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Posted - August 2009
Places seen - Vashist temple (hot water springs), Naggar castle, Siyali Mahadev temple, Manu Maharishi temple, Hadimba temple, Club House, Manali Mall Road, Dagpo Shedrupling Monastry and Nature park Manali
Vashisht temple from outside.
Apple orchards along the way.
The entry of Naggar castle where there is an entry fees of Rs15/- per person. The shooting of the Jab we met was done here. The entire castle is made of wood and stone, no binding in between.
Moving to older Manali is the Siyali Mahadev temple which has beautiful wood carvings. The temple was closed. The next was the Manu Maharishi temple which is the temple of the ancient sage Manu it was closed too hence could not click some snaps.
The next stop was the Hadimba temple - dedicated to Hadimba – one of the wives of Bheema in Mahabharatha. The temple looks very different from the other Hindu temples with a pagoda shaped roof and animal figures all around the temple. The idol is placed inside a cave like sanctorum.
The famous Tamil movie (well also in Hindi) Roja was shot here as shown to be Kashmir in the original movie.
From here one can walk through the tall deodar trees to the Ghatothkach temple (the son of Bhima and Hadimba). To our suprise we found no temple there just weapons embedded in a tree which symbolises the diety Gathothkach. There are many small shops here where you get your name written in wooden barks, or idols in the same deodar wood, have a photo sitting on a yak or click with traditional Himachali dresses on. Adding a few pics taken here.
Walk to Ghatotkach temple from the Hadimba temple
The local area at the ghatotkacha temple where one can shop a bit and have a seat on a yak!
The Club House was our next destination as we had heard a lot about the place. There are all sort of activities for kids like Bungee jumping, go carting, play area, dinosaur museum, electric car and so on. Posting a few pics.
I picked up a few Kullu shawls here as they looked beautiful and original. We also took a pic of how it is made. He was making dress (I dont remember the name of it) which was to be worn for a marriage.
Had lunch at Johnsons. We had heard a lot about the place for its ethinic trout fish. We were suprised as the restaurant was relatively empty as liquor will not be served being an Independance day. Many people hopped in to pack take away's. The food was really good and its worth having a stop here.
Having filled our stomachs we took stroll around the mall road and saw a Tibetan monastry - named Dagpo Shedrupling Monastry. Posting a few pics.
Inside the monastry we saw a big statue of Lord Buddhain golden colour and around were some firece looking idols. Dalai Lama's photo was slo kept there. Rotating drums as the one shown below requires a mantra to be chanted while rolling the drums. There was slo a big drum which was always rotaing non stop!
Out next visit was the Nature park Manali. a beautiful place to befriend nature and spend some time after a tiring journey. At the entrance we happend to see this map and clicked it.
The day was really wonderful as we got to see a lot of new places. Tired we reached our hotel room for a good sleep.
Day 2
Our second day was sight seeing in and sround Manali. Our fist visit was to the Vashist temple - the temple of Vashisht Rishi which is also well known for its hot water springs where you can take a bath. 20 kms away from our resort the temple requires you to park you car and have a steep walk of 10 minutes to reach the temple. On either sides there are many shops selling himachali and kashmiri stuff.
In addition to the main temple of Vashisht Maharishi, there is an ancient temple dedicated to Lord Ram as well. Adding a few pictures taken there.
