Readers are welcome to enjoy the video above and feel hungry at the mouthwatering sights of the great cuisine that Iran is known for. But please don’t spoil the taste of your mouth by reading the comments below this video on the Youtube page. I have always wondered why the youtube videos that focus on cultural aspects of a country always give rise to a verbal abusive war of the so-called “clash of civilisations.” Rather than having informed discussions about the nuances of the cultural topic being shown, the discussion often turns to whose culture is/was “greater,” as if it is possible to measure cultures in greater or lesser terms. I have seen this not only in case of cuisines, but also in case of dance, music, poetry, art and just about anything that deals with culture. Perhaps it says something about the quality of education we go through, that doesn’t instill in us a desire to learn from and appreciate other people’s cultures and to share our own culture with others in an amicable environment.

I am fond of all kinds of food and Iranian food is especially my favourite – alongwith Thai, Arab, Turkish, Italian, French, Indian and many others of course! Persian food is a kind of melange of the cultural elements it has absorbed from different parts of Persia as well as from the regions it has been in contact with for thousands of years – which includes South, Central and West Asia and North Africa. Indeed, there are many dishes that transcend the political boundaries of the countries in these regions and manifest themselves in different forms in many countries.

Studying the spread of these dishes across such a vast region and the social factors that involved their spread and transformation itself is a fascinating subject in sociological history. This is because food is not just something to eat, but it carries with it the specific markers of social customs, lifestyles, ecological circumstances in which a society has developed and social equations. In the process of cuisinal transmission, these markers have to be adjusted to fit onto the new environment in which the cuisine is being used. Thus, the mutton and rice dishes of West Asia get transformed into the myriads of varieties of Biryani in South Asia, each carrying the identity of the community and the region that developed it. Yes, contrary to the belief of many South Asians, Biryani is very much South Asian in its taste, ingredients and preparation methods which were evolved in South Asia.

The region of West Asia is often stereotyped as a region of Islamic cultures evolved in a desert environment. While it’s true that the desert conditions have influenced the lifestyle of many communities and Islam is the predominant religion there, it is by no means a monolithic region in ecology or in religious fabric. Over a period of centuries, the people of this region have interacted with other cultures and have also lived with the people from other regions who came to reside here. North Africa is even more diverse because of the cultural contacts it has experienced through the centuries.

This Bahraini dish of rice cooked with quails is another version of Iranian Chelo Kabab and the South Asian Biryani. But, significantly, this traditional recipe as given by this modern blog on Arab food gives MAGGI chicken bouillon and ghee (clarified butter, used widely in South Asia) as its ingredients. Bahrain being quite close to South Asian subcontinent, quite obviously has been in contact with the region and this shows in Bahraini food. The presence of Maggi chicken bouillon obviously comes from the presence of Western expatriates in Bahrain and the influences they have brought with them. The food from the Gulf can be very cosmopolitan while retaining its traditional flavour in many ways. The gourmets and connoisseurs visiting this page can get an excellent collection of Arab dishes on this blog.

North Africa has experienced an even greater cosmopolitanism in culture, drawing from every part of the world through its history. And perhaps Tunisia can be said to be the most cosmopolitan amongst the North African countries. Tunisian cuisine is truly a melting pot of all cultures, taking elements from Europe as well as from different parts of Asia and Africa. Some of it is really an African improvisation of its French counterpart, while others mix elements from many cultures.

This brings us back to the issue raised in the beginning. If we take care to study (and eat!) the cuisine from West Asia and North Africa, the notion of “superiority of one’s own cuisine” really disappears. Perhaps it is important to study the sociological history of cross-cultural cuisine. I would recommend it to every undergraduate who aims to work in a global environment.

The readers who missed the commentary with the Iranian cuisine video above, may watch the following Persian food safari in three parts -

Indian Classical Music Singing (See original image here)

I am sick of convincing the publishing industry that I’m not someone else! This comes of having such a common name that one could find a dime a dozen Archana Vermas. All these years I have adjusted myself to the situation of being surrounded by a dozen Archanas wherever I went and constantly being mistaken for someone else.

I remember being woken up in the middle of the night in the university to be told that my father was waiting for me at the hostel gate, only going down to find that this was a visitor for another Archana.

I get frequent mails from friends of other Archanas, who mistake me for their friends. It’s interesting that I have one of the commonest names in India, while my sister, Varuna has one of the most uncommon!

Well, it had been quite ok for me all these years, but having such a common name is obviously not a good idea for someone who has ambitions to publish books. I guess my parents didn’t foresee this. I have discovered this to my distress that having a common name not only makes one get identified with lots of other authors having the same name, but it can also seriously threaten the authorship of one’s publications. Now, my publications are being associated with other Archana Vermas and I have had a tough time telling the publishing and book marketing industry that I am a different person from someone else, who has the same name as I do. All this while my publishers have been nice enough and have borne it with me, but I can’t keep on having these discussions all my life.

Well, I have had enough. I have decided that henceforth, I’m going to write books not as Archana Verma, but as Saindhavi Verma. In my official documents and to my friends and relatives, I remain Archana Verma.

Indus Valley, India (See original image here)

Those who would like to know, Saindhavi is the name of a Ragini (Musical mode) in Indian classical music system. Please see its description here. the term “Saindhavi” means belonging to the Indus (called Sindhu in Indian languages) region. Hence, a Ragini that came from the Indus Valley is Saindhavi.

Etymologically, it means a woman from the Indus Valley. By extension, it can also mean an Indian woman, because the term India (or Hind) itself comes from Indus or Sindhu. The “S” becomes “H” in Arabic and Persian. Thus, Arabs and Persians began to call  Sindhu as Hind and by extension, the land lying around and beyond Indus as also Hind. Indus and India are the European derivations from Hind. Thus, Arab/Persian rendition of the term “Saindhavi” would be “Hindavi” i.e., “an Indian.” In today’s context, Saindhavi can also mean a woman from Sindh, though I am not associated with Sindh.

