My Travels Through the Himalayas – III (Simla to Dharmashala and Dalhousie)

Posted by Saindhavi on 18/05/2010 · 73 Comments 

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Dharmashala is of course famous for its Tibetan Monastery and the Dalai Lama’s residence here. I wanted to go there from Simla and had two chances to visit the place – one with another woman fellow and several Associate Fellows who visited the Institute – Prof. Kailash Pattanaik from Orissa, Jaydeep from Bengal and Nirmal from Delhi were amongst them. The second time I went with some family members and a Fellow, Dr. Bapat from the previous post on Renuka Lake.

I must say something about the Associate Fellows here. The Fellows are resident at the IIAS for 2 years. On the other hand, Associate Fellows are teachers from colleges and universities from across India who visit the Institute for a month in a year. They can make three such visits and can choose their month of visit. This means that every month the Fellows get a chance to meet a new set of Associate Fellows. I made friendship with many lecturers during my stay at Simla in this manner and made it a point to invite at least some of them for dinner to my house every month. We had many enjoyable evenings in my house and on the Mall.

On the first trip to Dharmashala I didn’t know that we could take the same road on to Dalhousie, so we came back from Dharmashala. On the next trip with family, I went till Dalhousie. I combine the description of both the trips here. The photographs are from both the trips.

St. John's Church in Wilderness, on the Road to Dharmashala

As one drives on the scenic road from Simla to Dharmasala, which is on a lower height than Simla, air feels less cool as one descends the slopes. The first significant monument that one comes across is the small 19th century St. John’s Church in Wilderness, built amidst the cedar trees on the road side. In the cemetery next to the church is the grave and the tombstone of Lord Elgin – the only Viceroy who died in India. All others went back to England once their tenure was over. On both the trips, we stopped at this place, which is not very well-known to travellers, who usually travel straight from Delhi to Dharmashala in tourist buses.

I have a habit of going on unusual trips, which are long, but which let us see some interesting sites usually not on the official tourism routes. Some of my fellow-travellers resent this, while others enjoy the novelty.

Lord Elgin's Grave and Tombstone

We were told that he contracted yellow fever and died here while travelling.

Moving on from this spot, one reaches the famous Goddess shrine called Jwala ji (“the Flame Goddess”), where a natural flame comes out of a crevice on the hill face. It was discovered by a shepherd many centuries ago and was regarded as a form of the Goddess, who is the patron deity of the hills. A small shrine was initially buil here and people began to pray to Jwalaji. This shrine has now grown into a huge temple complex, with many shrines around and a large courtyard where people can have assemblies and organise feast for the poor. The entire complex is paved with marble and is built on a hilltop, to be climbed on steps. The dome of the main shrine is plated with gold.

It is believed that the Goddess has manifested herself in the form of a flame at this place. In this sense, the worship is not offered to the flame, but to the Goddess whom people imagine in the form of the flame.

Jwalamukhi Temple

Of course, there seems to be oxygen inside the crevice, which sustains the flame, which has been burning for many centuries without getting extinguished. In folk religion there are many cults which have grown around natural phenomenon such as this one, which later become integrated into mainstream religion.

Jwalamukhi (i.e. One with a Flame-Face)

Hindu temples are usually very crowded and climbing steps in hot sun is not a very enjoyable experience. Because of this, I don’t enjoy going to a temple, unless it’s a very old one and hence, of archaeological interest to me. This temple has been completely renovated, its original features gone, so it doesn’t have any archaeological interest for me. But, since on both occasions my companions wanted to go up to the temple, I went along with them. There are always hundreds of thousands of people visiting there and on a festival day, the place is milling with crowds.

At the base of the hill is the town of Jwalaji, which has small, low-cost eating places, called Dhabas. First time we ate there, but on my second visit I was with my elder cousin and his son and we decided to go to the Himachal Tourism Restaurant on the outskirts of the town, which is certainly of a better quality and much more comfortable.

Banganga River, Kangra

Leaving Jwalaji, as you drive furhter ahead, you go through the Kangra Valley, once the centre of a small principality where the famous Kangra school of miniature paintings were patronised by the local rulers of 18th-19th century, when the Mughal empire collapsed and the Mughal court artists migrated to other local principalities for patronage. Many of these artists went to Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh in Central India and to Himachal in the Himalayas. They produced a wide range of beautiful miniature paintings, illustrating Hindu manuscripts, revising the style of the Mughal miniature paintings they had practised at the Mughal court.

