ANANDA BANERJEE stops by at quaint Himalayan villages and finds a crazy mix of people, legends and unique architecture while trekking to the Jalori pass
It’s unique how the transit economy has changed the face of Banjar, a small, Himalayan town in Kulu district, a trekker’s halt before the Jalori Pass. At 10,800 ft, Jalori is the nearest mountain pass from Delhi, approximately 600 km away, and features on every adventure tourist’s map. And Banjar has all the city goodies that you will ever need ahead, if you are out camping or fishing. There’s a non-functional traffic light lost in a maze of advertisements, signaling the need to assemble and park there.
Narrow streets fork out from it, almost wriggling their way through overstocked shops that would seem to tumble off any moment. But it is when locals smile at you with a genuine warmth in between their chores and play guide that you know that the long arm of civilisation is yet to have them in its grasp.
Chehni Kothi, the towering 1,500-year old castle.
A few turns from the cloistered local market and we drop suddenly into wide scenic vistas of rolling mountains and rich terrace farms, each a different shade of green, as if the signature of the farmer tending the soil. Nature seems to be in harmony with a happy people. Giggling women pass by with firewood, their nimble-footed grace putting our hefty strides to shame. Our trail snakes up to Jibhi amid flowering rhododendrons nestled in between towering pine, oaks and deodars. In between Banjar and Jibhi, a small walk takes us to Chehni Kothi, a towering 1,500-year old castle built with stone slabs and wooden beams.
It was once the fortified residence of Rana Dhadhia, the erstwhile king of Kulu. It used to be 15 storeys high but after the earthquake of 1905 only 10 floors remain. The ground floor has a bigger spread than the upper floors which recede a little with each level to look like a conical temple spire. It may look sturdy but given its age it is quite fragile, especially the balconies. But it sure makes for a spectacle, one that you feel great about discovering. Locals tell us that the Chehni fort even has a 400-metre escape tunnel, which is now closed and a Krishna temple.
The local market and a temple
However, it is the Shringa Rishi temple at Bagi which is most visited for its intricate woodwork and pagoda style. Rishi Shringa is considered the patron deity of the Banjar Valley, which locals say, is his tapa bhoomi. He was the chief priest at the Putreshtiyajna of Raja Dasratha, a ritual for the birth of a son, after which Lord Rama was born. Legend has it that his retreat was so tranquil that sages and hermits from all over made the valley their own.
As word spread, people from far away places (Kulu, Manali and Mandi) began to visit the valley. They brought with them their goats and sheep to graze. Slowly, as people realised the valley could offer them all that they needed, they began to settle in the area. The first rulers were the Maraich people, who were reputed to be over three metres in height. Later, the region came under the control of the Thakurs and then under the rule of the king of Kulu.
According to fables, people found a pindi (sacred stone) in the forest of Skeeran. A mythical talking tablet, it urged every bystander to put it in a temple. The villagers did build a temple in the Skeeran forest but finding it hard to travel there, they built another temple of Rishi Shringa at Bagi village. The deity is made of brass and stone and is seen riding a chariot.
The best part about a Himalayan trek is the quaint charm you discover between villages. Jibbi is a decent village with a few shops and a good eating joint on the main road run by a lady from Delhi who is married to a local and has some amusing stories to share. Don’t miss out the gharat installed in the backyard of the house. It is something one doesn’t see around these days and is a marvel of village engineering. See a few foreign faces at Jibbi bazaar.
A meadow at the pass
From here on, each small turn on the mountain road takes us higher and higher. On the near empty roads, we are occasionally met by young herders, tending their flocks of sheep and children returning after a day well spent in school. Later, we come face to face with a group of mountain bikers hurtling down at us in their fluorescent outfits.And contrary to my expectations, all are my fellow country men. A healthy sign that young India is slowly graduating to adventure sports.