Taking another view, “Sindhu” means a large body of water, or the sea (hence, this name was applied to a large river like the Indus). Thus, “Saindhavi” can also mean a woman from the sea-shore. I particularly like the relatively calmer Arabian Sea, which makes the beaches on the western coastline of India so very enjoyable, as compared to the more violent Bay of Bengal. This is not to say that the beaches on the eastern coastline are not enjoyable, but one has to be more careful while going to the eastern coast. Metaphorically thus, Saindhavi can also mean “Mermaid.”

I must add here that Saindhava horses ie, horses from Sindh are mentioned in Sanskrit literature as valuable.

I prefer to take the musical connotation of it, rather than regional one.

I tried to find the Saindhavi raga renditions in MP3, but was not able to do so. However, I did find this page of Tyagaraja the great musician from Andhra Pradesh.

Please listen and enjoy by clicking on this page here.

The link to the Indus Valley image above also has some musical tracts. You may enjoy them as well.

]]> http://archanablogging.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/saindhavi/feed/ 5 28.635308 77.224960 28.635308 77.224960 Indian Classical Music Singing Archana Indian Classical Music Singing Indus Valley, India http://archanablogging.wordpress.com/2011/01/01/new-year-post/ http://archanablogging.wordpress.com/2011/01/01/new-year-post/#comments Sat, 01 Jan 2011 05:00:09 +0000 Saindhavi http://archanablogging.wordpress.com/?p=757 Read more]]>

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Sunrise, Goa

I guess as a blogger I must recount the year gone by as we all stand at this juncture of the year gone by and the one standing before us.

So, what did I achieve in the past year? Well, I sent two important books to publishers, so it was not all that bad. I also founded a new online journal, which has been received well and scholars are sending articles to be published in that journal (See link here).

Because of blogging, I came across new friends, Chitra and SG are two of them, but there are more. I also lost contact with a lot of friends, who went out of my life and I feel perhaps it’s better for all of us. It was nice knowing them, but whatever happens, happens for the best.

I spent much of 2010 travelling between Simla and Delhi, but that’s another story. On the travel part, I am still stuck in Delhi, as I had not planned. Let’s hope 2011 will take me to another place.

2010 also shook my faith in the so-called democratic world, much propagated as the world of equal opportunities. I realised that the democracies of the world may not be all that democratic after all. It is possible to arrest a person on the basis of suspicions and allegations, without framing a proper criminal charge against the person – in the so-called leaders of the democratic world. I realised that Interpol can be an accomplice in this kind of gross violation of human rights. I also realised that when a powerful country is involved in this human rights violation, no one speaks against it – not anymore. I also realised that perhaps we all are under surveillance – in the democratic world – so much so that if you post a video on a blog, it can be removed from the source itself, because it’s inconvenient for the powers that be. I began to question whether these countries are really democracies that they claim to be.

Sunset, Goa

I also discovered that even in this age, not all educated urban people are visible online. This world has a long way to go to provide Internet connection to every educated person – first every person has to be educated enough and before that, every person has to get basic amenities of life. We should consider ourselves fortunate that we may not have everything we want, but we are still better off than even many educated urban people.

India is regarded as a rising economy, but I still see the beggars on streets, slums increasing in cities, slimy water, garbage and dirt everywhere, pollution rising. I wonder where the rising economy is.

It’s customary to greet a new year with hopes and good wishes, regardless of the lessons each old year teaches us. But as it is said in Hindi, this world sustains itself on hope (ummid par duniya kayam hai). If there is no hope, there can be no meaningful life.

So, let’s hope 2011 will be a much better year than 2010 and will bring hope, happiness and prosperity to all!

Winter Sun Rising in South Delhi

This is the last post in the series on My Travels Through the Himalayas. I hope you have enjoyed travelling through these majestic mountains with me. Do continue reading the blog for posts on other topics.

Sutlej River and the Mountains, Before Rampur

The most exotic places in Himachal lie in the Lahaul-Spiti District, which covers some of the highest areas in the state. Rohtang Pass, covered in the last post, is at one end of Lahaul. The road from Simla via Kullu and Manali to Rohtang Pass bifurcates at the base of this Pass, one going towards Leh, while the other turning eastwards, traversing through Kunzum Pass into Lahaul, then going into the Spiti Valley, which is a cold desert in the Middle Himalayas, touching the Tibet border and turning southwards to include Kinnaur and coming back towards Simla via Rampur. Thus, it forms a circuit, which can be traversed from both sides. It was my dream to cover the entire circuit, but unfortunately, this dream remains unfulfilled, partly because of my severe asthmatic condition. I have gone from Simla till Rohtang La on one trip (see last post) and in another, I have covered the distance from Simla to the Tabo monastery in Spiti valley. Thus, the high-limits of Kye and Dhankar monasteries, Komik the highest village in Asia, Kibber, another high-altitude village in Spiti, Kunzum Pass and Lahaul are the areas I was not able to cover during my stay in Himachal, partly because I felt my lungs wouldn’t be able to withstand the stress of high altitude of this region, whose average height goes above 14000 ft and some of these places are close to 18000 ft or even more. However, even leaving this strip of Himalayas, my trip from Simla till the Tabo monastery in the Spiti valley was an exotic one and full of adventures.

Tabo is a 10th century Buddhist monastery in the Himalayan cold desert, in a small flatland amidst the high mountains. It has remained continuously inhabited and has a fine collection of sculptures and wall paintings, because of which it is called Ajanta of the Himalayas.