The fast and crystal clear Banganga river flows through the Kagra valley and you can see in distance the Dhauladhar mountains – covered in snow if you go in winters. There is a fort at Kangra of early mediaeval period of an uncertain date, which has an archaeological museum. The fort was taken over by the Afghan rulers in the 9th-10th century. Most of the fort is ruined now and only the ramparts and the foundations are left. But in the courtyard one can still see a Goddess temple – perhaps the patron deity of the rulers of this fort. This temple is the only part that survives inside the fort.

First time we spent some time at this fort, but on the second trip my cousin was too tired and didn’t want to stop here.

Kangra Fort Entrance

Goddess Temple at Kangra Fort

Dhauladhar Range seen from Kangra Fort

The Kangra Fort is in the valley and if you look up in the sky, you’ll see the high snow-peaks of Dhauladhar. On the first trip we could see them. On the second trip we went in the monsoons, so the sky was covered with clouds and it began to rain by the time we crossed this area, so the mountains were not visible.

Chamunda Temple, on the Outskirts of Dharmashala

On the outskirts of Dharmashala, there is another Goddess temple called Chamunda Temple. It is built right on the bank of the swift flowing Banganga river. The image is in an underground chamber. There is also a tank in front of the temple where people go for boating. In the first trip, we stopped here for the night before going for Dharmashala on the next morning. In the second trip, we didn’t stop here and drove straight from Jwalaji to Dharmashala as it was raining heavily.

Dharmashala is actually divided into two parts – the lower town on the hill and the upper town called McLeodgunj from British times on a higher hill which has an army base and the Namgyal monastery higher up the hill. One has to drive through the army cantonment to reach the monastery. This drive, as one climbs up the hill is very pleasant.

The area around the Namgyal monastery is a different world, with Tibetan monks everywhere, Tibetan goods shops and scenic hills around. We saw a Tibetan shop where they had specifically written, “We don’t sell Chinese Goods Here” and another, where the proceeds from the sale were gong to the orphaned Tibetan children. The first time the atmosphere was relaxed but the second time we had to walk through a metal detector to get into the monastery – suggesting the fear of attacks had reached Dharmashala. If you go in the morning, you’ll see the monks chaniting in their melodious tune and the worship rituals taking place. One goes around the monastery, turning the “cylindrical drums of merit” as one circumambulates. These drums are filled with slips of paper with the Buddhist hymns written on them. There are hundreds or thousands of them filled inside the drum and turning the drum once is supposed to be equivalent to chanting these hymns as many times as the number of slips there are inside the drum. As one reaches at the back of the monastery, one sees a peak of the Dhauladhar Range, covered in snow in winters. There is another room next to the main shrine, where monks light lamps and keep them in rows. Just opposite the monastery is the house of Dalai Lama – quite small by the stature he has. Of course, one has to make appointments in advance to meet him and he is travelling many times. So meeting him was out of question when we went there.

Namgyal Monastery, Dharmashala

Lamps in the Namgyal Monastery

Main Image in Namgyal Monastery

Peak behind the Namgyal Monastery

In Front of Dalai Lama's House

Our first trip ended here and after having lunch in one of the numerous restaurants we turned back towards Simla, this time taking a different route through Palampur and reached in the night.

By the second time I came to know that we could have taken the same road upto Dalhousie. So when my cousin came to visit, we went further ahead from Dharmashala, starting after having an early lunch and reached Dalhousie by evening and spent the night there, going upto Khajjiar the next morning.

Khajjiar Lake

Dalhousie is actually closer to Punjab border and most people come here from Pathankot in Punjab. It is at about 500 ft higher than Simla. A large part of the town is covered by a public school built during the British times. There are some beautiful churches here.

Big Balloon inside which Children Roll, Khajjiar

Further up from Dalhousie, there is the Khajjiar Lake amidst high cedar trees. This used to be a golf course in the British times. The drive up the hills during monsoons is beautiful as one sees many kinds of flowers growing on the side of the hills and the clouds touch the ground at Khajjiar. The lakes in the mountains are quite small in size and a part of this lake has dried up, so it really looks more like a pool of water. There are some lodges there and this place is ideal for spending some time in isolation in natural surroundings. We reached there in the afternoon and spent some time there.

There are some big balloons inside which they place children and push, so that the ball rolls. This is good fun-sport for children and my nephew enjoyed this very much.

From there we turned back towards Simla, reaching late in the night. On the way, because of rain, we saw many waterfalls which crop up during rainy seasons. At one place, the road had caved in because of water softening the muddy tracks and the road on the upper level was blocked because of a landslide. The blocks of rock were being cleared and being thrown below. Our drive at first was scared, but he gave the car one start and fortunately for us, the muddy road didn’t give way and we were past that area!

A Rainy Season Waterfall, Coming from Dalhousie

Come back for the next post – Simla to Chansal Peak

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