We stop at the village of Ghayagi by a rustling brook to cool off and quite by providence meet Payson Stevens. He is a remarkable man, who divides his time between Del Mar in California and this mountain village with his author wife Kamla Kapur. He has followed two parallel tracks in his career, one as a NASA scientist, another as an artist, designer, writer, conservationist and filmmaker for over 30 years. He welcomes me to his beautiful house and over a cup of tea and mango cake discusses the many issues concerning the Himalayan environment. Like damming of the rivers that was changing their flow patterns, disturbing the fish and eventually drying them up.
A board proclaims Ghayagi as the mini-Switzerland of India
One can see a glimpse of Jalori pass from here and it does not take too long to reach the top as well. This small loop of a road, at over 10,000 ft, was in the British Raj a key link between Shimla and Kulu. As a connecting corridor, it is not devoid of human intervention. A temple and about a dozen small shops providing refreshments line up the ridge, one even deciding to rename the pass with its carpet green meadows and wandering herdsmen as the mini Switzerland of India.
A marriage procession.
Just off the road, which bends downhill and on course towards Shimla, I come across a wedding party and its accompanying band with drums and long-stemmed trumpet dragons, struggling to carry their wares down. The arrival of the party stirs things up as it means good business for the locals. Then there’s a lone rider, a German on his solo trip, who zooms down past the shiny brass without so much as casting a curious glance. Chasing a Himalayan record is most important. There’s space for everybody, the fast and the furious, the lonely and the rowdy. For the pass to the heavens is open for all.
PLACES OF INTEREST
Raghupur Fort: Raghupur welcomes you with snow-capped peaks. This picturesque site, located at approximately 3,540 m, has an old fort built by the Kulu king. The fort is surrounded by wide trenches with a small pond inside. The walls of the fort are marked by bullet holes from sieges. There is a good camping ground here as well as fantastic views of the Outer Seraj valley.
Sareul lake: Sareul is a small lake (or a large pond) located at about 3,050m. This lake is tranquil and known for being the seat of local goddess Budhi Nagin. Pilgrims walk around the lake, pouring an unbroken line of ghee. This is good camping ground with small caves to explore. The area is surrounded by dense forests interspersed with meadows of wild
flowers.
Lambhari Top: At 3,600 m, Lambhari offers beautiful views of the Himalayan peaks. Additionally, there is an abundance of effective ayurvedic/naturopathic plants growing in the area, including Kauri, Patish, Losar, Talshi, Chunkari, Tangul and
Dhupnu.
Sakiran Top: The Skirandhar ridge leading to Lambhari offers beautiful views of the Himalayas at Sakiran. There is a beautiful temple of Rishi Shringiji.
GETTING THERE
By Air
You could fly down to Bhuntar Airport, an hour-and-a-half from the Tirthan Valley.
By Rail
If boarding train from anywhere else in the country, you may bypass Delhi and stop over at Ambala (8 hours by road
from the Tirthan Valley) or even continue to the railhead at Kiratpur (7 hours).
By Road
To get to Tirthan (550 km from Delhi) one must turn off from Aut, just before the Pandoh Tunnel an hour before Kulu on the Manali highway from Chandigarh. From Aut it is 26 km of a pleasant drive along the river via Larji to Banjar. One of the most popular ways to come to the valley is the air-conditioned Volvo bus which can be availed opposite Imperial Hotel on Janpath, New Delhi at 6 pm. It stops for dinner enroute at about 9.30 pm and reaches Aut about 7 am.
This article also featured on The Pioneer.
The writer is responsible for the authenticity/originality of the content and HillPost holds no responsibility on this account.
I traveled on this stretch in the year 2008. I had posted the details on my blog, Crossing the Jallori Pass. The following lines have been lifted word by word from my blog.
Jibbi is a decent village with a few shops and a good eating joint on the main road run by a lady from Delhi who is married to a local and has some amusing stories to share. Don’t miss out the gharat installed in the backyard of the house. It is quite something which one doesn’t see around these days. Marvel of village engineering. See a few foreign faces at Jibbi bazaar.