As in the previous cases, Dr. Bapat, Prof. Kailash Patnaik and I hired an Indica and decided to drive to Tabo from Simla, following Rampur, Kinnaur and Nako village along the Indo-Tibet border. We were warned by the local Himachalis that we should take a sturdy vehicle on this arduous journey, as the road was really bad. But we felt for three people an Indica would suffice and on the way we realised just how bad and dangerous this trip could be and what a mistake it was to go in a small car on this journey. I advise all who want to go on this trip, to take a sturdy vehicle such as a jeep, spare tires, a full tank with spare fuel, a Himachali driver who is familiar with the terrain and enough contact details of people in the areas one is travelling through. Without enough preparation, this trip can turn out to be really dangerous, as it was for us. On the other hand, if one takes proper care, it can be a really exotic and wonderful trip for the traveller.

Rudyard Kipling said about the cold desert of Spiti that this was a region where gods lived. And sure enough, if any place can be enchantingly beautiful, bewitching and dangerous all at the same time, it is the Himalayan desert. This is a place where only gods can live. There are long stretches along this Himalayan terrain, where there is no sign of life – not even a blade of grass grows in these stretches. Mountains rise at almost ninety degree angle on both banks of the emerald green Spiti river, which flows thousands of feet below and is thus inaccessible. Its waters are freezing cold in which one can’t even dip a finger. Spiti is a tributary, which meets Sutlej – a great river coming from Tibet  – on the boundary of Kinnaur. One can see the difference in the colours of two rivers – grey Sutlej and emerald green Spiti, meeting at this point. This region lies in the rainshadow area and hence, receives no rainfall. In some places, where there are gaps between the ranges and there is a small flat land, there are small villages, whose source of water is the snow from the mountains.

We started from Simla and as we proceeded eastwards towards Rampur, a village on the boundary between Simla and Kinnaur districts, we were overawed with the tall mountains, standing straight along the bank of Sutlej. The colours of rocks changed as we crossed areas which had different kinds of minerals in the rocks. In the photograph above, you can see the area just before Rampur. The sharp curves of the narrow road, cut into the rocks, are visible in the photograph. The rocks are hard and hence, road is very narrow, cut at a height of about 10,000 ft towards top of the mountain and there is no railing on the side of the valley. During rains there are frequent landslides and accident here is fatal.

We stopped at a restaurant in Rampur to have lunch. Prof. Kailash was beginning to feel unwell. This stopping proved good for him. After lunch, we proceeded towards Ribba village in Kinnaur, where we had planned to stop for the night. On the way, we came across a huge hydro-electric plant that was being built by channeling the waters of the Sutlej river through a dam. A long stretch of several kilometres had turned into a muddy track and it was difficult to cross this area for us. Finally, just before sunset, we reached Ribba. Dr. Balkrishan, a research scholar at Simla, had a friend called Dr. Gopi Negi at Ribba who was teaching at the local college here. In addition, he seemed to come from the most important family here as the local political representative was his relative. He had made good arrangement for us in the Ribba guest house. He also gave us a good dinner. He told us that Ribba was famous for its vineyards – at a height of about 10,000 ft, where rains were scarce. They grew grapes with snow water and made local grape wine from it, called “Anguri” (i.e., “wine from grapes”). The villagers use it for personal consumption because of cold environment and it is also used for rituals such as worship rites and marriage ceremonies. It is not for commercial sale, but the Himachalis get it from Ribba informally and it is quite popular in Himachal. Grapes, Anguri and apples are the products of Ribba. We all got a bottle full of Anguri as gift from our host here. I brought it back and preserved it in my refrigerator in Simla. Months later, some research scholars at the IIAS went looking for Anguri in Simla but couldn’t find it. They mentioned it to me and I told them I had a bottle in my house. They came over to my house and had a nice Anguri party!

Mountains of Kinnaur

Ribba also has a famous Himalayan peak called Kinnar Kailash in its backdrop, seen clearly from the guest house, eventhough it’s actually far from Ribba. We were told in the evening that we must wake up early and see this peak at sunrise. It is actually a cluster of three peaks together and the central one is called Kinnar Kailash. For those who are not familiar with Kailash, it’s a high-altitude peak in the Himalayas and is difficult to climb. It is sacred to Hindus as well as the Buddhists and pilgrims who can manage, go to this peak and circumambulate it. It’s an arduous trek. There is a lake there called Mansarovar, where pilgrims take a dip. There are many legends related to Mansarovar and Kailash in Hinduism. Because of its sacredness, people in many other parts of the Himalayan terrain call their own high-altitude peak as Kailash. Many local Shiva temples all over India are also named after Kailash, because it is supposed to be the place where Lord Shiva resides. Most famous of these is the Kailash Temple at Ellora in Western India.

Kinnar Kailash, Seen from Ribba Village, Kinnaur

We were told by our host Dr. Negi in Ribba that Kinnar Kailash is actually a name used by the outsiders. People of Kinnaur call this peak as simply Kailash, because they consider it as equivalent to Kailash and they also go to circumambulate it. The snow from this range feeds the Ribba village, hence their attachment for this peak is natural.

Ribba Village, Kinnaur

We had the occasion to see another aspect of religious and cultural life of Ribba after taking photographs of Kinnar Kailash. We requested our host that we wanted to see the vineyards and he generously took us around to show the different kinds of vineyards. Then, he suggested we also visit the temple of the local deity Kasuraj. Religion in Himachal is very different from the way it exists in plains. People worship the mainstream Hindu deities, but every Himachali village has a patron deity of its own and the people really have allegiance to this patron deity. S/he is treated as a close family member, to whom people can approach to relate all their problems, they can reproach the deity for any problems they have in life, they demand their wishes to be fulfilled and they also share their joys with this deity like they do with their family members. Apart from this, they worship the mainstream Hindu deities, Buddhist deities and also other folk deities. It’s difficult to decide in Himachal where one religion ends and where another religion begins, as religious boundaries are blurred here. The social categories such as caste and tribe also don’t exist in Himachal in exactly the same form as they do in the plains. Therefore, the sociological categories of hierarchies and social groups which apply in plains don’t really apply in Himachal. One has to be very conversant with the local customs of Himachal to really understand the Himachali society, which can be simple and complex at the same time.

