Himachal Pradesh

Kangra-Dharamshala-Dalhousie Trip(3 - 8 March 2011)

It was a memorable trip of my college life. I was in 4th year when me and my 4 friends planned this trip. Himachal is really a paradise on earth.

Day 1 ( Kuruskshetra = > Jwala Ji Temple)

We started from college in evening and took a bus to Chandigarh which is a starting point for all Himachal travel from there. Then, we took a bus to Jwala Ji from Sec-43 Bus stand and reached there at around 2 AM, and rested in hotel for night.

Day 2( Jwala Ji - Chintpurni- Kangra- Dharamshala)

The morning was beautiful and very calm there as you can see in this picture.The famous Jwala Ji shrine is located in Jawalamukhi town of the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.

Jwala Ji Town

We took a walk from hotel to Jwala Ji temple which is one of the most ancient temple in India. There is the natural cave where flames continue to burn from indefinite time.

Jwala Mata Temple

So , here we are 5 friends at the entrance of temple(myself in middle) 

Jwala Ji Temple Entrance

After visiting the temple, we left towards the Chintpurni Temple which was around 30 km from there but it took almost 1 hour and we reached there by noon. Then, we went to Kangra after offering our prayers here.

Chintpurni Temple

Kangra is 70 km from this temple but it took almost 2 hours and we reached by 5 PM there.
we visited ancient Mata Brajeshwari temple here as shown below. It is a white coloured temple and one of the 51 Shakti peeths in India. It is said that it used to contain tonnes of gold and silver in past and looted several times by the Invaders.

Mata Brajeshwari Temple

Then, we took a bus to Dharamshala which is around 30 km from there and it took almost an hour to reach there. Then we stayed there and rested in hotel at night.

Day 3 (Mcleodganj, Dharamshala)

Dharamshala has recently being declared as the winter capital of the state, It is a beautiful city and is the centre of Tibetan exile world in India. Mcleodganj is the suburb and known for the residence of his holyness Dalai Lama. The most famous site is Dalai Lama Temple also known as Tsuglag Khang.

Dalai Lama Temple

We walked to see the famous Bhagsunath Temple there which has a beautiful waterfall.

Water Fall near Bhagsunath Temple

Then we took an Auto to Naddi which is an adjoining village famous for panoramic views and is a famous sunset point there. It is around 3 km from Mcleodganj. It is at 2000 m above sea level in the upper reaches of Kangra valley.

Himalyan View, Naddi

Sunset Point, Naddi

Then, we headed back to Dharamshala and took an overnight bus to Dalhousie which is around 200 km from there. We reached Banikhet around 2 am and stayed there over night.

Day 4 (Dalhousie)

In the morning, we took a bus to Dalhousie which is around 7 km from Banikhet. The view of Chamba valley was mesmerizing from there.

Chanba Valley

Here, we took a Taxi to reach the snow point which costed around 1000 INR at that time. we were highly excited to see the snow at the very first time in life. It is recommended that you take local taxi only to see this as its difficult to drive in snow.

There, we all became small children and played with snow. We threw snow balls at each other till we got tired and started feeling hurt. :)

Snow Point, Dalhousie

Then, after coming back to town, we roamed the city and visited various landmarks :-

1. Ajit Singh Memorial : It is a place where Sardar Ajit Singh, a great freedom fighter, breathed his last on the day India gained independence

Ajit Singh Memorial

2. St John Church : It is the oldest church of the town established in 1863 during British rule in India

3. Panch pulla :- It is a beautiful spot which consists of natural springs of water and hence supplies water to the whole town. It is considered to have medicinal properties.

Panch Pulla

In the evening, we headed back to Banikhet and took a bus to Delhi and then reached Kurukshetra the following day. It was a great trip. I would love to visit Himachal in future.