Hills of Himachal

 

Last week, I was just sitting alone thinking about the best way to spend automn holidays and then it suddently came to me - Lets explore Hills of Himachal Pradesh (HP)! For quite sometime, I have been thinking of going to some place of historical, archeological and spiritual significance and the beautiful hills and valleys of himachal offers everything in the form of ancient temples and buddhists monastries standing modestly in the natural tranquility. I decided to go to Chamba region as it is within reasonable distance from Chandigarh. Within few minutes, I googled up hotels in chamba, laid out travel plans, took some winter clothes and here I was - ready to leave and explore the hills of himachal pradesh. I decided to accompany my sis Nilambra, a genius who is about to finish her doctorate, as fortunately, she is also based in Chamba. We reached bus stand and it was then that I found out that my classmate Vibhuti was also going to Chamba on the same bus! We started at 6:30 pm from Chandigarh on 1st Oct. and reached at 6:00 am on 2nd Oct. 

 

Chamba is a valley surrounded on all sides by lofty mountain ranges. It has a well documented history since 500 A.D. For more information about History and Culture of Chamba, this H.P. Govt. Chamba Tourism site is a good starter – http://hpchamba.nic.in/history.htm 

 

         

               Hills on the way from Chamba to Bharmour

 

2nd Oct: Nilambra di’s dad came to pick us up. As I had a glimpse of the budget hotel I booked, I found out that it was not exactly what they had shown at their website. Nilambra di’s dad asked me to join them in their home as their guest and I agreed happily. We were badly tired due to overnight bumpy ride in the State’s bus and after doing justice to the delicious pranthas, we just fell on the beds!

 

        

      A view of Chamba town from the roof of Nilambra di’s home 

 

Chamba is famous for various things with their initials as ‘Ch’. For instance, for Champak (a tree bearing fragrant flowers), for Chandi (silver), for Chappal (embroided leather footwear), Chamunda temple, Champavati devi (daughter of King Sahil Verman) and for Charming beauty of nature and women. Lately, Chamba also came into news for Chamera Hydroelectric project. In the evening, we went to local market, bought Chamba Chappals and ate gol-gappas!

    

       

              Chamba Chappal (embroided leather footwear)

 

3rd Oct: Girls wanted to stay home and watch movies, so I decided to move on and start exploring the chamba town. Referring my Library traveller’s book on Chamba, I went to the Church of Scotland. It is a beautiful church near the Laxmi Narayan Temple. This Church is remarkable for its fine stone work and buttress and lancer arch windows. The Church was founded by its first missionary the Rev. William Ferqueen in Chamba from 1863 to 1873. The building was gifted to the mission by Raja Ram Singh.

 

          

                     The Church of Scotland in Chamba town

Unfortunately, this Church opens only on sundays. So I could’t go inside and attend the prayers. Then I took the road to Bhuri Singh Museum. This museum was the idea of J. Phillip Vogel, an eminent Indologist who was serving A.S.I. and who through an intensive exploration had discovered, read and analyzed old inscriptions dispersed far and wide in the territory of Chamba state. These inscriptions mostly in Sarda and tarki scripts shed important light on the mediaeval history of Chamba. Following video is an attempt to highlight some of the museum’s collections.

 

      

 

 After the museum, I went to purchase Brass plates from a Metal Craft shop and then I did trekking to Dayanand Math. The Dayanand Math is based on the principals of Arya Samaj and is functioning in Chamba since 1970. It was founded by Swami Sarvanand of Punjab. Dayanand Math has since turned out to be a great religious centre. People from far and wide visit the place for their spiritual gratification. Gayatri Yajyas are performed twice a day. They believe that yajnas alone can undo the menace of environmental pollution. I talked to one of the students, who is getting training in Sanskrit and Vedic studies, about the Math and what they do there. This interview (in Hindi) can be seen in following video:

 

     

 

After that, I participated in yagya. a part of this yagya can be seen in the following video:

 

     

 

4th Oct: We met Dr.Patel, a MBBS doctor with an eccentric personality from Gujrat, who is travelling across India since 1979. He was also a guest at Nilambra di’s home. We decided to visit – Chattrari and Bharmour.  Chhatrari Devi Temple is one of the oldest temples in this region and was built in 7th Century. For more information about this temple and others in this region, you may like to visit: http://hpchamba.nic.in/TEMPLES.HTM 

 

        

                    A narrow lane to Chhatrari temple.