Kasuraj, Deity of Ribba Vilage, in a Worship Ceremony

The patron deity of Ribba is Kasuraj and that morning the villagers happened to be taking out their deity for a special ceremony. We were fortunate to see this ceremony. We went over to the temple, which was made in traditional Himachali style of carved wooden structure with slanting slate-tiled roofs. God Kasuraj’s icon was covered with bright loose clothes and he had long, thick black hair on his head (see image above). The temple complex was sprinkled with Anguri and the villagers – men and women gathered there with bottles of Anguri, flowers and incense in their hands.

The people who were handling the deity’s icon brought him out and shook it up and out several times. Then, he was placed on the ground and the villagers began to make their demands, wishes and reproaches to him. This even included women who came out and scolded him for giving the snowfall too early, which was spoiling their apples and grapes. They asked him to stop the snowfall immediately.

Temple for Kasuraj, Ribba Village, Kinnaur

Worshipping Kasuraj with Local Grape Wine and Flowers

There were musicians who sounded the drum for Kasuraj. Most interestingly, there is a Buddhist monastery in Ribba as well and the monks from the monastery also came to the Kasuraj temple to participate in the ceremony (image below). We were told that the Buddhists participate in Kasuraj ceremonies and even worship Kasuraj and the Hindus also worship and participate at the Buddhist monastery. Unfortunately, the old monastery was burnt down when we went there and the monks were housed in a makeshift monastery, so we could not see the original monastery.

Drum-Players and Buddhist Monks for Worship of Kasuraj

After the religious rites were over, one of the Buddhist monks (image below -  man in a yellow jacket) stood up and began to give a speech talking about how all people should co-exist together and help each other. We were told that he was a political leader of the village. The villagers sat down and listened to his speech.

This ceremony showed many layers of Himachali religion. It showed the local  village religious rites, the intermingling of Buddhism with this local village religion and also that the temple in Himachal can be a place for religious, social and political activities, all mixed together in a religious ceremony.

Buddhist Monk Giving Speech at Kasuraj Worship Ceremony

Finally, it was time for us to leave this exotic and interesting village in Kinnaur, because we had a long way to travel up the higher ranges than this village. We were headed towards Nako Village, which lies on top of a Middle Himalayan range that lies along the Indo-Tibet border. One has to go through the straight-standing mountains of Kinnaur, on a winding road which is mostly a mud track and can cave in at any moment, with Sutlej flowing thousands of feet below. The mountains really looked bewitching along this route.

Kinnaur, Himachal

Road to Nako Village near Indo-Tibet Border

Confluence of Sutlej and Spiti Rivers

Finally, we reached the boundary of Kinnaur, where Spiti river meets Sutlej. In the image above, you can see the grey Sutlej current in the foreground  near the shadow and the green Spiti in distance, meeting Sutlej. There is a hanging wooden bridge maintained by the army here. Just before this place is Pooh, an army checkpost beyond which foreigners can go only if they have special permit. This confluence marks the place where Spiti Valley begins. It is technically a valley of the Spiti River, but it is at a height of more than 10,000 ft all along.

We were entering into this cold Middle Himalayan desert now, but we didn’t know about it!

Road to Nako, near Indo-Tibet Border

Finally, crossing the barren, bare mountains and dangerous mud-track, we reached Nako village on top of the range which divides India from Tibet. Nako has a lake and a Buddhist monastery, datable to about 13th century CE. The village is surrounded by snow-clad mountains. Tourists come till here, so one can find many Indian and Tibetan restaurants in the village. Apart from restaurant business, people also engage in stepped agriculture. We reached here about 3pm and stopped for lunch.

Archana by the Nako Lake, Indo-Tibet Border

Nako Village, Indo-Tibet Border

After lunch, we decided to go to the monastery. The monastery here also has wall paintings and there is a newly-built museum near the monastery. Unfortunately, the monastery and the museum were closed, so we couldn’t go inside. But I did manage to photograph some shrines with stupas inside (called “chaityas”) which are datable to the 10th century CE.

Professors Kailash and Bapat near the Gateway to Nako Monastery

Stupas at Nako Monastery

Leaving Nako, we proceeded further into Spiti, as we were still far away from our destination. Now we were driving along a road cut into the rocky surface of the hard mountains at a height of more than 10,000 ft. These are barren mountains standing on both banks of Spiti, which flows thousands of feet below. Looking at these ranges, somehow I got the feeling that these peaks were alive and I was mesmerised!

Spiti - Cold Desert in the Middle Himalayas

Spiti River, before Tabo Monastery

Suddenly, as we approached Tabo monastery, our car descended down the slopes and we surprisingly came across a flat surface at this high altitude. We were driving along the Spiti river now!

Spiti River, before Tabo Monastery

As we approached the monastery, I noticed the grass on the slopes was red in colour, because it couldn’t make chlorophyll in this harsh environment. People had also planted poplar trees for firewood along the slopes.

Tabo Monastery, Ajanta of the Himalayas

Suddenly, we came across the Tabo monastery, built on this flat plain at a height of more than 10,000 ft and surrounded by snow-clad mountains. It is surrounded by cultivated fields and has a bank and several restaurants of Chinese and Indian food. There are also places to stay and one can also stay at the monastery. After seeing the barren mountains for hundreds of kilometres, we were seeing signs of life here, though this was a small community of people.