I bet this author has written this post with a shoddy cut and paste method. I doubt, if the author ever stopped at the joint and have simply copied from my blog. This amounts to cheating and copyright violation and taking content from my blog post and terming it their own work.
I believe My Himachal has simply posted this write-up and does not have any knowledge about the content lifted from my blog post. Least it can do is publish my comments, tender an apology from the writer and dump the writer and the article for good!!
The words from your blog and those of Ananda Banerjee do overlap at the point cited by you in the article here.
Since the article was published by The Pioneer, we took it on board on its face value.
Surely no verification was done to check the issue you mention.
We trust contributors to adhere to the originality of their content, unless of course it is a press release that requires information dissemination among our readers.
All images on himachal.us are readily available in various places on the Internet and believed to be in public domain. himachal.us acknowledges that though we try to report accurately, we cannot verify the absolute facts of everything posted. Postings may contain fact, speculation or rumor. We find photos from the Web that are believed to belong in the public domain. If any stories or images that appear on the site are in violation of copyright law, please email and we will remove the offending information as soon as possible.
Claims of Infringement
If you believe that any content appearing on himachal.us infringes on your copyright, please let us know. E-Mail [email protected]
following information to us and the infringing material will be removed as soon as possible.
(a) your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address;
(b) a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
(c) the exact URL or a description of each place where alleged infringing material is located;
(d) a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use has not been authorized by you, your agent, or the law;
(e) your electronic or physical signature or the electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on your behalf; and
(f) a statement by you made under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate, that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.
Nityin:
Lines were removed because even though Ananda did not respond to our mail early, but it appeared a clear case of infringement and we thought it best to remove the offending lines.
However the delay in putting out the comment is regretted.
Since you felt so strongly about it, we put the offending lines back on the post and let the writer do his own explanation, which he has.
Below is the reply I received from the writer:
Dear Avnish,
Yes you are right. What ever happened is very unfortunate and
embarrassing. My sincere apologies. Jalori was meant to be a small
write up to highlight the place for tourism. I am enclosing my
original draft which was worked upon by others. There is a separate
section of editors who pad up, rewrite and increase the story length
for editorial and design purposes.
As this has been printed with my name I am very embarrassed and
apologetic. I have taken up the issue with other colleagues as written
to you in the earlier email. I am very upset with this issue as you
are also.
Please do convey my apologies to all concerned people. All this has
all happened unknowingly and not meant to hurt anyone’s sensitivity.
–Ananda Banerjee.
————————————————————
A non descriptive, non functional traffic light lost in the maze of
advertising signposts on a narrow fork, overlooking the bustle of a
busy tourist town intercepts us. We have reached Banjar, a small
Himalayan town in Kullu district in the state of Himachal Pradesh,
teeming with people clothed in local hill attire going about in their
daily chores. Further we ask for directions for our destination;
Jalori Pass which at 10800 feet is the nearest mountain pass from
Delhi approximately 600kms away.
With a little maneuvering we negotiate the narrow moufisil streets
where shops of various shapes and sizes seem to stumble out and
likewise within a few blind turns we drop into the wide scenic vistas
of rolling mountains and manicured step cultivations, each step
different in varying hues of green as if a painter has meticulously
shaded them if not from some stray pages of pantone green. Welcome to
the Seraj Valley.
The mountain road snakes up to Jibbi amidst flowering rhododendrons
nestled in between towering pine, oaks and deodars. In between Banjar
and Jibbi a small walk takes us to Chehni Kothi, a towering 1500 years
old building constructed with only stone slabs and wooden beams. It
was once the fortified residence of King Rana Dhadhia, the erstwhile
King of Kullu. When constructed it was a 15 storey high fort but after
the earthquake of 1905 only 10 floors remain. The ground floor is
bigger in area as compared to the upper floors thus giving it a
conical form. As with many old and heritage structures this one is no
different and one should tread with caution while exploring from
within. The Chehni fort as it is now popularly known has a 400 meters
tunnel (now closed) as well as a Krishna temple.
