Hatkoti, Temples of Himachal… 5.
Shimla is over visited, so is Dehradun-Mussourie. Surprisingly, the region between Shimla and Dehradun is not. There are several routes, some as short as six hours.
Hatkoti is in one of them, a 100 odd kms east of Shimla. This is the start of the Yamuna river territory. Every drop of water that falls on this side finds its way to Yamuna and eventually to Allahabad and Varanasi and Bay of Bengal. The road passes through Karapathar: a hill station that Himachal tries to hide for its own good. You can see all the snow you want, and also leave behind the crowds of Kufri and Shimla.
Entrance gate of Hatkoti
The Hateshwari temple is at Hatkoti, where the road meets the river Pabbar. At Hatkoti, Pabbar opens up into a wide valley and the temple overlooks the valley and the rice plains.
On an idle day, there is so much to do around. You can wander in any direction and into any field as guests are assumed to be non threatening. There was a dam under construction and I even slithered up the spillway without anyone objecting. The depth of knowledge in the chit chat within the temple; the extent of their global awareness stunned my assumptions.
December Sun at Hatkoti
Gup Shup at Hatkoti Temple
Hatkoti temple, on its own
Guardians of Hatkoti
Shrines of Hatkoti
The route from Hatkoti towards Dehradun is bliss. It snakes along the Pabbar river at level; jumps over the confluence of Tons and Pabbar; and then runs along the Tons for several miles. There is not an outside soul and no Gujarati, South Indian, Chinese Vaisnavi Dhaba. I stopped at the riverside and was served fresh milk tea, by a Gujjar family.
Temples, rivers and hospitality, Hatkoti, Himachal Pradesh
Pabbar river that meets Tons to flow into Yamuna eventually