Painting at the Tabo Monastery, Spiti

A young monk opened the doors to the cells and showed us the sculptures and wall paintings. There are stupas made in the courtyard and the structure is made of stone blocks and plastered over with mud.

At the Apple Orchards, Chango Village, Border of Kinnaur and Spiti

All this while, our journey had been quite good. But now began the adventure. We were supposed to spend the night at Tabo, but somehow I didn’t feel quite good staying in this desolate place amidst barren mountains. I wanted to get back to a place where there  were more people. So, I suggested we should go back to stay at Recong Peo, the headquarter of Kinnaur, for the night. My companions agreed and we began to drive back.

Leaving Tabo after a few kilometres, the first tyre of our car got punctured. The drive changed the tyre and we proceed back. When we reached in an uninhabited place where there was no one present, the second tyre got punctured. Now we didn’t have a spare tyre. For quite some time, we waited as darkness descended. Then we saw a truck coming from the opposite side. The driver left the car with us and went in that truck back to Tabo to get the tyre repaired at a shop we had noticed  when we had driven to Tabo. He reached the shop before it closed and got some temporary patch up done, but there was no vehicle in which he could come back to the car. Meanwhile, it became dark and we were stuck in that isolated place, on a narrow mountain road and no sign of life. We could hear only the echo of the river flowing below. After a while, we saw a truck full of workers, who climbed down and began to repair the road. At least we had company now, but still there was no sign of the driver. Finally, he saw a truck coming and took a lift in the truck to reach back to us. By now it was night time. So we began to get worried and also in our tension began to think what we should do next, because it was not possible for the driver to go on in such a terrain in the night and we couldn’t stop at that place. Finally we decided to find a place to stay for the night. I asked the driver to go forward, while the other two wanted him to stop. The driver went forward on this road and then we found that there had been a landslide and the road was blocked, because it had been damaged and never repaired. So we could not go forward. We turned around and saw a light twinkling in a lonely house. We stopped and shouted for the owner to come out. He came and we told him we wanted to stay for the night. He said he had only one room. If we could adjust in that, we were welcome. So, we adjusted the driver in the living room and three of us went to this spare room. I said to my companions they should sleep on the bed while I would sleep on the ground. We asked for mattresses and quilts and went off to sleep. In the night I felt the chill in my back, eventhough I had slept with my leather overcoat on.

In the morning, we got up and decided to take a look around the area. The lady of the house said she will prepare breakfast for us and then the driver could go with her to the market where she was going to sell her apples and he could get the tyre repaired.

Archana in the Apple Orchard, Chango Village

We talked to the house owner and came to know we were in the Chango village, which has amongst the best apple orchards in Himachal. This house itself was amidst an orchard. He took us around to show us his orchard and we took photographs. He told us they got water from the snow to grow the apples. We went out and saw that there had been a snowfall on the mountains around Chango and then I realised why I felt the chill in the night.

Archana by the Spiti River, Chango Village, Kinnaur-Spiti Border

Despite the problems we faced, we really enjoyed being in Chango, looking around. Spiti river flowed at a few minutes’ walk from the house, so we decided to go till the river. I dipped my finger in the river and found how cold it was!

A “village” in the mountains can mean just a cluster of a few houses – often less than a dozen. A village of 25 houses is a big village in the mountains. These villages often don’t have any marketplace. People have to travel for miles to get their provisions. However, Himachal produces seven times more electricity than it consumes and it sells electricity to Delhi and other states. As a result, every house in Himachal, even if it lies on top of a mountain, has electricity and power cuts are rare. Every village also has a school and a hospital at a close distance and the literacy rate in Himachal is much higher than in most other states of India.

We found that Chango had less than a dozen houses and there were actually some people living in the caves in the rock surface. This was a village where lived people who sold apples, houses had electricity and some even lived as cave-dwellers!

Spiti, Middle Himalayas, Indo-Tibet Border

Finally, our driver came back after repairing the tyre and we started from Chango, travelling along the same route of Spiti desert. This time I decided to photograph some of the mountains from our fast-driving car.

Spiti, Indo-Tibet Border, Middle Himalayas

Spiti, Indo-Tibet Border, Middle Himalayas

We thought our troubles were over, but not quite. We drove through Nako on top of the range and stopped at Pooh to have tea and snacks around 3pm. The driver also got another spare tyre here.

But this time, the trouble came not in the form of a punctured tyre.

We started from Pooh and had to cross Sutlej to go to the other side, where Ribba village lies. There is a wooden hanging bridge here, maintained by the army. The road on one side ends near the bridge and one has to cross over this bridge to pick up the road and go further. Sutlej river flows deep below and there are sharp-pointed rocks coming out of the icy cold waters of Sutlej here. One can’t afford to fall into the river here.

When we reached this point, we found the bridge was broken. Traffic on both sides had stopped because it couldn’t move till the bridge got repaired. We had arranged to spend the night at Recong Peo and we had to cross the river to reach there. The army workers were repairing the bridge and they said it would get repaired by 4pm. So, we began to wait. They went on till 8pm and then said they were going to come the next day and continue their repair work. Now, we were stuck on this side, with no habitation around where we could stay. Pooh is just an army checkpost with some shops. There was only a teashop on top of the cliff, which decided to do business and sell rice and dal along with tea. So, we got our dinner here. But there was no way we could cross over and go to the other side. I called up my brother in Bombay and told him I was stuck there. He said he didn’t know anyone at Pooh. Prof. Bapat called up his brother-in-law in Dharmashala, but he too couldn’t help. These were our last calls as the batteries of our phones ran out after this and we couldn’t charge the phones.

