Naggar: Manali

PICTURESQUE NAGGAR


The quaint picture-postcard town of Naggar tucked away in the hills of Himachal Pradesh has always haunted me to revisit ever since my first trip in 2005. Perhaps the initial one was incomplete and I had to return to fulfil the desire. Last summer when I was discussing a recent trekking journey with a cousin, she expressed a desire to visit some interesting and non-commercial hill station and I couldn’t help but suggest Naggar. It overlooks the Beas River and is an absolute delight for the visitor. Moreover, since I needed to unwind myself after 6 months of constant deadlines, I knew Naggar was the best place which would work like magic to my senses.

We decided to take the trip during early March so that we could avoid the peak winter, yet enjoy the cool weather and perhaps catch a few snow peaks if luck favoured. Incidentally, it had also been a while since I’d met some old friends whom I’d befriended during my first visit and I looked forward to that as well. Since the owner of Hotel ‘Ragini’ (Manoj Bhai) was well known to me, I made a frantic call and booked our rooms and my cousin diligently fulfilled her responsibility of booking the bus tickets. Adding two more friends to our party we headed off with our backpacks on another impromptu trip with a shoe-string budget.

Good old Naggar:

Naggar is located at 1850 meters above sea level, which is 150 meters below Manali and 30 km away. An overnight bus (Volvo bus for Rs.700 per head) journey from Himachal Bhavan/ Chandralok Building in Connaught Place in New Delhi takes you to Manali. One needs to book tickets in advance from the same venue. We set off on a Thursday evening and settled in for a long 14 hours ride (590 km). Dinner was at a roadside hotel on the Karnal highway. Next stop was at the crack of grey dawn for some hot, sweet and milky tea. The glorious mountain sunrise on Friday morning and the gradually changing terrain was an amazing sight. Then we crossed Kullu and got off at Patlikul which stands on the banks of River Beas. An auto took us to picturesque Naggar which is a 10 minutes uphill ride. Setting foot in this place automatically brought forth a therapeutic feeling.

Very little had changed since my last trip three years ago. Hotel Ragini still stood quietly in its place, flanked by the majestic Naggar Castle with the backdrop of the snow capped mountains. The friendly and ever smiling face of Manoj Bhai greeted us with open arms and I felt at home again. Having checked into our cosy rooms (Rs.600 for a double bed) we relished tea and breakfast in the hotel’s roof-top restaurant. One can sit here for hours sunbathing and marvelling at nature’s magnificence.

A quick hot refreshing bath washed away our fatigue and we were ready to scout the village and soak in as much of natural essence as possible. A nature walk along the narrow paths and woods cleared our minds and respiratory systems. An atmosphere of chirping birds and a wide variety of flora and fauna calmed us a great deal. It was interesting to note that apart from some small tea shops and a restaurant (Om Shanti Café) my old Naggar was the same with its apple orchards, trees, birds and lots of warm and friendly people. The great number of foreigners (mainly Europeans and Russians) sometimes made us wonder if we’re still in India. We killed time until lunch. Post that, we decided to visit the Naggar Castle (visiting hours-all days) and the Roerich Art Gallery (visiting hours 9am-1pm and 2pm-5pm on all days except Mondays. INR 20 is the entry fee). Although the rains tried to dampen our spirits and quash our plans to take a trip down Naggar’s history, we braved the weather in our wind-cheaters and umbrellas (please remember to carry your own equipment).

History Lesson:

Late Prof. Nicholas Roerich was a Russian artist. He and his family had settled in Naggar for a long time, and after his death, their house was converted into a museum by the authorities. An art gallery has also been constructed adjacent to the house with his various paintings (Himalayan locales), artefacts, photographs etc. There were many enthusiasts like us at the location that evening and the semi-dilapidated structure’s wooden staircase creaked underneath all our weight. Since there was no electricity and the house was locked we obtained knowledge via peeping inside the rooms through the glass windows and reading the displayed plaques. A visit to the gallery was quite a learning event. The place was filled with Roerich’s paintings, sculptures, important photographs and a plethora of memorabilia. Interestingly, there was a display of paintings from a recent children’s painting competition as well which was rightly in contrast to the ancient works of art.

Although the downpour had stopped, the walk to the Naggar Castle was wet and cold. Thus we energised ourselves with some hot sweet tea. We learned that the town of Naggar was initially discovered by Raja Vishudpal. This later was made the capital of the Kullu Valley and the castle was built by Raja Bhosal which till date is a signature monument of the ancient Indian architecture. Today this building has been converted into a luxury hotel by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Department and you can get a guide to take you around the area to give to a fair idea of the historical importance. From the castle’s balconies one can get an extensive view of terraced fields and apple orchards below.

