Samatva

Variety of Manikiran

Manikiran. Temples of Himachal …. 8

Manikiran is a pilgrimage for Sikhs.. and the area around is bewildering mix of experiences. Manikiran is above hot sulphur springs. The small sarovar within the Gurudwara is always comfortably warm; and there are elaborate arrangements to stow away your shoes and clothes before the bath, including small plastic mugs. The Langar is cooked in the hot springs and needless to say, the Kitchen is always on.

Manikiran is on the banks of Parvati river which hints at its antiquity. The river cuts a narrow, deep valley; and for most of its length till it meets Beas at Kullu, it is hardly even visible from the road. People say that large parts of the valley don’t see the sunshine at all.

Kasol is nearabout and is a mecca for Israelis, if you can overlook the oxymoron. When I had first seen this area in 2013, I couldn’t believe you could have Hebrew menus deep in Himachal. It is a favourite jaunt for Israelis after their mandatory defence service.

That also made the nearby Kheerganga popular. There is term that a traveller friend of mine, Jitaditya Narzaryuses; Kasol Kids, who look for packaged adventure and selfies. So much so there have been murders and camping is no longer allowed.

It has one of India’s first private hydro plants, with water scavenged at mountain top and brought down 800 mts through a tunnel in the mountains. The project built a road. In 2013, I took the chance to drive up what was still a Kacha road for construction trucks. I had to sign a no liability declaration before the power plant would let me up the road. The road brought the legend of Malana closer to civilisation.

Malana is a settlement at 8000 feet. The villagers of Malana believe they are descendants of Alexandar, left behind by the war. They practice true social distancing from outsiders and you may have to pay a fine if you lean on a wall in the village. It is left by the Government to its own laws and grows the truly world famous Malana cream, cannabis. The neighbourhood is famous for constant rave parties.

This area has a bewildering variety, tough israelis fresh from service; weak kneed Kasol Kids; inbreeding and wary villagers of Malana; Delhi kids coming with a single aim of getting stoned; unspoilt kids of Parvati valley itself; trekkers to the Pin Parvati pass; and power plant engineers. Amidst all, Manikiran is still true to its antiquity, a pilgrimage. That is what we did on my second trip in 2017, with Virendra Dhir on his birthday.

The variety of Manikiran, Parvati Valley, off Kullu, Himachal

One of her kind, Bhimkali at Sarahan

Most temples in Himachal are small. That is the burden of the terrain. There are a few exceptions. Sarahan is one. It is on the Sutlej valley, just before the famous Kinnaur district. Once the road from Shimla drops down to the Sutlej valley, the drive is magical. It hugs the river for the entire stretch until it reaches a place called Jeori. A branch road climbs up to Sarahan. A paramilitary camp is on the way to Sarahan. I was about to cross the camp on a bike, and was waved down. I was a bit tentative, it was a hired bike and I didn’t know what to expect. Then the soldier offered me tea. The camp serves tea to everyone who passes by. He was chatty, but giving zero details of what was the camp about; and there are strict warnings of no photographs. High up on the hills, about 800 meters above the river valley is Sarahan. It has the Bhimkali temple, one of the Shakti Peeths in India. It also has a fearsome reputation of human sacrifice until 17th century, but these stories can be mere legends. It is a really large temple in the mountains. A beautiful mix of stone, wood and slate, it both stands out and blends into the landscape. A lovely perimeter, small shrines and two tall towers. The deities are at different levels. There is also a small guest house within the temple that is open to public. Sarahan is also a beautiful hill country. There are endless small roads around Sarahan, leading to no place in particular. There is also a pointless manmade park amidst all the natural beauty, made maybe because there was a budget for doing something. I went to Sarahan in August, when the whole region is covered by clouds and mist. Anywhere around Sarahan is a great visual treat. Visibility beyond a hundred feet was just a pale haze. Every now and then the mist would clear a bit and I could a bit more of the hills. Towards evening, it settled rapidly; and the Sutlej river lifted itself into view appearing out of the mist. It was also apple harvest season. Anywhere you walk, you can stretch your hand and pick an apple. If you are lazy, you can also help yourself from crates of plucked apples left on the road; trucks would come at their own schedule to pick them up. For some reason, I had carried Rain, the first book written by my friend Sriram. I finished the book while I was in Sarahan. The monsoon, the solo trip, and the general forlorn character of Sarahan was a beautiful complement to the theme of the book. If you have two days around Shimla, visit Sarahan; and if you can spare three hours for great prose, read Rain by Sriram; preferably together.Bhimkali temple at Sarahan

Coming out of Mud, Dhankar

Dhankar. Temples of Himachal….7.

Spiti is sparsely populated. It is part of a district that has 3 people per sq km that makes up for less than a percent of India’s density. I was sold on this area by one of the earliest outlook travellers books on Himachal. It had a trek called Spiti left bank trek. I stepped out with an ambition to do it solo.

Once I reached Spiti, I quickly gave up on the trek idea. The heights, landscape and desolation scared me off the solo idea. The trip became a slow travel over ten days or so. Dhankar was one of the stops.

It is a monastery on a ridge line and makes for spectacular views. It is on a mud cliff, all sides and edges ragged by raging winds; and then snow that drags the mud down every season. It looks like a giant termite mound as a result. The location overlooks the confluence of two great rivers, Pin and Spiti, which eventually become the Sutlej.

I reached by afternoon and then ran into a small group of very serious young photographers from Karnataka. They use only the morning and evening sunlight and were maniacal in their attention to detail.

Next morning, they decided to climb up the mountain further to get an early morning shot of the monastery and I went along with them. The monastery itself is at about 12500 feet and we went some bit higher. The Sun slowly crept up on the ridge line and the shadows receded, lighting up the monastery.

Dhankar has other distractions, a short hike to a mountaintop plateau with a lake. An abandoned Santro car, since towing it to Manali is not worth the salvage value, a really cost monastery hostel, budding monks and great food.

I also realised that Hrishikesh Sagar, one of the serious photographers, is a wonderful wildlife enthusiast, and his photos are a pleasure to see, everytime.

Coming out of Mud. Dhankar Monastery, Spiti, Himachal Pradesh