Happy Feet: Manali Himachal Pradesh

Manali is a small town in the lap of the Himalayas in Northern India. The Pir Panjal mountain range passes through this high altitude town, situated 550 kms from New Delhi.

We travelled to Manali in June, 2019. On arriving in Manali, you will be greeted by the towering mountains peaks covered in snow with river Beas roaring through the town. Manali is named after the Hindu sage Manu.

We stayed in Old Manali which is a few kms away from the Mall road in the center of Manali. Old Manali is relatively less commercialized, calm and peaceful.

Day 1

Having reached Manali early in the morning - we dumped our stuff in our hotel (Tourist Nest) and went for a quick stroll. By the way - we got a room with a great view!

Nice view from the balcony

The town was really beautiful and peaceful surrounded by brown and green hills with snow covered peaks, visible from most places. Manali has an inexplicable charm with pine, fir and cedar forests all around - great ambience and aroma - nature at its purest form! The clear blue sky was a treat to the eyes!

Manalsu river flowing between the Old and New Manali

It was fun having breakfast at the river-side Kathmandu Cafe. The source of crystal clear fresh water of river Beas are the glaciers high up in the Himalayas. Beas is the lifeline of the people of Manali. After a lips smacking breakfast, we decided to walk towards the Hidimba Devi temple.

The bridge over river Manalsu

On the way to the Hidimba temple

The path was dotted by some old looking homes

Obvious from the name - the temple is dedicated to Devi Hidimba, wife of Bhima from Mahabharata. It is believed that Pandavas stayed in Himachal Pradesh during their exile. The temple was constructed by a Hindu King in 1553 A.D. When people in India worship Durga during Navratri, people of Manali worship Hidimba Devi. The 3 km uphill climb towards the temple was really picturesque along the Himalayan Mountain range.

The temple is surrounded by a beautiful cedar forest popularly known as Van vihar.

Yaks are common in this part of the world - well adapted to mountainous terrain

Tired from overnight travel - we went back to our den and rested for the day.

At the German Bakery for a midnight snack!

Day 2

We spent the entire second day at Rohtang Pass - with a lot to say, it requires a separate post. Will share the link soon.

Day 3

After our travel from Rohtang, we decided to keep the day lighter. Wanted to go around Manali and soak around in the local culture. When in Manali - how can we miss the Manu Temple after whom Manali is named. The temple was only 500 m away from our hotel - it was a steep uphill climb. According to Hinduism, Manu is believed to be the creator of life on earth and author of Manusmriti which has the Dharmasastras of the Hinduism. The temple has visitors from across the globe.

Feeling relatively lucky and elated to have visited the only temple in India dedicated to Manu. Interesting thought - the words 'man' in English, 'manushya' in Hindi, 'manush' in Bengali, 'manu' in Tamil etc - all seem to have the 'Manu' connection

Simple and hardworking people of the hills. In summer, tourism is a key source of livelihood but in winters life becomes tough with temperatures dropping below zero degrees

We tread downhill and decided to go towards the Mall Road in New Manali now which is around 4-5 kms from Manu temple. The path towards Mall Road goes through a 2 km stretch of cedar forest by the river. The areas was all green with a narrow path through middle of the woodland which was supposed to end on to the Mall road.

I had no words to describe the cedar forest - it was so calm, peaceful and refreshing with the sudden showers of dry leaves from the 80-100 feet tall trees, like almost falling from the heavens. There were few people in the forest busy with their own stuff - few Europeans were chatting by Beas, saw a couple practising rock climbing, locals using the route as shortcut to the Mall road and few tourists like us capturing these moments in our cameras.

Tranquillity and peace in the cedar forest. 20 mins of walk through the beaten tracks will take you to the Mall Road

Stopping by to take a look at the snow covered mountain peaks

The path was winding and long and we never wanted it to end but as all good things come to an end - we finally arrived at the Mall road.

This place is a lot more happening with commercial establishments, food joints, and of course lot of the tourists - this place is a sharp contrast to the peaceful locales of Old Manali. The Mall road hosts the local bazaar which sells the winter wear and handloom which is unique to Manali.

Summing up, Manali was fun!