A Trip to Manali - Vashisht Temple & Club House

After visiting Hidimba Temple, Van Vihar and the Museum on Himachal culture, now was the turn for Vashisht Temple, another place of historical and mythological importance.

Vashisht Temple

Our next destination was Vashisht temple, which was in a small village named Vashisht in Old Manali, around 2.5 km from Mall road of Manali. The wooden temple is believed to be around 4000 years old and is dedicated to Sage Vashisht, one of the seven Hindu sages, who is also renowned as teacher (Aacharya) of Lord Rama. 

The temple is also famous for hot springs, which are believed to be curative in nature. There are separate arrangements of bathing for men and women. There is a story behind the emergence of hot springs, which says that when Lord Lakshman came to know that the old sage had to take long strolls to take bath, he shot an arrow in the ground and that's how hot springs emerged. 

The place attracts a lot of visitors especially foreign nationals due to old world charm of the tiny village and off-course the hot springs. We had to leave our vehicle around half kilometer back and then had to walk up to the temple. There are many shops near the temple, from where you can buy handicraft items.

                                                       Vashisht Temple                                           image courtesy www.go2india.in

Club House, Manali

Manali Club House was our next spot, which is located just 2 km from the mall road. It is one of the major tourist attractions of Manali and popular among kids and adult alike. Club House is basically an amusement zone, which has both indoor and outdoor game facilities. Tourists can enjoy indoor games like carom, billiards, skating & table-tennis. However the best part is outdoor games on Manalsu river, a branch of Beas river. Adventurous souls can try their hands at Zip- lining, i.e. crossing the river using ropeway. One can also enjoy rope jumping over the river, which gives thrilling experience, especially when you come in contact with the ice cold water flowing beneath. Observing these activities just sitting on a rock beside river flowing with full might fighting all obstacles in it's path is also a wonderful experience in itself.

Outdoor Sports at Club House Manali

Manalsu River

The club house managed by Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) also has an in-house restaurant offering delightful snacks and beverages, and there are few shops too, where you can get your hands on woolen cloths and local handicraft items.

Club House, Manali

We spent some time at Club House unwinding ourselves and purchased some traditional wall-hangings made of jute and then proceeded to a Tibetan Monastry which was recommended by our driver. The Monastry is a popular Buddhist religious centre in the region, which was built by Tibetan refugees during Sixties. Though the monastry is not very big in size, but it's vibrant yellow color coupled with it's exquisite surroundings makes a grand spectacle. There is a huge statue of Lord Buddha inside the monastry and number of murals on the wall depicting philosophies of Lord Buddha.

Tibetan Monastry

After visiting major tourist spots around Manali, we thought of spending an evening at Mall Road, which is the main commercial hub of the city. As we reached there, the street was already bustling with huge crowd and the atmosphere was electric. Though the pedestrian-only zone of the road is smaller than iconic mall road of Shimla and M G Marg of Gangtok, still it is worth spending some time taking a stroll at the mall road and trying some Tibetan cuisine. The road also houses Tourism Office, a range of hotels, taxi and bus stand and this makes the area chaotic and busy. We were informed that the beauty of this place increase manifold in the snowfall season. 

Mall Road, Manali

We had a wonderful time roaming around and trying local food at the mall road. With this, we had completed our local sightseeing. 

The most exciting part of our Manali trip was to start next day with Solang Valley, Gulaba & Rohtang Pass. Please keep visiting my blog page to know more about my travel to the most amazing Rohtang Pass.

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Exploring Himachal - Trip to Manali Part - II

In the previous post, i had written about my journey from Chandigarh to Manali and the tourist spots located in between. Our next day in Manali was earmarked for local sightseeing and exploring local markets of the hill station.