Each small turn on the mountain road elevates us higher and higher. On
the near empty roads we are occasionally met by small herders tending
their small flocks of sheep and children returning after a day well
spent in school. Then on another turn we were accosted with a group of
mountain bikers hurling down at us in their florescent outfits.What
was surprising that all of them were my fellow country men. I wondered
when did India graduated to this from its cricket addiction.
We stop at the village Ghyagi by the brooke to meet up with Payson
Stevens. Mr. Stevens is a well known artist and conserationist who
divides his time between Del Mar in California and here in this
mountain village with his wife, the writer Kamla Kapur. He has
followed quite a few tracks in his career – scientist, artist,
designer, writer, conservationist and film maker for over thirty
years. He welcomes me to his beautiful house and over a cup of tea and
mango cake discusses the many issues concerning our environment. Later
we go up to the studio to see his ongoing series of paintings which he
is painstakingly finishing for an upcoming exhibition in Delhi. The
paintings revolve around the great Himalayan national park, a part of
pristine forest and ecosystem that he has campaigned for since its
formation in 2000.
After biding goodbye to Stevens we drive to Shoja another small hamlet
perched higher up where some local entrepreneurial guest houses offers
the occasional wandering tourist a chance in peace and tranquility who
all wants to avoid the summer crowd in more known hill stations. More
notable here, than perhaps elsewhere in Seraj, is the peculiar style
of architecture of many of the older houses. The upper storey of these
old fashioned dwellings appears to be merely an open work frame so
designed for the storage of hay during winter months.
One can see a glimpse of Jalori from here and it does not take too
long to reach the top as well. The small pass is not devoid of human
interventions. A temple and about a dozen small shops provinding
refreshments line up on top, one even claiming the mini Switzerland of
India. Such platitude is unforgiving and I wonder when our natives
will grow up to appreciate the gift of motherland.
We park amongst a few other waiting tourist taxis and stroll in the
chill mountain air. The Sun places hide and seek amongst an over cast
sky which dampens my view of the long stretch of rolling mountains.
Just off the road which bends downhill and on course towards Shimla, a
rolling green meadow dotted with sheep fills up the Blue-grey mountain
back ground. I come across a wedding party and accompanying band with
drums and gramophone cylinders awaiting a lift down. as for their
numbers seem to have had made quite an impact on the cash boxes of the
shops out here. As I aimless wander soaking in the panorama another
mountain biker, this time a foreigner lands up on his solo trip, no
sooner than he arrived that he zoomed down not even spending a minute
or sparing a glance. I reckon he must be here quite a few times and is
hell bent to improve his record timings. I managed to take a couple of
photographs in between though and I carried out my obsession with my
new digital SLR till the weather packed up and it began to rain. My
walk to the ruins of the Raghupur Fort was cut short as the rain
intensified with hail. There was no other choice but return to the
jeep and wait for the weather gods to calm before we could even move
an inch to descend to our hotel below.
In every countries around the world, nature has provided them with beautiful and picturesque places, and India is no exception. But now the point is, how do people maintain them.
If people dont throw garbage in the streets, they dont spit and relieve themselves in public places, cattle are not allowed to wander aimlessly in the streets causing traffic jams and cowdung issues, and if the roads are smooth and well maintained here as well, etc etc, then these places also can be called Mini Switzerland.
I traveled on this stretch in the year 2008. I had posted the details on my blog, Crossing the Jallori Pass. The following lines have been lifted word by word from my blog.
Jibbi is a decent village with a few shops and a good eating joint on the main road run by a lady from Delhi who is married to a local and has some amusing stories to share. Don’t miss out the gharat installed in the backyard of the house. It is quite something which one doesn’t see around these days. Marvel of village engineering. See a few foreign faces at Jibbi bazaar.
