at a local roof- top restaurant near the temple. From the restaurant, we could see the fantastic view of the snow-tipped mountains and the various water streams originating and flowing from them, in the back- ground of green wild forests. We did click some photo-graphs , while the lunch-order was still awaited to be served. The restaurant -menu talked about many exotic dishes from Chinese, Mediterranean, continental items, besides normal roti, dal, rice, vegetables for desi gentry. We did some adventurous ordering for the lunch and the results were fantastic. Rather we did not expect such good results at such smaller places.
We returned to the hotel-room, as it started raining and decided to spend the evening time in reading and relaxing, and also to enjoy the scenic beauty of the hills, while it was raining. It was planned for going to Rohtang-Pass next early morning.
Day 5: June 17, 2010: Wednesday: Manali –Rohtang Pass-Manali (By Road: 110 KM s).
Rohtang Pass (Tibetan: Rohtang La) (altitude 13,051 ft (3,978 M) is a high mountain pass on the eastern Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas some 51 km (32 mi) from Manali. It connects the Kullu Valley with the Lahaul and Spiti Valleys of Himachal Pradesh. Rohtang Pass is nicely connected by all weather-road with Manali and is at a distance of about 51 KM, at about 2 ½ hours’ driving time away. We were warned by the hotel staff and It was told that in the summers the traffic was increased many folds due to the tourist’s rush. And most of the times in the peak-season due to the traffic-jams on the certain sectors of the road either for road- widening and / or road maintenance jobs the time actually consumed increases two to three folds. It is really one’s driving skill-test trying to navigate the tight roads and rough terrain, compounded by, flowing icy cold water, snow and ice at certain points and the large number of tourists vehicles.But all the efforts,pains and time were well compensated by the extra ordinary exciting,natural scenic beauty all along in the way and while at Rohtang.
Taking the hint seriously, we decided to start our Rohtang-Pass journey early and in any case to leave the hotel by 05:30AM. As the place is sparsely populated and most of the things are not only costly, but also not easily available normally, we decided to ask our hotel staff to prepare and pack our morning breakfast early morning. Luckly, it was not raining and the weather was very pleasant. We asked our driver, on the onset, about the status of fuel in the car and as per his experience it was enough for the to and fro Rohtang Pass journey of about 110 KM s. We traveled at great speed, as road was all clear and stopped only at a few places to enjoy the natural beauty of the snow capped mountains-tops, virtually glittering in the morning-sun. We reached Rohtang well in time at about 8:40 AM. All of us had some trouble initially due to thin air and lack of Oxygen as it was with almost nil vegetation. We felt heaviness in the lungs, as if it was choked. There was only snow and snow, till we could see. It was terribly cold at that time and most of us wanted to go for peeing. We were shocked as it cost there Rs.50/- per person in a make- shift rest- room. I remembered during our Europe-tour, we were required to pay Euro 0.50 cents to one Euro at every time we used the
toilets at a road- side motel, gas filling- station or a mall. We must have paid in thousands of rupees only for this activity during our 3 week’s long trip.
On the way to Rohtang pass from Manali the Rohalla falls are worth visiting. Also at Beas Nallah one has to cross the river Beas. This river starts from here (Beas Kund ).We were informed that Rohtang Pass is closed on every Tuesday .On the way to Rohtang pass one can find many food stalls serving variety of foods. One can get a chilled cold drink as shop keepers keep then in running water to maintain the temperature because there is no need of a refrigerator here. One can relish the food by sitting inside the low running water of the river Beas.
The Rohtang-Pass provides a natural divide between the sub-humid/humid Kullu Valley with a primarily Hindu culture (in the south), and the arid/semi-arid high-altitude Lahaul and Spiti valleys with a Buddhist culture (in the north). The pass lies on the watershed between the Chenab and Beas Basins. On the southern side of this pass, the Beas River emerges from underground and flows southward[2] and on its northern side, the Chandra River, a source stream of the river Chenab, flows westward. The Rohtang Pass is open every year normally from May to November. It was not particularly high or difficult to cross on foot by Himalayan standards, but it had a well-deserved reputation for being dangerous because of unpredictable snowstorms and blizzards.Even in the month of June 2010 a cycling–team was caught between a snow-storm and an American team-leader was killed,while many others were hospitalised.This pass was ancient trade route between the people on either side of Pir Panjal. The local name for this pass is a generic name of pass. There are many other passes in Lahoul and Spitti valley. which have specific names (Kunzom La, Bara Lachala, etc.). This is suggestive of the fact that this must have been the oldest and most frequented pass in the region, or the fact that it is the main pass leading from one cultural region (Indian) to another, quite different one, to the north.
