BAIJNATH

Baijnath is a beautiful town  situated in kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. Baijnath is famous for its beauty and ancient temple of Lord Shiva . Several monasteries also exist of Buddhist monks nearby. The temple is situated on the bank of river Binwa..

Baijnath Temple is famous for 13^th century temple dedicated to Lord shiva. According to Hindu mythology it is believed that during Treta Yug, Ravana pleased lord shiva by offering his 10 heads. Influenced by his worship the Lord Shiva restored  his heads .Lord  Shiva also converted himself into Shivling and gifted the same Shivling to Ravana  ,and warned him that not to place Shivling down on the ground on the way. Ravana in the way towards south feel the urge to answer nature’s call. On seeing a shepherd, Ravana handed over the Shivling to him and went away to get the relief. The Shepherd finding Shivaling very heavey  Put the linga on the ground .Thus Shivalinga got established there in the form of Ardhanarishwar.

In Baijnath,  Dussehra is not celebrated as, Ravana is repected here and is not burned in flames. Also there are no blacksmiths in the town.

The temple is very beautiful. There are lot of inscriptions on the walls , doors of temple. Temple is enclosed with high walls from all 4 sides. Prayers are offered in the morning  and in the evening daily


Downside the temple ,stairs lead you to river Binwa ,also called "kheer ganga". One can enjoy bath here in the river.

One can also visit the market of Baijnath ,and can buy things. Local food is also very tasty and they keep cleanliness in the shops.

Choukling Monastery is situated in a place named Bir, which is 10 kms away from Baijnath. Monastery is very large and  beautiful ,and a must place to visit. Small monks can also be seen living and worshiping together.

One can also visit places like Bir,Billing, One can enjoy aerosports here. Paragliding can be done. World Level Paragliding Championship is held here.

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Trip to kullu-Manali

Trip to Kullu-Manali: Since my school days… I always heard friends talking about kullu-manali trips, movies showing the beauty of that place, honeymoon trips of couple to that place.

Finally one good day me and my friend decided to visit that place on our bike… we started  from jogindernagar(H.P.)  Jogindernagar  is hill town in Mandi  district, named after Raja Joginder  Sen. Riding the whole way from Jogindernagar ,we reached Mandi.  Mandi is a beautiful district of Himachal Pradesh. River  Beas flows though  it.  Gurudwara  Shri Guru Gobing Singh ji ,is located in Mandi district. It consists belongins of Guru Sahib’s such as holy bed , holy gun, holy rawab ,holy mattress etc. Gurudwara is very beautiful.

After visiting Gurudwara and bowing our heads…we moved   further towards Kullu.  Few kms away ahead from Mandi, some sound stopped us…and the view was exotic. It    was   Pandoh Dam. It is on Beas river in Mandi. The sound of water hitting ground was so much that it could be heard from a km easily.

 Then we start moving towards kullu. In the whole way river beas accompanied us. It flows besides the road. Several hanging bridges of iron could be seen on the river beas.

Then we came across a huge tunnel of 2.8 km long.It is called Kullu-Manali tunnel.  Smell of wet rocks  can be felt inside it.

Finally covering 120 kms we reached Kullu. Kullu is located on the bank of river beas. Here the flow of river beas is very  fast. The water is also very cold of the river …as it comes directly from the glacier. One can enjoy river-rafting, rope-way river crossing ,camping & trekking here.  We enjoyed river-rafting there. Our stay was at hotel “kailash”. The market of kullu is also good. One can eat and shop here. We spended night at   hotel. Whole night I was curious to visit “Manali”.

Next  morning we started moving  towards Manali. Manali is 40 kms away from kullu. While moving towards Manali we stopped our bike at  “bhunter” after reading a board. It was a rabbit- farm named Angora Rabbit Breeding Farm. It was started by Mr P.P.Gupta in 1965. There are large number of  rabbits there of bigger  size. One must visit this farm .Finally driving the whole way we reached Manali.

Manali is a beautiful hill station covered with snow mountains. Foreign Tourist also   visit this place. One can do skiing, paragliding ,hill climbing, camping and trekking here.

First we went to Hadima Devi temple ..also called Hindimba Devi Temple. It one of the most  beautiful and most visted place of Manali. It is  in waiting list to become UNESCO world heritage site.Acoording to Hindu Mythology, in the era of Pandavas(Mahabharata) Bhima married hidimba, after killing hidimb(brother of hidimba).Temple is sourrounded by beautiful cedar forest consisting pine and deodar trees.

Temple consist  of three  square roofs covered with timber tiles, and a brass cone  shaped roof at the top. Inside the temple there is a huge rock with a small brass image representing Hidimba Devi. At the gate of temple one can ride on yaks. Local boys who provide yak-ride are available there.

                         

 Then we went to  Vashist Temple. It is 3 km away from manali.Temple is at the height and near to a market. Temple is good and inside the temple there is a black stone idol of Vashist Muni. According to mythology it is 4000 yrs old. There are wooden carvings on the temple. Temple also consists  hot water springs which is believed medicinal. Separate bathing arrangements for men and women is avialble.

                               

At the night, we enjoyed and roam 
across the market in manali. The market looks beautiful at the night. It’s a really good place for shopping and food. You can buy Sweaters, Shawls , Stoles , Mufflers and many things. Local food is also tasty…and a lot of restaurants are also there to hang around.

Do spend some time in Manali. Enjoy scenery around river Beas.

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A visit to NARKANDA/HATU PEAK

A visit to NARKANDA/HATU PEAK: Narkanda is small hill town situated at an altitude of 2708 mts ,few kms ahead of Shimla in Himachal Pradesh -the hill of Queens. It is one of the  favorite tourism and travelling  spot in Himachal Pradesh for people who loves travelling and sightseeing in the mountains. People who visit Shimla must also give a try to this beautiful place. Below are some places to visit in Narkanda.

Hatu peak is situated at a height of 3352 meters. From Narkanda to Hatu is a very steep ride with scary turns .The smell of tall deodar trees could be felt easily on the way.  The steep valleys gaves you a, mesmerizing view and charms  you and at the same time.. Reaching on the top one can have the view of Shrikhand- Mahadev range of Himalayas. Luckily I had that view. Drive itself is worth remembering. If you like Adventure Trip, hike up the Hatu Peak. While heading towards Hatu-Peak do check the weather.

                          

Right on the peak, lies the Hatu Mata Mandir. The Mandir is built in with wood. Temple is very beautiful .Stories exist that this temple was built at a place where Draupadi  died when Pandavas were heading towards the heaven. Around the temple there exists carved wooden panels signifying  stories of epics Ramayana and Mahabharata .The panel  itself signifies a good work of art.

                               

While coming back from the Hatu-Peak  to Narkanda, we  turned our bikes towards a beautiful lake aka  “Tani Jhubbar Lake”. It is a small artificial lake  near Nag Devta Temple. Temple consists a simple idol in small room. Tani Jhubbar Lake has tall deodar trees all around it. It is a pleasure to sit or walk around the lake .The atmosphere is quite and shady, with chirping of birds. Tani Jhubbar is also a popular picnic spot for the local Himachalis.

One can also visit Kotgarh , Thanedaar .They are the  places  full of vegetation and fruits.Visit these places around months of June-July when the trees are full of Apples. Other Fruits include peaches, and berries. You will also find dry fruits like almonds, apricots.

Do try to spend some days in narkanda...:-)

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