Kinnaur - Part 1
Sarahan-Sangla-Kalpa
Life in Mumbai for working professionals can be pretty hectic and mundane. So my husband and I decided that the time has come for a break from Mumbai – from its local trains, cabs and autos. The thought itself was refreshing and we immediately sat down to plan for a trip. The Himalayas being our favorite destination, we zeroed in on the Kinnaur District in Himachal Pradesh a not so frequented place as the other famous areas of Himachal. After a lot of deliberations, we decided to only book the transportations in advance and for the lodging our plan was to check the hotels and book on the spot as for us more than the hotel décor the view and the location were important. We decided to start on a Friday evening on the second week of May from Mumbai, spoke to Man Mahesh Tours (a reference from IndiaMike.com) and arranged for an Alto at Rs. 10,000 for 8 days of our stay in Kinnaur. After that all that was left was to count the days.
Finally the second week of May arrived and we took an evening flight to Delhi, the plan being to catch the connecting night Volvo to Shimla. We arrived in Shimla at 7:30 AM and our driver Manoj was waiting at the Shimla bus terminus. I must say that inspite of visiting the mountains almost every year, we do get pleasantly surprised at the temperature variation of these regions. The morning chill in May forced us to wear our jackets and we were ready to go. We had planned to start right away for Sarahan, the temple town 175 km away, the gateway to Kinnaur.
Sarahan
The drive from Shimla to Sarahan was enjoyable with good mountain roads winding through tall pine trees. We took a short break at a small restaurant outside Shimla for our breakfast. The piping hot aloo-parathas with cold curd and pickle refreshed us and we started again. The drive from Shimla to Sarahan took us 6 hours and we passed many small towns with Narkanda and Rampur being the well-known bigger places. We first saw the muddy water of Sutlej an hour after crossing Narkanda and we were ecstatic. My husband, being a photographer, decided to take some picture whereas I decided to dip my feet in the famous ‘Sutlej’. The road after that was uphill and Sutlej followed us from there sometimes gushing and roaring at the same level as us (near Rampur) and sometimes far below like a brown ribbon. In many places the roads were just carved out of solid mountain rocks giving an impression of a huge hanging veranda with mountain on one side and deep gorge on the other.
We reached Sarahan at 3:30 pm and the Bhimakali temple and the temple rest house turned out to be such an inviting place that we decided to stay there. The continuous journey of 20 hours from Mumbai had taken a toll of me and I decided to rest for some time. The temple Aarti started at around 7:00 pm in the evening and the air was filled with beautiful musical sound and the entire atmosphere with white Himalayan peaks dimly visible in the background was truly magical. The Bhimakali temple is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas. According to a legend, the manifestation of the goddess is reported to the Daksha-Yajna incident when the ear of the Sati fell at this place and became a place of worship as a Pitha - Sthan. Presently in the form of a virgin the icon of this eternal goddess is consecrated at the top storey of the new building. Below that storey the goddess as Parvati, the daughter of Himalaya is enshrined as a divine consort of Lord Siva.
We woke up at 5:30 am next morning in Sarahan totally refreshed from the long journey the day before and went out to see the sunrise from the Srikhand peak at 5227 mts. It was a clear bright and sunny day with an inviting blue sky and we were happy as that day itself after breakfast we were to start for Sangla Valley. After having a hearty breakfast in the HPTDC hotel – The Srikhand - we decided to explore the small town. We were lucky to witness a cricket match played by the locals in a ground that was beautifully located with the town on one side and the mountain acting as a backdrop on the other side. The game was played with all its seriousness and it was fun to watch the local Tendulkars and Zaheer Khans fight it out. After long walk and local sight-seeing we decided to start for Sangla Valley which was around 100 km from Sarahan.
Life in Mumbai for working professionals can be pretty hectic and mundane. So my husband and I decided that the time has come for a break from Mumbai – from its local trains, cabs and autos. The thought itself was refreshing and we immediately sat down to plan for a trip. The Himalayas being our favorite destination, we zeroed in on the Kinnaur District in Himachal Pradesh a not so frequented place as the other famous areas of Himachal. After a lot of deliberations, we decided to only book the transportations in advance and for the lodging our plan was to check the hotels and book on the spot as for us more than the hotel décor the view and the location were important. We decided to start on a Friday evening on the second week of May from Mumbai, spoke to Man Mahesh Tours (a reference from IndiaMike.com) and arranged for an Alto at Rs. 10,000 for 8 days of our stay in Kinnaur. After that all that was left was to count the days.
Finally the second week of May arrived and we took an evening flight to Delhi, the plan being to catch the connecting night Volvo to Shimla. We arrived in Shimla at 7:30 AM and our driver Manoj was waiting at the Shimla bus terminus. I must say that inspite of visiting the mountains almost every year, we do get pleasantly surprised at the temperature variation of these regions. The morning chill in May forced us to wear our jackets and we were ready to go. We had planned to start right away for Sarahan, the temple town 175 km away, the gateway to Kinnaur.
Sarahan
The drive from Shimla to Sarahan was enjoyable with good mountain roads winding through tall pine trees. We took a short break at a small restaurant outside Shimla for our breakfast. The piping hot aloo-parathas with cold curd and pickle refreshed us and we started again. The drive from Shimla to Sarahan took us 6 hours and we passed many small towns with Narkanda and Rampur being the well-known bigger places. We first saw the muddy water of Sutlej an hour after crossing Narkanda and we were ecstatic. My husband, being a photographer, decided to take some picture whereas I decided to dip my feet in the famous ‘Sutlej’. The road after that was uphill and Sutlej followed us from there sometimes gushing and roaring at the same level as us (near Rampur) and sometimes far below like a brown ribbon. In many places the roads were just carved out of solid mountain rocks giving an impression of a huge hanging veranda with mountain on one side and deep gorge on the other.
We reached Sarahan at 3:30 pm and the Bhimakali temple and the temple rest house turned out to be such an inviting place that we decided to stay there. The continuous journey of 20 hours from Mumbai had taken a toll of me and I decided to rest for some time. The temple Aarti started at around 7:00 pm in the evening and the air was filled with beautiful musical sound and the entire atmosphere with white Himalayan peaks dimly visible in the background was truly magical. The Bhimakali temple is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas. According to a legend, the manifestation of the goddess is reported to the Daksha-Yajna incident when the ear of the Sati fell at this place and became a place of worship as a Pitha - Sthan. Presently in the form of a virgin the icon of this eternal goddess is consecrated at the top storey of the new building. Below that storey the goddess as Parvati, the daughter of Himalaya is enshrined as a divine consort of Lord Siva.
We woke up at 5:30 am next morning in Sarahan totally refreshed from the long journey the day before and went out to see the sunrise from the Srikhand peak at 5227 mts. It was a clear bright and sunny day with an inviting blue sky and we were happy as that day itself after breakfast we were to start for Sangla Valley. After having a hearty breakfast in the HPTDC hotel – The Srikhand - we decided to explore the small town. We were lucky to witness a cricket match played by the locals in a ground that was beautifully located with the town on one side and the mountain acting as a backdrop on the other side. The game was played with all its seriousness and it was fun to watch the local Tendulkars and Zaheer Khans fight it out. After long walk and local sight-seeing we decided to start for Sangla Valley which was around 100 km from Sarahan.
Good read Madhurima....Tor hobe...bhalo likhechish...part 2 likhle janash...Piyali
ReplyDeletewow...tui porechish..darun laglo...thanks....part 2 likhe definitely toke janabo
ReplyDelete