Samatva

The perspective of Buddha, Langza

Langza. Temples of Himachal ….12

The river Spiti is the spine of the region and Kaza, the largest town. It is about 3800 meters altitude. The river valley is somewhat narrow and hardly has any vegetation along it. A number of villages rise up the valley at different heights. Each has a patch of land, some large, some small, that surprisingly is cultivable.

Langza is one such village. It has less than 150 people. It is at 4250 meters. It is a sharp climb from the valley on barren mountain face. The road snakes through gaps in the mountains and then it suddenly opens up to the vista. You can see tiny specks of the village and houses at a distance.

The centrepiece of the village is the Buddha statue, giant, maybe 40 or 50 feet high. He overlooks the vast plains and it is difficult to get a sense of proportion with all that space. Right behind the Buddha is the 21000 feet Chau Chau mountain. With snow all around the year, it looks like a ice cream cone.

There are a couple of houses that host guests. When I reached early afternoon there was no one around at the place I was planning to stay. A toddler asked me to settle down and said his dad will come in a while. Time kind of doesn’t make sense here and he eventually came, hosted, guided and cooked for me. The womenfolk are totally engrossed in the farm work and don’t waste a minute of sunshine in late summer. Langza is also known for fossils which I didn’t buy from the two women bent on selling to me. I should have. I had plans for Annapurna in the autumn and thought I’d buy them there. I should have bought some in Langza.

Langza also leads up to Hikkim which the world’s highest post office; and further on to Komic which has a road at 4600 meters.

Langza and the Buddha, at 4250 meters, more than take the breath away. It is a different perspective.

Sun Temple of Sutlej Valley, Nirath

Sun Temple of Nirath. Temples of Himachal …3.

Depending on the source you rely on, there are 2 or 4 or 12 Sun temples in India. Konark takes most of the mind space, deservedly. Nirath along the banks of Sutlej in Himachal hosts one of the small and quaint Sun Temples. I was biking back from Chitkul, which is marketed as the last village in Indian territory. I know a 80 year old lady who has incredible travel spirit and she suggested stopping by Nirath. So, I went.

The town is a sliver of settlements between the Hindustan-Tibet (yes) highway and the Sutlej river. The temple is tucked away and you would miss it if you just stick to the highway. It has its own Goshala and a tiny grazing ground and in fact, a calf was lounging by the dining area when I paid a visit.

It was almost noon and there was no one around. The temple was locked, but there was a way to jump in. By the time I was ready to leave, someone came and opened the gate, and pointed out a mobile number scratched on the wall — a contact for the Pandit.

Nirath is small but the journey has its own rewards. Two hours from Shimla and the road drops by 7000 feet to reach the Sutlej valley, a spectacular drive by itself. In and around Nirath, you can see the magic that the Sutlej weaves, especially in monsoons. The drive is also along the apple country that eventually leads to Kinnaur.

Sun temple, Sutlej and apples… Nirath.

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