I bet this author has written this post with a shoddy cut and paste method. I doubt, if the author ever stopped at the joint and have simply copied from my blog. This amounts to cheating and copyright violation and taking content from my blog post and terming it their own work.
Here is a link to the Google cache about my post http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:kF9q2vQASvEJ:nityin.wordpress.com/2008/06/02/crossing-the-jallori-pass/+crossing+the+jallori+pass&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk
I believe My Himachal has simply posted this write-up and does not have any knowledge about the content lifted from my blog post. Least it can do is publish my comments, tender an apology from the writer and dump the writer and the article for good!!
Nityin,
The words from your blog and those of Ananda Banerjee do overlap at the point cited by you in the article here.
Since the article was published by The Pioneer, we took it on board on its face value.
Surely no verification was done to check the issue you mention.
We trust contributors to adhere to the originality of their content, unless of course it is a press release that requires information dissemination among our readers.
Disclaimer
All images on himachal.us are readily available in various places on the Internet and believed to be in public domain. himachal.us acknowledges that though we try to report accurately, we cannot verify the absolute facts of everything posted. Postings may contain fact, speculation or rumor. We find photos from the Web that are believed to belong in the public domain. If any stories or images that appear on the site are in violation of copyright law, please email and we will remove the offending information as soon as possible.
Claims of Infringement
If you believe that any content appearing on himachal.us infringes on your copyright, please let us know. E-Mail [email protected]
following information to us and the infringing material will be removed as soon as possible.
(a) your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address;
(b) a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
(c) the exact URL or a description of each place where alleged infringing material is located;
(d) a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use has not been authorized by you, your agent, or the law;
(e) your electronic or physical signature or the electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on your behalf; and
(f) a statement by you made under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate, that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.
Nityin:
Lines were removed because even though Ananda did not respond to our mail early, but it appeared a clear case of infringement and we thought it best to remove the offending lines.
However the delay in putting out the comment is regretted.
Since you felt so strongly about it, we put the offending lines back on the post and let the writer do his own explanation, which he has.
Below is the reply I received from the writer:
Dear Avnish,
Yes you are right. What ever happened is very unfortunate and
embarrassing. My sincere apologies. Jalori was meant to be a small
write up to highlight the place for tourism. I am enclosing my
original draft which was worked upon by others. There is a separate
section of editors who pad up, rewrite and increase the story length
for editorial and design purposes.
As this has been printed with my name I am very embarrassed and
apologetic. I have taken up the issue with other colleagues as written
to you in the earlier email. I am very upset with this issue as you
are also.
Please do convey my apologies to all concerned people. All this has
all happened unknowingly and not meant to hurt anyone’s sensitivity.
–Ananda Banerjee.
————————————————————
A non descriptive, non functional traffic light lost in the maze of
advertising signposts on a narrow fork, overlooking the bustle of a
busy tourist town intercepts us. We have reached Banjar, a small
Himalayan town in Kullu district in the state of Himachal Pradesh,
teeming with people clothed in local hill attire going about in their
daily chores. Further we ask for directions for our destination;
Jalori Pass which at 10800 feet is the nearest mountain pass from
Delhi approximately 600kms away.
With a little maneuvering we negotiate the narrow moufisil streets
where shops of various shapes and sizes seem to stumble out and
likewise within a few blind turns we drop into the wide scenic vistas
of rolling mountains and manicured step cultivations, each step
different in varying hues of green as if a painter has meticulously
shaded them if not from some stray pages of pantone green. Welcome to
the Seraj Valley.
