Samatva

Hatkoti, on its own

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.

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.

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

Lake placid at Renukaji

Renukaji, Temples of Himachal …2.

Renukaji is one of the quietest lake fronts in India and on Christmas holiday in 2017, I could not spot more than a dozen overnighters. Strange, considering the reserve area is only three hours from Chandigarh.
Perhaps, because hotels are not allowed to set up shop, that makes the place less attractive, comfort wise. Hidden inside Sirmour district of Himachal, it remains aloof from the rest of the State in every aspect.

The birthplace of Parasurama, his mother is said to rise from the lake once a year, and a temple is dedicated to the same.

I reached Renukaji from Kalsi,a Buddhist edict and another interesting story, and travelled through roads that I would never be able to find again. I reached Renukaji only by evening. And while in the morning, the magical December mist had just begun to unfold, I had to leave.
Sometime again, Renukaji.

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