We had no option but to spend the night sitting in our seats in the car and wait for the bridge to get repaired. We resigned ourselves to our fate and waited inside the car, getting ready to sleep. Meanwhile, we saw that this was not a problem for the mountain people. There was a marriage party on the other side, which saw the broken bridge and decided to cross the narrow wooden plank placed across the broken portion. Bride, groom, musicians and the entire party, with their nimble feet, walked across the broken bridge, came to this side, went up to have some food and drinks and took a lift in a truck to proceed for their marriage ceremony! This was a problem only for us the plains people.

Meanwhile, our relatives passed on the information to other family members and they got worried. There was also news on TV in Simla that there had been snowfall along the Indo-Tibet border. People watched the news and thought we were stuck somewhere in the snow! Besides, we had been smart enough to tell our friends in Simla that we were going to the China border. So everyone at Simla thought we were lost somewhere in the snow. Prof. Patnaik’s relatives called at Simla and were told he was missing somewhere in the snow near China border. They tried calling us but could not get through as our phones had stopped working.

In the night, there was again snowfall on the surrounding mountains and our car became freezing cold. We managed through it all and waited for the morning. In the morning, we went up to the cliff and found there was a charging point in the shop. So, I charged my phone there and we called up Simla. Message was sent to our host Dr. Negi in Ribba village again. He crossed over the narrow wooden plank just as the marriage party had done in the night and came this side. He caught hold of our hand, asked us not to look at the water below, walk by the railing, taking one step at a time carefully and cross over that wooden plank. Finally, we crossed the bridge, leaving our car and driver behind, who came after the bridge got repaired.

Our friend from Ribba had got a taxi on the other side. We got in and reached Recong Peo. Reaching Recong peo, we took a sigh of relief.

Recong-Peo, Kinnaur

At Recong Peo, we had a heavy breakfast, charged our phones, got money from ATM and started for Simla again, now sure that we were going to reach.

Not so easy. Two hours before Simla, we came across a landslide, where cranes were working to break the rocks into smaller pieces and throw them down. We had to wait here for two hours. Finally, around 9pm in the night, we were back in our homes, safely in bed.

During this journey, several times it appeared we were not going to reach Simla. But we reached safely back home. Next day, we went to the IIAS and found we had become the talk of the Institute. Everyone wanted to hear our adventurous story and we had to narrate it several times! Even the Himachalis said they hesitate to travel to Tabo. We had obviously made a memorable journey, although Lahaul was not included in it.

Coming Back to Simla

Those who want to go on this journey, must ensure that they go in a sturdy vehicle such as a jeep, have spare tyres and fill their oil tanks completely. This is because the road is bad in many places, made worse by rains, avalanches and landslides and after Manali there are no oil stations. The driver must be familiar with the terrain and preferably a Himachali. Those who drive in plains often find driving in mountains difficult and Himalayan terrain has sharp curves and bends, slopes are steep and roads are built at heights of thousands of feet. Accidents in these terrains are always fatal.

Having said all this, a trip to Rohtang is thrilling and enjoyable and I recommend it to travellers. Going in May-June is fruitful as one can see the fresh snow then. As I had written in a previous post, Indians always find the idea of snow enjoyable and much of Himachal tourism is based on this. Because of this, Rohtang Pass is an all-time favourite amongst travellers.

Parashar Lake, 40 Kms North of Mandi, 10,000 ft

The road to Rohatang Pass follows the course  of swift-flowing Beas River upstream and goes via Kullu and Manali, with Manali acting as the base where people keep their luggage in a hotel and take the vehicle up to Rohtang. As usual, I diverted the route a little to include Parashar Lake, beautiful small lake on top of a mountain 40 kms above Mandi, at a height of 10,000 ft.

From Simla we started in the morning, crossing the small town of Mandi in the valley of Beas. Normally, from here we should have gone straight to Kullu. But we asked the driver to climb the mountain nearby on top of which Parashar lake is located. At first he was unwilling to go and when we persuaded him and went up this road, we realised why. The entire road was made of mud-track, damaged in several places because of rains and the slopes were steep, though presented a beautiful view of the green valley below. As we negotiated the sharp curves, we came across a site where there had been an avalanche on the upper level and they were clearing the road by throwing down rocks. We stopped till the road was cleared and proceeded further on this dangerous path. Reaching the top, the driver stopped about 1.5 Kms below the peak, as this distance could be covered only by walking on a narrow footpath.

Walking along this path, we realised we had come a day earlier than a religious festival which is held there every year. Villagers from nearby were carrying utensils for cooking the festive meal the next day. We were going to miss this festival.

But reaching the edge of the crevice in which the lake is situated was rewarding. The area was surrounded by mountain peaks and clear water of the lake shone in the crevice. On an edge is a temple dedicated to sage Parashar, built in traditional Himachali architectural style, which uses stone blocks held together with cypress wooden beams and roof made of tiles of gray slate. This temple looks like a triple-roofed Pagoda, which is common for Himachali temple architecture. I went down to the temple and saw the image of the sage Parashar, which is made of black stone and looks like a folk figure.

Climbing down from this mountain, we drove on to Kullu and stopped at the Himachal Tourism Guest House, dating to the British times. We spent the night there and started early morning the next day after breakfast for the famous Raghunath Temple of Kullu.

Himachal’s religion is very different from the mainstream religions of the Indian plains. Here, the distinctions between “folk,” “high-culture,” Hindu, Buddhist, Folk cults etc. are blurred. It is difficult to make out where one religious boundary ends and where another one begins. The usual mainstream deities are worshipped, but apart from them, local deities are also worshipped and shared by different religious communities. In effect, it is these local cults which are really close to people’s hearts. People relate to their local patron deities on a personal and emotional level and “talk” to them like a family member. There is an intermediary who speaks on the deity’s behalf, often making prophecies. Because these people’s lives are greatly regulated by the difficult natural surroundings, they have a great faith in the divine power.