The main attraction for tourist at Rohtang pass is snow
and the scenic beauty of the area. The road is very narrow near the Rohtang
pass and the parking of vehicles is very difficult and one has to be very alert
while parking the vehicles because slight distraction may be hazardous. Hence
it is advisable to come here very early in the morning and stay up to afternoon
and start returning once the traffic gets clear. But if you start late to visit
here then you may have to walk a bit (about 1 to 1 ½ KM) in knee-deep snow or
take help of horse to reach the peak point. Walking here is not a big problem
but not advisable for elderly persons or small kids. It can be a 15 to 30
minutes walk depending on the traffic to reach the snow point from the parking
area. The safest and the easiest way to reach the snow point is by horse ride
but it is a bit costly ride, but elderly and the small children can comfortably
use this service. The horse- man charges around Indian Rupees 400-500 per trip
(both ways) per horse. Tourists plan their trip in early hours to reach Rohtang
very early to avoid traffic and reach at the snow point, at the same time it is
equally difficult to return as all vehicles way down as to be clear the road.
So going early some times mean returning late from there. Some time this may
not be a good options for families with kids to stay long time in cold
conditions. So some prefer the other option is to start late and take the help
of horses (or walk) to reach the top. We did just the opposite—started early
and came back also early.
All types of food- stuff, coffee and drinks are available at Rohtang pass and
these are sold by local people. The weather here is highly unpredictable and
it does not take much time for the bright sun shine to change over to
moderate to heavy snow fall. The shop owners have provided some temporary sheds
for the benefit of tourists/visitors to take shelter in case of sudden change
of weather.
When every body in the group was stabilized, we moved at strategic locations in the knee deep snow, mostly soft and fresh, for a short photo session. Suddenly, we felt that we were hungry and needed some thing hot to eat and drink. The packed stuff from the hotel was a big no no from every body. Such small items like Maggy noodles were highly acceptable, when served hot from the road- side restaurants. Soon, when the sun was a bit straight on the head, we went for a small walk to acquaint with the place and also for a horse ride, snow- skating, snow- scooter ride. It was our first experience on snow-scooters, but a short trip on them were full of adventure and excitement, but a bit costly. They cost about Rs.500/- for a short trip of 10 minutes and covering about one KM each way, with an average speed of about 50-60 KM/hour, on full throttle. On enquiry it was informed to us that the snow-scooters are imported from mostly European countries, costing about Rs.30 Lakh each. Ice skating was more familiar, with my experience during our Switzerland-trip some years back, but needed some real practice. My son: Dr. Biplav and grand- son: Master Pranjal also enjoyed with me , both on skating and snow-scooter rides. Ladies were confined to the car, beating the cold and snow all around.
As it was getting cloudy slowly and weather at Rohtang Pass is always considered very erratic, we decided to descend from it. On the way, on most of the route, the traffic was very slow with a long queue of car due to severe traffic-jams. It was mostly due to wrong car parking by some over enthusiastic local tourist’s-taxi drivers and also large number of vehicles. It took us about 5 hours to complete the 51 KM long Rohtang Pass-Manali journey, where as 2 to 2 ½ hours were normally sufficient for this mountainous- route. I found
that Suzuki-Maruti’ s small car ‘Alto’, with engine capacity of 800 CC, was very popular in the hills, as it occupied small space to park and easy to manage on single track hill roads. We would have hardly covered 15 KM s, when the worst of our fears confronted us by way of red-light signal by our car, indicating small fuel-levels. It was next to impossible to have fresh fill of fuel in this hilly track, when no filling station was noticed by us through out our journey on this track. If stranded on the road-side, one can easily imagine the plight on a hilly track, snow –water all around and with small children in the group and no help around. However, it was informed to us to try our luck at local Punjabi dhaba at Marhi, where some times they keep diesel to cater to such eventualities. Luckily, we got about 5 liters of diesel against all odds, to our delight, at an exorbitant rate of Rs.50/- per liter, against the normal Manali’s price of Rs. 37.89 per liter. We also took some rest and refreshment at Marhi.