It was a sunny morning in Manali and when we came out of our hotel, we found the streets bustling with the tourists, tour guides and the locals. As i had said in the previous post that our hotel was also sort of a small view point, our sightseeing started from the garden of our hotel. The views were simply irresistible and superb and we knew our camera had a field day. Here are some glimpses of  natural beauty for you:

View from my hotel's garden

Hidimba Devi Temple

The first among our visit list for the day was Hidimba Devi Temple around 3 km from mall road of Manali, which is very popular among tourists due to it's location amid beautiful cedar forests on top of a hill and tranquil environment. The temple holds great significance for the locals and tourists alike, who visit the temple to seek blessings of Goddess Hidimba. 

The temple is dedicated to Goddess Hidimba, who was wife of Bhima, the strongest of Pandava brothers. As per Hindu Mythology, Hidimba, born into a Rakshasa Family, had taken a vow to marry the person, who will defeat her brother Hidimb, a brave and fearless giant. During Pandava's exile, Hidimb was killed by Bhima and Hidimba married Bhima and gave birth to Ghatotkach, who became a great warrior in Mahabharat battle. When Bhima and his brothers returned from exile, she stayed back and started meditation (Tapasya) to atone her sins and eventually attained the status of Goddess. 

People in Manali worship her as deity and especially during Navaratri, the devotees throng to the temple in large numbers.

The temple was built in 1553 AD by Raja Bahadur Singh in a distinctive architectural style having three square roofs and one cone-shaped roof at the top. It is a protected monument and it's premises are being maintained by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). One thing, which caught our attention was the skeletons and horns of animals hanging on the walls of the temple. There is an idol made of wood of Ghatotkach at some distance from the temple.

Hidimba Devi Temple

A long serpentine queue was there outside the temple to offer prayers to the goddess, when we reached there. It took us one and half hours to reach inside the temple.

Long Queue outside temple

See below the display board - Archaic traditions still continue

Horns & Skeletons of Animals

After the prayers, it was time for indulging in some fun activities, which are there in plenty. You can get your photographs clicked in traditional attire holding rabbit in your hands, you can ride the yak or you can buy souvenirs for your loved ones and yes, you can also spend some time in the Forest Park located just behind the temple. Traditional dress for women is called Pattoo, whereas for men it is known as Lachhoo. 

We also had our moment in the colorful dress and then we spent some time in the wilderness of mighty deodar forests. Sitting or taking a stroll in the tranquility of these forests far away from the chaos of urban life can reinvigorate one's mind and body and re-establish the broken link with the mother nature.

Van Vihar near Hidimba Temple

View from the forest

Himachal Culture & Folk Arts Museum

We also visited Museum of Himalayan culture and Folk arts located near the temple which was showcasing culture of Himachal through traditional dresses, utensils, musical instruments, wood carvings, paintings and several other traditional articles depicting life in mountains. The wide range of artifacts kept in the museum gave us a deep insight of the old-age practices and rituals followed in the hilly state. 

Museum of Himachal Culture & Folk Art, Manali

Utensils of Old days 

Statue of Goddess

After enriching ourselves with the Himachal culture, we proceeded further for our next destination Vashisht Temple, an ancient temple and a village of hot springs, about which i will write in the next post.

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Exploring Himachal - A Trip to Manali

Travel re-establishes the original harmony, which once existed between man and the universe. 

                                                       - Anatole France

Friends! After a long hiatus, i am back with my new post on my trip to Kullu, Manali and then onward sojourn to Shimla. Hope this will receive the same love and affection, which was showered upon my previous posts. In my previous post, i had written on the most beautiful city of the North India and the gateway to the Mighty Himalayas, i.e. Chandigarh, where i halted during my trip to Manali and Shimla. The city is a perfect place to start your vacation if you want to explore the serene hill stations of Himachal, for it sets the tone and gets you in the perfect mindset to enjoy what it's superior and divine vicinity has to offer.

After exploring natural and man-made marvels of Chandigarh, we proceeded for Manali by taxi, which we had hired for Chandigarh - Manali - Shimla - Chandigarh trip for a period of 06 days. 

