Samatva

Mataji, Mountains and Maggi, Dainkund

Dainkund. Temples of Himachal… 6.

There are several temples in Himachal on hilltops. Although they are neither grand nor popular, the location makes up for it.

Dainkund is one such temple. At about 9000 feet height, it is near Dalhousie, itself lesser visited than Dharamshala or Shimla. It is a nice family hike, not too strenuous for anyone; It offers a 180 degree plus view of Himalayas, if you are blessed with a clear day.

Dainkund is a hilltop drive from Dalhousie till a fork, after which the road is controlled by armed forces. My guess is a radar station and missile defence. That makes it a perfect location for the Himalayan vista too.

Each morning a defence vehicle comes down the hills and clears the start of civilian traffic. It is a snaking drive up to another spot where all traffic is stopped. Then you start walking: a sharp climb to a ridge and then walk on a narrow ridge top. It snows heavily and the repeated tourist flow melts and hardens the snow making it slippery to walk. After about 45 minutes or so, you reach the temple. Like most of the traditions of Himachal, this is a Devi temple, for Phaloni Devi.

Dainkund gives you early snow, a short family hike, a great snowcap view, ridgewalk, and picture book maggi.

Mataji, Mountains and Maggi at, Dainkund, Dalhousie, Himachal

Everyday life at Kali Bhari, Shimla

Kali Bhari at Shimla. Temples of Himachal …10.

There are grand temples, there are popular temples and there are temples at great locations. Then there are some that are part of everyday life.

Kali Bari temple in Shimla is a part of the daily life. It is an interesting blend of native history and migration. Kali as Shyamala represents what is native,  giving the city its name; and as Kali, gives identity to the Bengalis who accompanied the British into the city in its early years.

It is at the western end of the ridge, a few hundred meters after Scandal point where most tourists stop. My client in Shimla has a habit of walking to the temple every day, and I have accompanied him a few times.

The temple is grand because of this routine of its devotees. One June, we were at the temple when it had started raining heavily, The chill was unbearable and bare feet were making it worse. I took a glance from within the temple outside.

There is a small but open courtyard and you can look at all of Shimla from there. A bench if you are tired of the walking, a tiny oil lamp on the wall, shielded from the rain and snow; which must have been here since 1845. Then the sight of modernity –  a solar lamp post. The sight of the bells in the background of dusk, create serenity. The locality is nothing such, but faith does create an oasis.

Everyday life at Kali Bari temple, Shimla

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