Marhi (12650 ft) is a famous place, 12 kms ahead of Rohtang Pass, where transit tourists from Manali normally stop for refreshment, lunch, dinners and also some rest. It offers extensive views of the valley and the mountains. It lies on the Manali -Leh road. It is one of the most picturesque places in Manali region. Marhi is a mountain plateau surrounded by lush green grazing land patterned with innumerable wild flowers, but no tall trees. The place remains a stopover for transit visitors and tourists during summer and autumn seasons. It is also a transit place for the people to wait for the ferocious weather to improve at Rohtang Pass to cross over to Lahaul and Spiti valley, during the winter months.
The rest of the 39 km journey: Marhi-Manali was usual, without anything special to mention except that we were stopped at two places .Once at ‘Parchan’ town when Assistant RTO and his team were checking the vehicles and at another place, before entering the Manali city limits. Luckily, at both occasions, as our all travel and car documents/papers were complete and in order, we were saved of the situation to pay any money, legally or otherwise, as is very usual on Indian roads with car registration-number-plates of other states. On reaching Manali at about 4:30 pm, we went for some local shopping and also for getting photo prints for our current Rohtang journey. We did some window shopping, before finally settling at a shop, where good range of gift-items were available and also the prices were reasonable and fixed, with no bargain allowed. It suited us. We picked-up some local Himachali woolen caps and woolen jackets for self and children and my wife gone for cotton salwar-suit sets with heavy Kashmiri embroidery. It started raining in the late evening, and we decided to pack up and go to the hotel. Stayed in the evening and had dinner at the Hotel. The food was ordinary ,except the hot sweet and sour soup.
Day 6: June 18, 2010: Thursday: Manali –Panjperi (Sawarghat)(By Road: 185 KMs).
After breakfast, we stayed at the hotel, whereas my son and daughter-in-law went for local shopping and came back with some freshly baked cakes/muffins, apart from other items. It was really good, along with a hot cup of coffee. We checked -out from the hotel and started for the return journey at about 11:45 am. The sun was bright and hot. As we descended from higher heights, sun deemed hotter with stuffy weather due to humidity and low breeze. We drove all the day in the mountains, except for a small halt for lunch at a road- side restaurant, some shopping for fresh fruits and vegetable at a wholesale mandi after the famous city of Mandi. The vegetables like Cauliflower was Rs.60/- per 5 Kg s, which was Rs.60/- per Kg in Delhi. Similarly there was a wide gap in prices for Peach, Cherry, Apricot etc, besides they were fresh from the orchards. The difference may be 40-50 %, if not more for some items. We also stopped for some rest, photo session and played in the river-water at some places. There was also a competition to throw small stones in the river to the farthest distance, so as it reach the bank of the river at the opposite side. Scenic beauty was another attraction.
As we did not have any hotel reservation, we had to take chance at some hotel for the night. First, we planned to have a night halt at Ropar, but due to delays on account of traffic jams and congestion on the roads, we could cover only up to Sawarghat and it was about 7.30 in the evening and every body was tired. It was another 50 KM s, before we could have reached Rooper, but it was risky to hunt for accommodation at late hours of evening. So, we decided to check-in at Room Nos.107/108 in ‘ Hotel Diamond’, Kiratpur- Manali Road, Panjperi, Sawarghat, Distt. Bilaspur.(Phone no.01978-284033,094183 04032). The location of the hotel was good, on the main National Highway-21, but it was not up to the mark in cleanliness due to water shortage and other infrastructure facilities. My grand- children accused me of being sticky, but we had no other alternatives. It was not bad for a night stay, as food was reasonably good and freshly cooked.