The mountain road snakes up to Jibbi amidst flowering rhododendrons
nestled in between towering pine, oaks and deodars. In between Banjar
and Jibbi a small walk takes us to Chehni Kothi, a towering 1500 years
old building constructed with only stone slabs and wooden beams. It
was once the fortified residence of King Rana Dhadhia, the erstwhile
King of Kullu. When constructed it was a 15 storey high fort but after
the earthquake of 1905 only 10 floors remain. The ground floor is
bigger in area as compared to the upper floors thus giving it a
conical form. As with many old and heritage structures this one is no
different and one should tread with caution while exploring from
within. The Chehni fort as it is now popularly known has a 400 meters
tunnel (now closed) as well as a Krishna temple.
Each small turn on the mountain road elevates us higher and higher. On
the near empty roads we are occasionally met by small herders tending
their small flocks of sheep and children returning after a day well
spent in school. Then on another turn we were accosted with a group of
mountain bikers hurling down at us in their florescent outfits.What
was surprising that all of them were my fellow country men. I wondered
when did India graduated to this from its cricket addiction.
We stop at the village Ghyagi by the brooke to meet up with Payson
Stevens. Mr. Stevens is a well known artist and conserationist who
divides his time between Del Mar in California and here in this
mountain village with his wife, the writer Kamla Kapur. He has
followed quite a few tracks in his career – scientist, artist,
designer, writer, conservationist and film maker for over thirty
years. He welcomes me to his beautiful house and over a cup of tea and
mango cake discusses the many issues concerning our environment. Later
we go up to the studio to see his ongoing series of paintings which he
is painstakingly finishing for an upcoming exhibition in Delhi. The
paintings revolve around the great Himalayan national park, a part of
pristine forest and ecosystem that he has campaigned for since its
formation in 2000.
After biding goodbye to Stevens we drive to Shoja another small hamlet
perched higher up where some local entrepreneurial guest houses offers
the occasional wandering tourist a chance in peace and tranquility who
all wants to avoid the summer crowd in more known hill stations. More
notable here, than perhaps elsewhere in Seraj, is the peculiar style
of architecture of many of the older houses. The upper storey of these
old fashioned dwellings appears to be merely an open work frame so
designed for the storage of hay during winter months.
One can see a glimpse of Jalori from here and it does not take too
long to reach the top as well. The small pass is not devoid of human
interventions. A temple and about a dozen small shops provinding
refreshments line up on top, one even claiming the mini Switzerland of
India. Such platitude is unforgiving and I wonder when our natives
will grow up to appreciate the gift of motherland.
We park amongst a few other waiting tourist taxis and stroll in the
chill mountain air. The Sun places hide and seek amongst an over cast
sky which dampens my view of the long stretch of rolling mountains.
Just off the road which bends downhill and on course towards Shimla, a
rolling green meadow dotted with sheep fills up the Blue-grey mountain
back ground. I come across a wedding party and accompanying band with
drums and gramophone cylinders awaiting a lift down. as for their
numbers seem to have had made quite an impact on the cash boxes of the
shops out here. As I aimless wander soaking in the panorama another
mountain biker, this time a foreigner lands up on his solo trip, no
sooner than he arrived that he zoomed down not even spending a minute
or sparing a glance. I reckon he must be here quite a few times and is
hell bent to improve his record timings. I managed to take a couple of
photographs in between though and I carried out my obsession with my
new digital SLR till the weather packed up and it began to rain. My
walk to the ruins of the Raghupur Fort was cut short as the rain
intensified with hail. There was no other choice but return to the
jeep and wait for the weather gods to calm before we could even move
an inch to descend to our hotel below.
near the nature near the god
In every countries around the world, nature has provided them with beautiful and picturesque places, and India is no exception. But now the point is, how do people maintain them.
If people dont throw garbage in the streets, they dont spit and relieve themselves in public places, cattle are not allowed to wander aimlessly in the streets causing traffic jams and cowdung issues, and if the roads are smooth and well maintained here as well, etc etc, then these places also can be called Mini Switzerland.
Some important and intriguing topic points you’ve brought up
there, thanks.