Enchanting Himachal –
Visting Hadsar & beyond
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| The road towards Hadsar from Bharmour |
Hadsar is situated about 13 Kms. from Bharmour and is the staging point for
trekking to the famed Manimahesh Kaislash Yatra, the trek to the famed destination is situated another 14 kms. away, from here. The
road from Bharmour to Hadsar passes along the Budhil nullah, a mountainous
stream or rivulet and offers spectacular natural vistas. Lord Shiva is believed to reside on this
snow-covered mountain
of Manimahesh Kailash.
The lake and peak are considered sacred and an annual pilgrimage known as the
Manimahesh Yatra is undertaken by devout Hindus to the base of the Manimahesh
Kailash, where the holy lake known as Kamal Kund is situated. The pilgrimage is held annually in the month
of August and September, the dates of the yatra is determined to be held between
the holy days of Janamastmi to Radha-astami every year. It is believed that on
this occasion, both Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati take bath in the holy Gauri
kund/Lake. For participating in this
holy pilgrimage, tens of thousand of people come in from the various nooks
& corners of the State and also the country and abroad. The glorious views
of Manimahesh Kailash early in the morning at the time of rising sun creates an
geological phenomenon known as the ‘Manimahesh Mani darshan’ that stirs the
hearts & mind of the visitors. This phenomenon occurs when the first rays
of the rising sun peeps through a small hole or gap atop the mountain top,
glowing like a gem or ‘mani’ (in Hindi), which the pilgrims wait to watch with
bated breaths. It is known about Manimahesh Kailash that no one has ever been
able to climb up to the peak/summit and anyone who has tried to do so has either
died or turned insane. Local legends also state that the out rock projections
of the mountain peaks appear as human-like figures and it is said that one resembles
a hermit, while the other resembles a shepherd, frozen stiff during their
futile effort to reach the top of Manimahesh Kailash. Many holy places come on
the way, during trek to Manimahesh Kailash, starting from the base at Hadsar,
after treeking a distance of 6 km on reaches Dhancho, which is famous for water
fall and many pilgrims rest for the night here.
Beyond Dhancho, at a further
distance of 5 Kms. is Gourikund, ‘Gauri’ is another name of ‘Parvati’, the
consort of Lord Shiva, on this trek route one comes across an interesting
destination where a large water appears to flow from behind the rocks and it is
called the ‘Shiv Gharat’. A dip in this lake is considered
sacred because it is believed that Parvati used to take bath in this lake and
only ladies are allowed to take dip in this kund. After traversing another one
kilometer further from Gauri Kund, lies the Shiva Kalotri spring, considered to
have its source from Lord Shiva's feet in Manimahesh Kailash. Two kilometer ahead
of Shiva Kalotri is Kamal kund, which is situated at the foot of Manimahesh
Kailash. After a short run from Gauri kund, one reaches the Manimahesh Lake
or Kamal Kund, which is a shallow circular lake that provides an enchanting scenario,
with the peaks reflection in its clear waters. A roofless temple, conspicuous
with many iron trinkets, is seen on the opposite side. For beginner trekkers,
Manimahesh trek is the best route for beginning, as the gradient is easy and it
also provides for a pilgrimage visit to Manimahesh Lake. The government too has made efforts to
provide all kinds of help to the pilgrims visiting the destination, by placing
Generator sets at suitable intervals all along the Manimahesh Yatra route,
thereby providing for movement of pilgrims even during the night. Initially, this Yatra was one of the most
difficult ones, with people trudging up from Bharmour itself by foot, but with
passage of time motorable roads have been constructed right upto Hadsar and
also Helicopter services are now available from just below Bharmour to Gauri
Kund for the pilgrims.
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| View of Bharmour township from the Hadsar side |
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| Waste treatment plant of Bharmour |
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| A small mountain rivulet on way to Hadsar |
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| Switzerland of India - my description for this photograph |
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| Small mountain rivulets meet the Budhil River |
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| The Budhil River valley |
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| A typical wood & mud construction of the region |
Beyond Hadsar, one crosses a wooden
bridge constructed across the mountainous stream coming down from the
Manimahesh peak and as one moves forward, one comes across a larger bridge
across the Budhil
River. Just before we crossed the bridge, we saw a
huge glacier that had slid down onto the road during the recent rains in
April/May that hit the region and it took days to break it and move it across
the road, although the tail end remains firmly entrenched by the road side till
date. We found a local Gaddi woman breaking
a piece of the ice with a stone and eating the central part of the ice block and
on query she informed that they are used to getting their water intake in this
manner, as when they are grazing their sheep & goats high above in the
mountainous meadows, since even the flowing water may be infested with worms
etc., they tend to eat or use snow from glaciers to satiate their thirst. After crossing the bridge over the Budhil River,
there are two roads bifurcating, one going towards the left, which was
partially damaged and the driver informed us that the same leads to villages
across the valley and that during the Manimahesh Yatra the vehicles are parked
upto kilometers ahead on this road. The
road leading to the right hand direction, leads towards Dharol and now motorable road for another 3 Kms. ahead has been
completed, which leads to the Kugti
village, after a further trek of 4 odd Kms. from the point one disembarks
from the vehicle. This road was a wee
bit narrower, but the scenic beauty around was mesmerizing. A little further ahead we came across a small
glacier, which in turn was being fed by a series of waterfalls (maybe from
another glacier atop the mountain?), which finally merged with the Budhill
rivulet below. It was one of the most
scenic destinations ever been visited by me and reminded me of my visit to
Kinnaur Valley of Himachal Pradesh a couple of years ago. However, just across this huge waterfall
across the road, my son pointed out to some sound of running water emanating
from behind the rock face along the road, I too could hear it and concluded
that it was the echo of the water fall coming from a concave rock structure,
which was providing for such a feeling, akin to ‘Shiv Gharat’ from Manimahesh
trek? As we were not inclined to visit
Kugti, we stopped a little ahead of Dharol and turned back, as we intended to
return back to Bharmour before nightfall.
