Sunday, March 22, 2009

Manali - Part 2 Double Click on Photo to see enlarged image


Dry Fruits & Nuts shop.





The Naggar Castle -the ruler used this Castle in olden days as his house. In recent times The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Corpn. has converted it into a Star Hotel.


The local Rock Band.






A Budhist Monastry in Manali









Naggar Castle














In KULLU (part 1), I have mentioned
Idumbi wife of Bhima and mother of
Gadothgajan. This is her
Temple in Manali.
She is called Hadimba Devi.







Budhist Temple






This tree is worshipped as GADOTHGAJAN who played a major role in the Mahabaratha war. He being a Rakshasa is worshipped annually with BALI of animals in front of this tree.














Trip to Manali - Part 1


MANALI is 40 Kms from Kullu and has an higher altitude. This is a bigger town and has more touirists visiting. It is an overnight journey by Bus from Delhi & Chandigarh.

Manali has this breathtaking view of Snowcapped mountains all around.

The temprature is around 9 Degrees.

There are hundreds of Hotels and Restaurants serving food from many origins. You even get Iddlies and Dosas.



View from our Hotel room.








Sterling Resorts - Manali. This is where we stayed.


















This is GULABA - a 25 Km drive up the hill from Manali. You can see Ramjhi Skiing BOND STYLE.
The temprature here is Minus Zero.









































You can go Horseback if you are afraid to tread Snow. Much older people are pushed around in Snowtreks.

















Ramjhi Kullu Trip - Part 3


This is the Gurudvara at Manikaran a two hour drive from Kullu through the Parvathi Valley. The river Parvathi is an absolute beauty. This Gurudvara - a Sikh Temple has a Siva Lingam from which flows the hottest natural Sulphur Spring. They have made two pools one for men and the other for women to have bath.



This is the Manikaran Gurudwara - discovered by a Sikh saint several centuries ago. They built the Gurudwara around the Hot Spring. The water is so hot that you cannot take a dip - only pour Mug fulls on yourself. The outside temprature is about 7 degrees and the water is piping hot. The Pujari takes a Cloth bag full of Raw Rice tells a Slokam and dips it into the boiling water. When the prayer is complete he takes out the bag and the rice is cooked. This is distributed as Prasadam.





This is the Angora Rabbit Farm








The scenic Parvathi Valley















The Angora Rabbit. Its fur is combed-out and made into Shawls.












We had Dharshan in many temples. This is the Vaishno Devi Temple about four storeys high and the Devi is inside a Cave. You can only crawl through inside & crawl back. The other temples we visited in Kullu are The Raghunathji Temple & Bekley Madha Temple.



End of Kullu Trip. We shall move on to Manali in the next part.

Ramjhi Kullu Trip-March 2009-Part 2

The tree with Pink flowers is Peach and the White flower is Pear.









This is the Apple tree. It will bloom in June/July.
They grow so much Apples in this valley that the surplus is dried like our MOR MILAGAI and eaten during non season.







Our Hotel at Kullu is called APPLE VALLEY RESORT. It has rooms not only with attached bathrooms but also an attached river BEAS. They have a Restaurant on the Riverside with a Camp Fire in the night.






The garden at the hotel.











Look at the walls covered with IVY.












Hotel Apple Valley Resort







Saturday, March 21, 2009

Ramjhi`s trip to Kullu - Himachal Pradesh - March 2009 - Part 1


KULLU According to ancient Hindu scriptures, the area was known as ‘Kulantapitha’ – the end of the habitable world. Nestling within the high Himalayan ranges, the Kullu valley remained isolated from the rest of the world till very recently. The Hindu rulers of Kullu initially ruled over an area restricted to the upper Beas River valley, with their capital in the ancient village of Jagatsukh near Manali. The valley was a gateway to Lahaul and Ladakh andan important stop on the crucial trade route between central Asia and the Gangetic Plains down south. This made the area prosperous and by the 17th century AD, the kingdom had expanded its boundaries to Lahaul-Spiti in the north and the Sutlej River in the east. The capital of the kingdom was first shifted to Naggar, then to Sultanpur before finally settling at Kullu. This valley is also a Major part of the Maha Bharatha. Idumbi -wife of Bhima & mother of Gadorthgajan is said to have lived here. There is a Temple for her in Manali 40 Kms from Kullu. She is called as Hadimba Matha. It is a 45 minute flight from Delhi. When you look out of the window when you are flying over the Himalayan range, you only see brown dry rocky terain for the first 40 minutes & suddenly the plane takes a swing around and you see the gorgeous Kullu Valley.
There are only three kinds of living here.
1. Strive on Tourist inflow - Hotels, Restaurants, Taxies, Hire of Snow Clothes, Skiing Gear, Shops etc.
2. They make KULLU SHAWLS with the fur from Angora Rabbits. They have Rabit Farms and they comb - out fur from them and make shawls and sell.
3. If one had some big money they would have invested in a large piece of land and plant Apple, Plums, Pears & Peach Trees and live on that income for the rest of their lives.