Raghunath Ji of Kullu is the patron deity of this town, but he is not really the Vishnu’s incarnation Rama of the Ramayana, eventhough Raghunath cult is influenced by the Vaishnava cult of the mainstream Hinduism. This deity is a kind of an amalgamation between Rama and the local folk deity. It is difficult to make out whose identity is stronger.

A few days before the Dussehra/Durga Puja festival of the plains in autumn, Kullu has its own Kullu Dussehra, which is very famous for its unique character. This festival has not much to do with the story of Rama as in the plains, but rather, this is the time when all the nearby devatas (i.e., patron deities of various places) are brought to Kullu in a huge procession and they pay their obeisance to Raghunath Ji in a lavish ceremony involving much ritual and politics. This is a practice from the mediaeval times, when Raghunath Ji of Kullu became most important Devata in this area because the ruler of the area was situated here. Kullu Dussehra has been the subject of many a scholarly research. At other times in the year, the small image of Raghunath Ji is kept in the open hall of the temple.

Because Kullu is the place of religious prominence within Himachal, it is also used by the politicians of today for their own propaganda. Thus, you see in this poster behind the image the prominent political leaders of Himachal participating in the Kullu Dussehra, some of them belonging to the erstwhile royal families and thus, also having a ritual significance in Kullu Dussehra.

From Kullu we proceeded towards Nagar – another erstwhile principality on the way to Manali. Just on the outskirts, we stopped at the temple of Vaishno Devi, which is an imitation of the original at Jammu. The temple is built in the traditional Himachali style of intricate wooden carving and one has to climb up a flight of steps and go through a natural cavern by a stream inside the cavern to reach the image – just like at the original Vaishno Devi shrine at Jammu. We also spent some time by the swift-flowing Beas river, which had icy cold water.

Reaching Nagar, we went to have lunch at the palace of the erstwhile Raja of Nagar, now converted into a heritage hotel under Himachal Tourism. While having lunch, we saw the traditional musicians playing on drums and singing in the courtyard and also folk dancers dancing – men and women holding hands and forming a semi-circle. Later I asked some other visitors if they too saw these sites, but they said they did not see it. It seems we had unknowingly reached on a special occasion when these song and dance events were organised by the hotel.

Nagar is also the place where the quintessential film actress of the early black and white era, Devika Rani and her husband the Russian artist Nicholas Roerich had built their house. The house is now converted into a museum with all their belongings and furnishings arranged in their natural places. Windows are sealed and the doors are locked, but people can go up to the balconies surrounding the rooms and look inside through the glass panes. We went to see this house. There is also the Roerich Art Gallery nearby, where all the paintings made by  Nicholas Roerich are kept. We took photographs at this art gallery.

Driving further, we finally reached Manali in early evening and stayed in a Himachal Tourism Guest House for the night. Since we had time, we went upto Vashishth, a place 3 Kms above Manali. This place has hot water Sulphur-springs and a temple for the sage Vashishth. We went to see the temple and shopped for woollens in the market, which are good for their price here. The place is full of foreigners who come to stay here for months. There are many Israeli restaurants here. It seems the place is a special haunt of the Israelis. On our way back to Manali, we went to see the old temple of Tripurasundari Goddess just below Vashishth.

I preferred Vashishth to Manali, which has become quite crowded now, full of Punjabi businessmen and looks like miniature Delhi. Vashishth still retains its mountainous charms. The view of the valley below is also beautiful from Vashishth.

We went to the modern Siddharth Garden in Manali where the children went for boating and had lunch in a restaurant in the Manali market before retiring for the night.

Next day, early morning we started off for Rohtang Pass. The driver had said there was a traffic jam because of the truck drivers’ strike. So we may not be able to proceed towards Rohtang. But fortunately, the strike was called off and we could go on this exotic trip, along a narrow, winding road up the vertical slopes with sharp curves and no railings. It was both dangerous and thrilling, but less dangerous than the road to Parashar Lake had been!

We stopped at Marhi, a small village of a few houses and a small market,to have breakfast. Marhi is the last human settlement on this route – we were not going to meet any human habitation after this place.

This is a circular road, built recently. It goes till a place 2.5 Kms below the Rohtang peak and from there bifurcates, one branch going up to Keylong and Leh and the other going towards Lahaul-Spiti, touching the eastern part of the Indian border adjoining Tibet, turning below towards Kinnaur and coming back to Simla.

Reaching the point where it bifurcates, the travellers have to leave their vehicles and go up to the Rohtang peak either by walk or on pony backs. We hired some ponies to go up to the peak. This was the last leg of our journey to the Rohtang Pass.

Finally, our caravan reached Rohtang La, covered in snow. In Tibetan, La means a mountain pass or a natural path between the mountains, because the peaks divide along this path. “Rohtang” means mound of dead bodies, suggesting how difficult this route used to be till recently when there was no road and no vehicles could come till here.

Before this road was built, Rohtang Pass was the route to go to and come from Tibet. People, especially the Buddhist monks, went on ponies, travelling through the dangerous route, thick snow and bad weather, crossing high altitudes of Lahaul and the cold desert of Spiti. Buddhist Monasteries situated in isolated cold mountains were their only sojourn. Many people died on the way and hence, the name suggesting the dead bodies piling up on this route.

Now, people take the road below for travelling and Rohtang La has become a popular tourist spot to be enjoyed in snow.

From August to April, this route is closed because of heavy snowfall, when the entire area gets cut off from the rest of the world. In May, when the snow begins to melt, the route opens to travellers, who can come here till early August or so.

On our way back, we stopped at Rahala Falls, 16 Kms below Rohtang, for some time.