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| Blasting in progress for widening the roads |
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| Spot the sheep grazing on the mountainside |
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| The gateway to the start of Manimahesh trek - Hadsar village |
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| Ground level view of the Bhudhil River |
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| Beyond Hadsar - on way to Kugti a series of waterfalls |
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| The waterfall on way to Kugti - with a glacial base |
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| The animals cross the glacier gingerly to avoid a slip |
For information of my
blogs follower, Kugti Wild Life Sanctuary
is located at an altitude of 2250 meters and approachable through the trek
route running through the Kugti
Village. This sanctuary offers
spectacular view of the Pir Panjal ranges of the inner Himalayas.
The topography of the area is mountainous having altitudinal range of 2000
meter to 5000 meters from sea level, and includes different zones like
temperate (2000-2800m), upper temperate (2800-3300m), sub-alpine (3300-3600m)
and alpine zone >3600m. From
December to March, temperature hovers near freezing point, with copious amounts
of snowfall on the passes. The change over from winter to summer is gradual. During
March and April, weather is cool and bright, and the temperature begins to rise
rapidly after the middle of April and continues to rise till end of the rainy
season in July. The nomads of ‘Gaddis’ have their own methods of calculating
the ideal time to take their flocks to the mountains above for grazing and the
trekkers usually start their hikes after the first of the ‘Gaddis’ have started
their climb across the passes. However,
this year there was a bout of snowfall at end of April & early May, 2014
thus, delaying the movement of the Gaddis.
The months of October and November in this region are comparatively dry
and cold weather usually sets in by the middle of November. The annual rainfall
in the Kugti wildlife sanctuary is recorded 1400mm. The south facing physical
environment in the Kugti wildlife sanctuary can be described as rocky terrain
with frequent outcrops of huge boulders, slate and rock faces while north
facing part of sanctuary are having dense mixed forests, rich in high-altitude
Himalayan wildlife, and is one of the last homes of Himalayan tahr in Himachal
Pradesh. It is also well-known as a source of many medicinal plants, abundant
water resources, many originating from glaciers and a diverse topography add to
the attraction of the area. To the west it is connected with Tundah Sanctuary
by a forest corridor. The best periods for visiting the sanctuary are
May-October, when the weather is dry & clear. Kugti is snow bond area and
bonded with snow for four to five months in year. Kugti is also famous for its proximity to the Kartik Swami Temple
and trek route to Lauhal and Spiti across the Kugti Pass.
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| View of peaks towards Kugti village |
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| Another view of the Budhil River |
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| Standing in front of the glacier that had slid down onto the Hadsar_Kugti Road in April, 2014 |
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| The rippling waters of Budhil River |
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| As the sun sets over Bharmour |
Tundah Wildlife
Sanctuary too lies in vicinity of the Kugti
Sanctuary, with good, though disturbed, habitat for Himalayan Thar, Ibex and pheasants.
The area also supports a small population of Musk deer. It is connected to
Kugti Sanctuary by a forest corridor to the east. Forest type includes Moist Deodar
Forest Western
Mixed Coniferous
Forest and Alpine
Pastures. Kail and Deodar were planted for commercial timber. A way goes
through Tundah sanctuary to Lauhal valley over Kalicho Pass via Banni Mata. This sanctuary is almost same as Kugti sanctuary but
differs a bit because of minor changes in its climate, temperature and topography.
The sanctuary has a rich collection of birds, medicinal plant and herbs. Tundah
sanctuary is easily approachable from road and can be visited through dense
forest of sanctuary with experienced guide.
(Information regarding Kugti Wildlife
Sanctuary & Tundah Wildlife Sanctuary has been obtained from the net).
Here is the link to the video for the destination -
