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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