Day 7: June 19, 2010: Friday: Panjperi (Sawarghat)- Chandigarh-Noida (By Road: 365 KM s). : -
It was the last day of our trip. We got ready by 7:20 am and left the hotel, with idea to have the morning Break fast at Ropar, see the’ Rock Garden’ at Chandigarh and lunch some here on the way. However, once we crossed Kiratpur Sahib, we decided to take the shorter route via Nalagarh , Baddy, Pinjaur on NH 21 A ,before reaching Chandigarh. We stopped only once on the way for breakfast and reached Chandigarh Rock garden by 09:50AM.
Chandigarh is a union territory of India, that serves as the capital of two states, Punjab and Haryana. The name Chandigarh translates as "The Fort of Chandi". The name was coined from an ancient temple called Chandi Mandir, devoted to the Hindu Goddess Chandi. It is occasionally referred to as The City Beautiful. The capital city of Chandigarh, including suberbs of Mohali, Panchkula and Zirakpur had a combined population of 1,165,111 (1.16 million) as per the 2001 census.
Famous for its architectural beauty and urban planning, it is also the second planned city of India, following New Delhi, which was designed and constructed in 1911. Chandigarh is home to numerous architectural projects of Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, Matthew Nowicki and Albert Mayer. The city tops the list of Indian States and Union Territories with the highest per capita income in the country at Rs.99,262 at current prices and Rs.70,361 at constant prices (2006–2007). As per a study conducted by Ministry of Urban Development, Chandigarh has emerged as the cleanest city in India.
After partition in 1947 of British India between India and Pakistan, the region of Punjab was also split. The Indian state of Punjab required a new capital city to replace Lahore, which became part of Pakistan during the partition. Quickly the Chandigarh project assumed prime significance because of the city's strategic location as well as the personal interest of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India.
On 1 November 1966, the newly-formed Indian state of Haryana was carved out of the Hindi speaking,eastern portion of the Punjab, while the western portion of the Punjabi speaking area was retained as the current day Punjab. However, the city of Chandigarh was on the border, and was thus created into a union territory to serve as capital of both these states. It was the capital of Punjab alone from 1952 to 1966..
The Rock Garden or Rock Garden of Chandigarh is also known as Nek Chand's Rock Garden after its founder Nek Chand, who started the garden secretly in his spare time in 1957. It is spread over an area of forty-acres (160,000 m²) and completely built of industrial, home waste and thrown-away items.The Rock Garden project was secretly initiated by Nek Chand around 1957. It was discovered by the authorities in 1975, by which time it had grown into a 12-acre (49,000 m2) complex of interlinked courtyards, each filled with hundreds of pottery-covered concrete sculptures of dancers, musicians, and animals. The authorities took over and the garden was inaugurated as a public space in 1976. The Rock Garden is still made out of recycled materials. It is situated near Sukhna Lake. It consists of man-made interlinked waterfalls and many other sculptures that have been made of scrap & other kinds of wastes (bottles, glasses, bangles, tiles, ceramic pots, sinks, electrical waste, etc) which are placed in walled paths. It is presently run by the Rock Garden Society.
Nek Chand Saini was an Indian self-taught artist. His family moved to Chandigarh in 1947 during the Partition of India. At the time, the city was being redesigned as a modern utopia and Nek Chand found work there as a Road Inspector for the Public Works Department in 1951. This creation has even been honoured by the Govt.of India by releasing a stamp in the year 1983.
After passing about 2 ½ hours time in the garden in the humid and hot sun, seeing various sections and appreciating the skill and insight of master planner: Nek Chand, and also new sections of Marine life/animals, fishes, reptiles etc., we moved to start for Delhi. On the way near Rohtak, we took lunch at a Haryana Tourism Restaurant and reached our home at Noida by 05:30 pm.
A fully satisfying wonderful trip.What more one could want from a such short ,convenient,local trips?.
Dr. A.K.Srivastava
August
2010
Acknowledgements: In order to make the article self-contained, content from various online sources like Wikipedia and physical sources like pamphlets have been referenced. They are too many to list but they are graciously acknowledged.