Bijli Mahadev is a kash style temple in Kullu velley of HP. It has a Shiva lingam which is made by help of butter as adhesive. this place got its name after miracles that happens occasionally. The Bijli Mahadev temple is dedicated to the "lord of lightning" and is 14 km southeast from Kullu.It is located on a high spur on the left bank of the river.this temple has an 18 metre high staff,which periodically attracts lightning during thunderstorm especially in the monsoon. This is regarded as a divine blessing, even though it shatters the Shivalinga in the sanctum of the temple.The stone fragments are then painstakingly put together again with a mortar of clarified butter and grain, by the head priest.
It is located on top of Mathan hills. One can reach Chansri village by taking public or private vehicle and then a 6 km trek from there. But the real charm of trek lies in interior of Kais wildlife sanctuary if you take the trail from Bijli Mahadev to Naggar. The valley is surrounded by a wide array of pine and Deodar forests. The orchards of different fruits in Jana village compliment more to valley.The trek is a steep ascent of over 2500 feet via forests trail that pass a couple of villages. After over 45 minutes of hiking, the villages are left behind and can see the begining of grasslands and catch a partial glimpse of templFVe top.another climb of few km.'s one enter the meadow of Bijli Mahadev. The trek can be completed in 2 hours and from the hill top one gets great view of kullu valley and confluence of Beas and Parvati rivers. You can also enjoy impressive views of Pir Panjal and Dhauladhar range.In summer and monsoon the whole region remain green and during winter season it receives heavy snowfall. At the top you will find enough stay and food options during summer season and can enjoy camping here.you can also head back from here to Kullu or a trek to Naggar from here by Nashala village
parashar valley
prashar lake is a place wrapped in arms of the snow capped mountains.scenic view of blue lake will make you to feel sublime.it is mainly a holy place for locals and weekend picnic spot for some outstations.this valley lies beyond the absolute glory of the himalayas. in this valley himalayan magic unfolds itself and it seems like all the towering mountains are rushing towards you.
it is believed that prashar rishi meditated in this region for almost 20000 years.there is a temple on one end of lake. the temple is built on pagoda style. the lake is is a small leke and a small land mass floats on it.this land mass rotates in lake from one corner to other. whenever i visited this place i have found that it was always in different corner.
the lake is guarded by wires so that tourist can not spoil the water and feed fishes. also the bank of lake is dangerous somewhere.
the lake is surrounded by beautiful grass land which gives different views during different seasons. i always loved it during snow and in november. the valley is full of beautiful places and dense pine forests, water streams, diverse wildlife, diverse vegitation etc makes this place to remember throughout of your life. there are lot of place to visit around it like tunga mata, majholi mata.there is no population near to temple and there are few buildings near temple used by people during festivals. the gujjars rests near the lake. you will also find two beautiful rest houses near the temple.
how to reach
if you want to trek you have two routes. one is from bagi and other starts from jwalapur in snore valley.
if you want to go by vehicle then you can come from mandi bagi prashar. it is 49 km,s from mandi and whole road is motorable. the road diverges from nh 20 after some km from mandi towards pathankot.the road passese through katola bagi and then prashar. you will find iit mandi in kamand which is under construction.the whole journey is full of picturesque beauty, cool breeze, and no traffic hassles.when you will travel half of the distance you will start reaching high altitude and dense devdar forests will give you breathtaking views.
from bagi you can also trek which takes around 3 hour. you can also take a cab from here. a hrtc bus also go there during summer from mandi at 7;30 am and it comes back same day from there at 1;30 pm.