As you can see in the photograhs, some hill  houses have walls made just by overlaying uncemented rock stones, completely wooden balconies and roofs made up of slates! In Chhatrari, people grow maize in large amounts.

 

      

               Corn ears getting sun-dried over the roof 

 

      

                                  Chhatrari Temple\

     

            Roof Woodwork inside the Chhatrari Temple

     

              Roof Woodwork inside the Chhatrari Temple

 

Then we moved on to Bharmour. It is said that the King of Bharmour (then  Bharmapura) founded the Chamba town and shifted his capital in 500 A.D. I have been curious to visit bharmour since the day my classmate Anuj, who hails from this region, has shown me the photographs of Chaurasi (84 temples together in a complex). While the central temple is said to be built in 7th Century, others were built in 10th century. Each and every temple in Chaurasi complex is of high  archaeological and historical interest.

 

        

               Mahishasur temple – built in 7th century

        

             One of the 84 temples in the Chaurasi complex

      

          About Manimahesh Temple in Chaurasi Complex

 

       

        Central Manimahesh Temple in the Chaurasi complex

       

                        Inside one of the 84 temples

      

       Closer view of Manimahesh Temple in Chaurasi Complex

        

                         Nandi – the vehicle of Shiva

     

          Shiva-lingam in the Manimahesh Temple (700 A.D.)

      

                       Temple appurtenances

      

          Articles and cloth pieces tied on trees by devotees

      

             Another temple at Chaurasi complex

      

                 Refreshing scenery of Bharmour

 

Oct 5: Thanks to complete girlish laziness, we started unusually late for Khajjiar and Kalatop. Khajjiar is a small picturesque saucer-shaped plateau surrounded by dense pine and deodar forests, is one of the 160 places throughout the world to have been designated “Mini Switzerland”. Set against the backdrop of dense pines, deodars and lush green meadow, Khajjiar is exquisitely nestled down in the foothills of the imposing Dhauladhar ranges of the Western Himalayas. The dish-shaped Khajjiar provides a panoramic and breathtaking perspective to visitors. However, I am disappointed to say that unrgulated-commercialization and endless number of careless tourists are slowly taking the charm out of this place!

 

      

      A view of  deodar trees in the background of grounds of khajjiar

       

                      Metallic Statue of Lod Shiva      

           

                   I am inside this ball – rolling!

      

Then we rushed to kalatop. It is a very thick and dark forest that crowns the hilltop and that is why the place has derived its name as Kalatop which literally means a black cap. The spot really commands a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. One can see the hills, snow-capped mountains, the valleys, the hamlets, the greenery and the ruggedness standing from the place. The forest mainly comprises of the deodar, kail, spruce, ban trees and various bushes providing a safe habitat for wild animals. The place has already been declared a wild life sanctuary by the government and no vehicles are allowed in this region. So to reach the Foresh Guest house, built by Britishers in 1925 (pre-independence), we have to trek a track of 3 km in the wild. It is a beautiful place that offers serenity as you can see in the images below:

 

      

       Sitting on stairs of misty Forest Guest house at Kalatop

      

       Vib and Nilambra di enjoying ginger tea in the shades

       

        Tall Deodar trees on kalatop trekking track

       

                                     Amazing view

       

                 Cottage at Kalatop Forest guest House

  

Oct 6: We visited Chamunda temple in Chamba. A beautiful and holistic view of Chamba town is obtained from the premises of the temple. It has pent-roof of ordinary type of temples in the area but has beautiful wood carvings preserved in it.

 

      

                    Bells at Chamunda temple, Chamba

      

               A view from the Chamunda temple, Chamba

      

                  Another view of temple

In the evening, me and vibhuti boarded the state bus back to Chandigarh while Nilambra di stayed there. We had dinner at a dhaba stop and reached University at 6 in the morning. Its like – Back from Heaven!