I had befriended a German-Norwegian couple the last time I was at Naggar. Karen and Claus were tourists then and are currently residents of a small rented cottage on the top of a hillock near an ancient Krishna Temple (fabled to have been built by the Pandavas). Hence, visiting them as well as the temple was a priority. We gave them a ring and confirmed their availability. Then we trekked through narrow muddy and hilly pathways and woods to reach their little cottage. It was lovely to enjoy tea and their hospitality and an amazing experience meeting my friends after a long time and visiting the temple. The view of Naggar from this point was breathtaking.

Our history lesson complete we returned to our hotel and curled up near the bon-fire lit in the terrace restaurant. Manoj Bhai in his usual hospitable nature had arranged this to keep us warm. The brilliant light of the flame as well as the twinkling lights from the nearby hills created a gleaming effect in the otherwise dark and cold evening. Dinner was light and delicious…thanks to the brilliant chefs of Ragini. We chatted and killed time until the fire died out and then returned to our cosy rooms and hit the sack right away.

The itinerary for Saturday was to see some important spots in the region. So we jointly decided upon Manikaran. This place is famous for its many temples (Lord Rama, Krishna and Vishnu) and gurdwara (Manikaran Sahib or Shri Guru Nanakji Dev Gurdwara). These were built around a hot spring in the Parvati Valley between the Beas and Parvati rivers. Manikaran is situated at an altitude of about 1760 meters and is located at least 66 km uphill from Naggar. Stuffing ourselves with a heavy breakfast, we booked a Maruti Van and set off on our journey.

Manikaran:

The drive to Manikaran was incredible. The mountains on one side and the Beas on the other brought a feeling of déjà vu of the drive to Lava in North Bengal some years ago. Sometimes some rain made the scenic beauty more breath-taking. In addition, bright colourful flowers and green foliage were a further treat to my eyes. After about 1.5 hours (63 km) we reached a small town and could only spot foreigners as far as the eye could see. Now the Beas was at ground level and we promised to wash our feet in the water on our return.

Manikaran welcomed us moments later. There are about three temples and a gurdwara on the banks of the Beas and the latter is famous for its hot water springs. Legend has it that some centuries ago the Sikh founder Guru Nanak Dev was in this area with one of his disciples (Bhai Mardana). Here Guruji has performed many miracles including creating a hot spring. We saw people of all faiths drinking, taking a dip and bathing in the hot water which was said to have healing, cleansing and purifying powers. We also noted that till date the spring water is used to cook gallons of food which is served in the gurdwara langar (mass feasts for the general public) every day. It is also a tradition to dip your little cloth bag of rice and dal (lentils) in this hot spring, cook it well and have it as prasad before leaving with Babaji’s Blessings. Praying to Babaji and eating the delicious food at the langar had satiated and fulfilled us in totality.

Another legend goes that Lord Shiva and Parvati lived in this region for thousands of years. When suddenly one day Parvati lost a gem (mani) from her earring and it was not found anywhere, the angry Lord Shiva opened His Third Eye in order to destroy the earth. Fearing the worst, the Gods requested Shesh Nag (mythological snake) to find the lost gem. The snake found that gem and many more with much difficulty and handed them over to Parvati. Hence, the place has been named Manikaran.

We stopped to wash our feet in the Beas on our way back. It was a wonderful experience and something which we didn’t want to let go with ease. But we had to return due to overcast conditions. Fatigued and famished we gobbled some food and hit the sack by 9 pm.

Since we didn’t have too much time the next day, we decided to catch a quick glimpse of the local Tibetan monastery which is famous for Tibetan thankas, carpet weaving and handicrafts. Then we did a round of some Shiva temples which have stood the test of time. Finally some souvenir shopping for the people back home included the local handicrafts (baskets, shawls, sweaters) and olive and almond oils and of course lots of delicious and juicy apples.

Adventure sports and more:

In case one is the adventurous type, Manoj Bhai can arrange for paragliding, white water rafting and biking tours. Trout fishing can be another form of pastime in this region. Besides these, the jungles around this area are infamous for wild marijuana plants. But one must know where to look and whom to ask for it.

Journey’s end:

Post lunch we headed for Manali to catch our bus from there. Since we reached there in an hour, we had time to kill. We made a quick research and noted that we could see a famous temple which was in the vicinity and then have some good lunch and dessert.
The visit to the ancient Manu Temple gave us an insight of the socio-cultural lifestyle of the Indians during that century. It is dedicated to Manu Rishi and is set some 3 km. from the main bazar in old Manali. This is famed to be the only temple of Manu (the creator of human race on earth).
We didn’t have to go far for food. The variety of food joints (Italian, Indian, German bakeries) and souvenir shops mushroomed here gave ample proof of the heavy footfall at this temple. We had Italian lunch in what looked like a shack but was surely a treat to our taste buds. Yummy chocolate dessert at a nearby German bakery filled our hearts.

Thus happy and satiated, we sat at a height to have one last vision of the scenic beauty and take in our last dose of crisp pristine mountainous air which we’ll not be provided in the near future. Our bus arrived at the scheduled hour and we set off promising to return to this enchanted land once again.