as i have visited this place from all the routes i will prefer route by jawalapur for trekking lovers.jawalapur is a small village in snore valley and you can reach here by vehicles by a link road from panarsa on manali delhi highway.from here it is a moderate to tough trek of around 15 km. the trek goes from dense pine forests, narrow water streams. the forests are sheltor for diffrent wildlife and you will find himalyan bears common. the whole trek proceeds through narrow stream and on the way you cut to another hill.you will find pir panjal dhauladhar range around you and there scenic views gives boost to you. you can also diverge from here to tunga devi which is at top hill.on the way you will found a natural water pore under big stone which is believed to be of herbs and it is colder than refrigerator water. after drinking this water you will feel energetic and the way from here becomes more beautiful as you starts to reach on top. after 1 hour you will reach on top from where you need to turn left to reach temple.
this trek is only advisable for summer and if you are interested for winter then trek from bagi is advisable. stay options
2 forests rest house and temple own building
camping can also be done but for this you need to carry your own tent food options
enough shops and cafe best season
throughout year but best from march to november
In this post we will talk about importance of Dev Kamrunag in the history of Hindu religion.
The story starts from Mahabharat Kal during the Pandva time. Dev Kamrunag’s original name was Ratan Yaksh and he was a self learned warrior. A another story also give indication that he was a son of a woman which not have any son from a long time. she was blessed by Sheshnag Devta and she give birth to 7 child which all were Nag or snake. after some time the Kamrunag was captured in grass of Gumru due to an incident of fire by which all of nag escaped. Due to finding of him in Gumru he was named Kamrunag. This was the story which I had heard from my grandmother a long time ago, to be continue with other we were discussing he would practice by keeping Lord Vishnu’s idol in front of him and he considered it as his master, the Guru.At that time Mahabharat battle was going on and everybody was coming to know about it and wants to take part in it. He got to know about the story of Mahabharat battle being fought in Kurukshetra and decided to take part in it. Brave and courageous he was, he decided to fight with the weaker party, which meant he was going to join the army of Kaurav’s because at that time pandv were leading. Lord Krishana got to know about it and he decided to stop the self learned warrior before he could reach the battlefield. Disguised as a yogi, Lord Krishna appeared before the Yaksh. He asked him about his journey and told him about the hardships being experienced by wounded soldiers.
Ratan Yaksh was listened to the story and it strengthened his determination.
Lord Krishana gave him a tough test to find out the potency of his arrows and said, “I will be convinced if you can pierce every leaf of that enormous peepal tree with the arrow.” When the Yaksh was preparing his arrow, the Lord plucked some leaves and hide them in his closed fists. To his surprise the arrow pierced even the leaves in his fists. Then Lord Krishan asked him about his guru, upon which the Yaksh replied it to be no one but the almighty himself. And there Lord Krishana spotted an opening, transformed into his actual formless eternal form, and asked the young man for Gurudakshina, fee for services he had never offered to his student. The yaksh could not resist and he had to offer what the Lord had asked for, his head. He gave away his head and asked the Lord to keep it alive until the Great War was over. The Lord immediately agreed and blessed him with the same, his head was brought to the Kamru Hill and today it is known as Kamrunag Temple. Legend also says that the head was kept at the Nalsar Lake in Mandi district but because of climatic/physical/economical problems faced by the head, he was shifted on the top of the hill, from where he could see the greatest wars of all time, live and exclusive.
One can reach kamrunag from two ways. one way is from Jalpa Devi Temple and other from Tohanda. The Kamrunag temple is situated in Mandi District of Himachal Pradesh. For reaching Rohanda one can take bus or other vehicles from Mandi or Sundernagar which are major towns in Mandi District. From Mandi route via Chail Chowk is prefered. As I am from Chail Chowk so people from here prefer route via Saroa Jalpa devi to Kamrunag. It is a very beautiful way with dense devdar forests. Reaching Jalpa Devi temple is a matter of not more than 3 hours.
Jalapa Mata Mandir
Temple Inner view
The temple is built in pagoda style and there is a unique story associated with it. In those parts of Himachal, construction work of any temple should be done without eating anything but fruits. Few years ago, when the temple was almost complete, the laborers worked on eat after they had their full course meal and the temple fell down the very next day. It was reconstructed again and today it is one of the most beautiful temples in Himachal Pradesh that I have seen. The trek starts from here and one can reach here by Mandi from his own vehicle or on taxi. It is around 45 km from Mandi. From here it took four hours to reach Kamrunag lake. The pilgrims of nearby area visit this place probably one in year in month of June. In local language it is called Saja and people from different parts of Mandi and of other Distt too visit this place on that day. it is called Sarnahuli mela.