       

From Chandigarh, three alternative routes are there to reach Manali, however, we went Manali via Rupnagar - Sundarnagar - Mandi - Kullu, which was the shortest route taking around eight hours to cover a distance of 308 km. The eight hour long journey in hills and numerous patchy stretches of road may give you jitters but at the same time, the scenery, which keeps unfolding before your eyes every now and then keeps you in good spirit. We had started our journey by 8:30 in the morning and by 01:30 or so, we had crossed Mandi, a prominent place in the tourism map of Himachal Pradesh. One can explore some off-beat tourists attractions of Mandi, such as Parashar Lake & Rewalsar Lake which are famous for several myths and legends attached to them as well as panoramic view of clear blue water body surrounded by lush green land and verdant hills. 

A well-deserved break was needed after travelling halfway through and we stopped at a restaurant, which was already over-crowded with the tourists, mostly honeymoon couples. Manali has always been a favourite honeymoon destination among it's indian counterparts due to it's eye-soothing and picture-perfect locations. 

After energizing ourselves, we resumed our journey with renewed zeal and by another one hour, we were near famous Pandoh Dam, which is an embankment dam built over Beas river. The river water flowing ferociously with thunderous noise amid lush green surroundings makes a magnificent spectacle. However the spot was in the news for a disastrous miss-happening few years back, as a group of engineering students  from Hyderabad drawn in the flash flood while enjoying in their college picnic. After that incident, going near the dam has been prohibited. We clicked some photographs and proceeded ahead, as our driver was insisting not to stay at the site.

Pandoh Dam

As we moved ahead, we noticed that we were in the company of beas river flowing  along the road till we reached Manali. As we were going upstream of the river, the calm and composed beas was turning more aggressive and fiery. In the process, it was offering us many breathtaking views to capture. We stopped at a view-point which was really offering good views of the evergreen landscape of river flowing amid mountains.

Beas river meandering through the mountains

The wires which can be seen in the above photograph are not for electricity or telecom, but a mode of goods transport from one village to other or from hill-top village to highway. Afterall, we are famous for finding indigenous solutions (Desi Jugaad☺) for our day to day problems.

Cables carrying goods for villagers

Tiny village atop hill

Our next stop in the route was Hanogi Mata Temple, which is loacted just on the highway  (N.H. - 03) and  is a must-visit place for travellers on this route. The temple is around 40 km from Kullu. The temple is dedicated to Hindu Goddess Hango Mata. Not only religios belief allures tourists to the temple, but it's location on top of a small peak and green mountain in the backdrop also catches the attention of the visitors. We also paid visit to the deity and took her blessings and then started the last leg of our travel to the hill station.

Hanogi Mata Temple, Kullu

As we were approaching Kullu, the sunshine was giving way to the chilly evening and while entering kullu, we were greeted by the brief drizzle, which also contributed in dipping temperature of the mountain. Kullu is known for it's handlooms, winterwears specially shawls, temples and water sports such as river rafting, surfing, kayaking etc. There is so much in kullu to explore, so we decided to spend a day in kullu, while returning from Manali. 

As it was drizzling in kullu, we thought we wold be confined in our vehicle for the remaining part of our journey, but the rain stopped abruptly, as we travelled further.

View of Kullu Town

Manali was still around 40 km away from us and now we wanted to reach Manali as soon as possible, as the day long journey had squeezed energy out of us. After one hour of journey, we had reached Manali. Incidentally, our pre-booked hotel was on the way and just 01 km behind the city, so out of a sudden, we realized that we have reached our destination for the day. The location of our hotel, Chandramukhi made us happy for our decision to stay in the hotel, as river Beas was flowing in the front and then a dense forest of pine trees on the other side and on top of that snow-laden Himalayan peaks peeking through numerous lush-green mountain ranges. Our excitement grew a notch higher, when we came to know that our room's window was also like a small view point.

View from our Hotel

The window-side view had given an indication of what was in store for us in next 2 -3 days in Manali. Our itinerary for next two days was local sight-seeing on the first day and Solang Valley & Rohtang Pass on 2nd day. I will share my travel story of Manali in my next post. Till then adios..