Religious cum Excursion Tour Of Himachal Pradesh

We planned religious cum excursion tour of Himachal Pradesh. First of all we checked with Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC), Chandra Lok Building, Janpath, New Delhi & booked hotels. Normal clothes were packed as weather of Himachal was not very cold, to be on safe side we took one sweater each. We left for the trip by road in first half of 2012.

Reached Chintpurni  late in evening from Delhi after a drive of just above 400 km. Chintpurni temple is 3 km from the hotel Chintpurni Heights of HPTDC at Bharwain, Distt. Una. It is believed that Lord Vishnu cut up the body of Sati (consort of Lord Shiva) into 51 pieces so that Lord Shiva would calm down and stop his Tandava. Pieces of Sati’s body were scattered over various places in the Indian subcontinent. All these places are worshiped as Shakti Peeths of Goddess. It is said that the feet of Sati fell at this place and is thus considered one of the most important of the 51 Shakti Peeths. Luggage was left in room & left for temple. Around 10 pm (i.e. at the closing hours of temple) we had darshan in an hour. On way back we took dinner at Punjabi Bhojnalaya. Heavy rains during night brought down temperature. This also caused electric failure. Next day in the morning we again went for darshan, but due to rush got darshan of  Mata Chintpurni Ji in three hours. Mata Chintpurni Devi is also known as Mata Shri Chhinnamastika Devi. Hotel is rated as 4 on the scale of five.

Mata Chitpurni Ji

Around noon we left for Mcleodganj (about 80 km). We were not able to get room in HPTDC hotels for one day so we had booked at Hotel Snow Crest Inn at Naddi from Delhi, but Mr. Tiwary of the management showed his inability to give us room. However we managed to get room at Hotel Shikhar at 2^nd floor. The room was stinking, intercom was not working, fan was operational only at full speed.

View at Naddi

 The accommodation cannot be termed as reasonable except for the outside view from the room which was excellent and food was to our liking. The hotel is rated as one on scale of five. Next day we checked into Hotel- Bhagsu, Mcleodganj of HPTDC. Here we stayed for two days.  On first day,  Dharamshala tour package took us to Dalai Lama’s Temple at Mcleodganj;  Kunal Pathri Mandir-it is believed that head of Sati (Goddess Durga) fell at this place

Kunal Pathri Mandir

 (above the idol of Mata, there is a rain water “Kund”); War Memorial; Dharamsala cricket stadium-is colouful with lush green ground against a beautiful mountainous backdrop;

Cricket Stadium

 Tea Garden; Norbulinka Institution-A Tibetan Institute ( Doll Museum is within compound); Chinmaya Tapovan (belongs to  Swamy Chinmanya sect)-a temple of Lord Rama, Lakshman, Sita and Hanuman; Aganjer Mahadev Temple-near to this temple is a beautiful natural water fall with

Indreshwar Gupteshwar Mahadev

 Shiv Linga in the floor of rock called Indreshwar Gupteshwar Mahadev Temple. Here everybody enjoyed playing in water. On way back visited Indrunag Temple.

Indrunag Temple

 On the 2nd day taxi took us to Shree Chamunda Devi Temple about 15 km away. The temple is dedicated to goddesses Durga or Chamunda (Hindu deity), the surroundings of the temple provide an excellent view. There was little rush & we got darshan of Mata Chamunda Devi in about 45 minutes.Chamunda name is drawn from two demons called 'Chanda' and 'Munda'. Goddess killed these demons. There is a cave-like scoop located at the back of the temple, representing the stone lingam (embodiment of Lord Shiva) After darshan , we took lunch at Jagtamba Restaurant near the temple. On way to Palampur (25 km from temple), we passed by Dhauladhar Nature Park at Gopalpur & Tea Garden. About 20 km from Palampur we worshiped at Baijnath Temple. This temple is famous for Lord Shiv Linga. Local people believe this is one of 12 Jyotirlings, while Vaidyanath Jyotirling is at Parli in Maharashtra as spelt by Adi Guru Shankracharya-a great Hindu scholar of 8^th century. We stayed in temple for some time. Radha Krishan temple is also within the same complex. We took break at Neugal Café of HPTDC on way to Mcleodganj. This is a beautiful picnic spot with cafeteria and enjoyed in the water pool. Saurabh Van Vihar (about 2 km from café) is also a good place to enjoy. Hotel Bhagsu is rated as 3 on scale of five. Next day left for Khajjiar about 150 km away in heavy rains.

Peer Panjal in Sun Light

We checked into Hotel -The Wild Flower about 5 km from Khajjiar ground.

View of Khajjiar

 View of mountains, Deodar trees from the room was very attractive. Snow covered peaks forming a majestic backdrop. From room could see Peer Panjal-a snow covered mountain peak.
 In sun light, this peak looked like made of crystal. Food of hotel was very tasty. The weather of Khajjiar was very pleasant, temperature was around twelve degree during evening. Next day we enjoyed at Khajjiar ground. It resembles with Pehlgam in Jammu & Kashmir. Some people call it as mini Switzerland. Here we enjoyed horse riding, Zorwing-bubble type big ball in which two persons can roll down the ground.

Zorwing

 Watched hand gliding by children. Games for small kids were also available. Lunch was taken at this place. Two nights were spent at Khajjiar & rate the hotel as 3. Next day left for Jwalaji about 150 km from Khajjiar.     

Enroute to Jwala Ji (Jwalamukhi) lunch break was taken at Manor Restaurant at Jawali. Food was good. By evening reached Jwalaji. Jwalaji in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh is well-known for the famous Jwalaji Temple which is one of the fifty-one Shakti Peeths. After a brief halt in our room at Hotel Jwalaji (HPTDC) visited Jwala Mata Temple, at that time the same was found closed for evening Aarti ( 7 to 8 pm). Though long queues were formed by the time temple was opened, but the arrangements by police were excellent i.e. nobody could break the queue. We got darshan of four Jyotis (Jwalas) in temple. The legend is that tounge of Mata Sati fell at this place, thus Goddess is worshiped in the form of Jyotis at this place. It is a wonder that Jyotis are burning endlessly without any fuel for centuries.

Canopy of Empror Akbar

 A canopy of Empror Akbar is preserved near to this temple. The dinner was taken at Hotel Jwalaji.

Early next morning visited Mata Brajeshwari Devi about 35 km from Jwalaji. The temple is atop hill and was a 10 minutes’ walk from taxi stand. As per legend, left breast of Mata Sati fell at this place, so it is worshiped as Shakti Peeth. There were very few devotees at about 7 am. We remained in temple for some time. Nearby is Bhairav’s temple called Lal Bhairav’s temple.

Lal Bhairav

 Ladies are not allowed in this Bhairav temple. Returned to hotel and left for Delhi around 11 am. This HPTDC hotel is rated at 3 on the scale of 5. We reached Delhi by 10 pm.

Eight days religious cum excursion journey was very pleasant & we enjoyed every bit of it.