On the way to kamrunag one will reach Jhaur on the way which is shallow hole that never runs out of water. In my area all water supply comes from this area Jhaur. The second landmark is Khunda, which marks the start of the boundary of Dev Kamrunag.
On the other way from rohanda it will take around 3 hours to reach the temple.it is a 9 km trek with steep way. From this way you will also reach Jhaur. For the experience of greenery wild forests mildews etc you must take route of Saroa. Some beautiful place picture in the track of Saroa to kamarunag
When you will be near to temple you will feel like entering into heaven. dense deodar forests and other views removes your all tiredness.
In the last you will reach Kamrunag temple which is situated at bank of a natural fresh water lake. It is situated at a height of around 10000 feet.
The lake contains gold and silver as devta only take donation in form of gold and silver. If some people put donation on the temple then it is also thrown in lake later. The lake remain frozen from december to april every year. The Kamrunag dev also is very important in mandi region and also called Bada Dev means biggest devta. It is most popular in the area and is also famous for his control over wheather. All festivals or functions in nearby area is protected from rain if hosts requests the devta. The famous Shivratri International fair is also starts by the presence of Bada dev and is worshiped first. Devta never travels by vehicle and it took around 2 months to reach mandi and back at home. On the day of Sarnauli you can call kamrunag lake lake of gold also.
The devta was offered with goat which were countless in past but from the time when high court of HP made ban on it was stopped. Local people make a sweet dish called Bakaru which contain dry fruits and coconut. Every people in the region made these bakaru and offer firstly it to devta and then distribute to other people. We can say Devta have a huge effect on the local area and it is believed that if you wish something from Dev Kamrunag it will come true. In the area many people are blessed with Children which had no hope.
I will end my post here and later i will discuss more in the trek from Kamrunag to shikari which is also very popular place as I will visit it next year.
Kheer ganga...refresh your spirit in mid of parvati valley
Before moving towards Kheer Ganga and about its trek i will briefly introduce you to Parvati valley. Parvati valley circuit is the perfect brew to calm an agitated soul.the crisp mountain air,delicious Israeli food and above all that worlds best marijuana makes it "Amsterdam of India".It is also called hippie paradise.Beautiful placesare often hidden away in the most easily accessible of places and Parvati valley is one of them. Parvati valley in Himachal is one of the beautiful destinations in the world to escape from the stresses of a mundane life.it is also famous for its hot springs.
"PARVATI VALLEY IS NOT ONLY A PLACE TO LOST BUT IT IS A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN FIND YOURSELF"
KEEP CLOSE TO NATURE'S HEART....AND BREAK CLEAR AWAY, ONCE IN AWHILE, AND CLIMB A MOUNTAIN OR SPEND A WEEK IN THE WOODS, WASH YOUR SPIRIT CLEAN. {JOHN MUIR}
How to reach
For reaching Kheer Ganga you must come to Bhunter 6km away from major town Kullu. After that you can take a private/public vehicle to reach Manikaran or you can go Kasol. Kasol is a small village on the bank of churning and frothing Parvati river on one side and looming pine trees on the other. Every bend in the river opens up to an exciting vista of pine trees cliffs and waterfalls. At Kasol you will find a lot of Israeli cafe and inside them you will get a lot of weed smoker. At this p[lace you will always find 70% foreigners.you can take private vehicle to Barshaini from where the track start.Other way is to reach Manikaran Sahib and can take vehicle from there to Barshaine.
Manikaran is a holly place for both Hindu's and Shikh. Manikaran Sahib is a huge Gurudwara tucked between imposing hills and fierce Parvati. There is a very old Ram Mandir which have very importance in Hindu culture. there are a lot of hot water springs where the local people uses for many works.you can even cook rice in the hot spring water. The devout take a dip here to wash their sins and illnesses away as the spring water is believed to have healing properties.a story regarding hot spirngs is a serpent stole the earrings of parvati,the consort of lord shiva,and disappeard with them into a deep burrow. on witnessing shiva's terriable anger,the snake was too terrified to come out of its hole,but managed to snort the earrings out through the earth, thus creating vents from which the hot springs bubble out.
The trek
BARSHAINI
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When we were travelling to Kheer Ganga we reached Barshaini at 2pm. As we are near to this place we started our journey at 10 am in our Scorpio car. we had lunch at Kasol and reached after that Barshaini. It is the last place where the road is motorable,the trek start from here.There is a power project called Malana-Phase1. Here we packed some snacks andf water bottel as price rises when you starts going upward. The track is around 12 km and take around 4 hours depending upon your fitness level.After starting trek you will find a lot of people in season time to give company you.
I can promise you when you will start reaching Parvati narrow streams bank you will get more motivation to reach and more you will refresh.We as are from hilly area too we were quite comfortable to climb as it was normal to us. we were heading backward many people among which maximum were south part of India. We found a lot of foreigners in the way which all were good in trek like us.the trail meanders along the Parvati and you will find enough stay,eat and smoke options throughout the trail. We just had some rest at a small cafe before reaching a proper settlement at Nagthan. We had some snacks and coffee at this place and rested around 45 minutes here.after some km you will reach Rudranag and it is a revered site for Hindus. After that you will cross a narrow stream of Parvati from where you can say real Parvati valley starts. you will find a lot of stalls for food items. you will get a lot of waterfalls on the way. a dense Devdar forests starts from the other side of stream and you will enter into heaven.I was climbing hills so easily like the plain road as i was sublimed in the nature beauty. there were some good arrangements for waste and as a local people told me about that they are afraid of NGT to operation here like Rohtang pass so Mahila mandal is working to keep away the NGT from this place.On the way we found a good stall where some people were singing local songs and we decided to have a banana shake here.the stall owner was very kind person and he reduced his price for us as we were locals. We had breakfast another day at his stall while returning.after resting here about 40 minutes we decided to boost up our speed as sunset was near.
we reached Kheerganga at 6 pm and we were very satisfied with our speed.As we reached there i was very happy and it was a sublime feeling.trans were playing all around and more than that natural beauty.it is a tiny meadow atop a hill, which is also a Hindu pilgrimage site.it is believed to have lord Shiva meditated here for 3000 years.here you will find yourself in abode of Shiva. You will find yourself in a different world and you will forgive everything until the moment you will be there. now for bad reasons it is a hippie site as you will find weed easily here and you will see maximum people around you smoking. at the start of hill we met a person called Justin from California. he played flute for us and was a good person to talk. we had conversation with him around half an hour and next day also.after that we decided to have a bath at the water spring. you will find a small water pool of hot water in which you will find a white cream due to which it is called Kheer Ganga. there is a story about it in Hindu books. a temple of Shiva is on the other side of pool. the pool water is believed to be good for health and skin. you will get feel like drunkenness as you will spend more time in pool as it contains Sulphar. we had a 1 hour bath at pool and after that we try to find out a lodge for night stay. you will easily get a lodge for stay in cheaper price that is 100 rs per night. You will get a very good food at this place as you cant imagine how it is possible in that type of remote village.you can eat Israeli, Japanese,Spanish,Chineese Indian etc food there.you will find lodges full of foreigners enjoying weed and trans playing. you can feel another world here. Next day we had a hike around the place and another bath. we prayed at temple and march back toward home. It was such a spirit refreshing trek that will always remain in my heart and i always will try to visit this place again.
Hope you have liked my post and you will be helped by it in your trek. In the last i want to say that respect nature whatever you go and don't harm it anyway
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