By about 4 pm we were back in Manali. Since we had time, we went to see the Hidimba Goddess temple. Hidimba is portrayed as a benign demoness in the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata, who married Bhima, the strongest of the five hero-brothers in Mahabharata. However, in Manali she is worshipped as a patron goddess and there is a mediaeval period temple dedicated to her. She is supposed to have been the patron deity of the artisans.

We also went to see the Manu temple. Manali gets its name from the ancient patriarch Manu, who wrote one of the treatises for the code of conduct. Manu is the patron of Manali.

Coming back to Kullu, we saw the handloom shawl factory of Kullu, which is famous for its shawls.

Finally, we reached Simla in the late night.

Come back for the next post – Simla to Tabo monastery in Spiti.

Click to view slideshow.

Woman in her Apple Orchard, Shimla District

The town of Simla is only a few kilometres long, but Shimla district is a large one and includes some very high peaked mountains towards the eastern side, which are good for apple cultivation. The best apples in Himachal are grown in Kinnaur, but the apples from Shimla from the slopes near Rohru are the second best in quality amongst the Himachal apples. These apples are huge in size, full of juice and maroon in colour.

When I was in Simla, I was sharing my office with a scholar from Shimla district, named Balkrishan, who owned large tracts of apple orchards. He used to gift me cartonfuls of apples during the apple season and since I was staying alone there, I was not able to finish all the apples. Eventually, I had to distribute these apples to family and friends!

Once, Balkrishan invited us to see his apple orchards in his village in Shimla district and also to climb on top of Chanshal peak, a 14000 ft high mountain near his village. Apart from Balkrishan and I, our team comprised of Prof. Bapat from the previous post and his three friends from Karnataka, and Dr. Joseph Bara, another Fellow who hailed from the hills of Ranchi in Jharkhand in Eastern India.

Driving through Shimla district, we began to see some apple orchards on the lower slopes early in our journey. These apples were not as good as the ones that grow on the Chanshal slopes, but we were excited to see the apple orchards! We got down and climbed on the slopes to look at the apples. A modest and aged village woman was the owner of these apple trees. She came with her young boys to talk to us. People in the mountains of India are always very good-natured. She offered to take us to her house for lunch and to give us some cartons of apples. But we politely declined and opted to only taste some apples there itself. She was quite excited to get herself photographed.!The picture above shows her with the two boys in her apple orchard.

Kharapatthar

The route to Chanshal went through Kharapatthar, where I had gone to see the first snow of my life. This time we were travelling in the non-snowing season and hence, there was no snow and the slopes were covered with lush green vegetation. It’s a rather strange experience to travel through the mountains in different seasons – the landscape keeps on changing and one can’t identify a place as the same through which one has passed before. We stopped for lunch at Kharapatthar at the Himachal Tourism guesthouse.

Goddess Temple at Hatkoti

My team this time wasn’t interested in going up to the temple and Giriganga tank. So we started further on to go to Hatkoti. This is a small place in the valley of the swift flowing Pabbar river, which is a tributary of Sutlej.

There is an old and popular Goddess temple at Hatkoti. The main shrine is built in the traditional Himachal style in wood with intricate carving. There are some smaller shrines built in stone and their style points to a date of around 8th-9th century CE. I invited Dr. Joseph Bara to see the temple with others and he went inside to have a look.

Last time I had come here when the evening was beginning to fall and moonlight was shining. We had spent some time by the river then. But this time, Balkrishan wasn’t much interested in staying on after seeing the temple. So we drove on and decided to stop some way down the riverbank, rather than at Hatkoti.

Balkrishan (standing) and Joseph Bara (sitting), by the Pabbar River

We drove on from the river and decided to spend the night at the guest house at Chirgaon, just before Chanshal. The next morning we drove for the Chanshal mountain. The road up the slopes was a muddy track and damaged at many places. There was a small streamlet running from the peak down the slopes, making the tracks even more turbid. On the way up, we saw village women slowly walking up the high mountain, sitting on the way to rest. When there was no road, villagers from one side used to go up walking and then descended on the slopes of the other side – this was their way of commuting, crossing this 14000ft mountain which lies between villages on its two sides.

Mountains seen from Chansal Peak (14000ft), near Rohru in Shimla District

As we went up this mountain, we could see the vegetation changing with increasing altitude. On the lowermost slopes, there are small stepped-fields cut into the slopes, to grow red coloured paddy on these stepped fields. Going further up, one can see large-leafed trees. On the higher slopes are the orchards of very fine and large apples. The owners of these orchards welcomed us and gifted us a carton full of huge and maroon, juice-filled apples! Further up, pine trees grow. After the level of pine trees, cedar trees (Deodar) grow. After the range of Deodars finishes, there is grassland covering the rocks. On the highest level, there is not even grass, only bare rocks, which get covered by snow in winters. Around the Chanshal, one can see the peaks of Greater Himalayas in distance.

Joseph Bara on Chansal Peak (14000ft)

Some 1000ft below the peak, we stopped the vehicle as it couldn’t go further. A road was being constructed here and large blocks of sharp-pointed rocks were laid out on tracks, making it difficult to walk over. But the vehicle was not able to go on, so the only way was to walk up this difficult path. After a while Balkrishan found a jeep and went in that vehicle till the point where the grassland started. For about 500 ft above this point, there was no road. We only had to walk up on the grassland.

Prof. Bapat was suffering from spondilitis, so he decided not to walk up the sharp-pointed rocks. He and his three friends from Karnataka stopped about 1000ft below the peak. Balkrishan being a Himachali, didn’t have any problem climbing the last 500ft of grasslands, since he had got a lift over the sharp-pointed rocky track. After a while, I too got a lift in another jeep going uptil grasslands range.  From there, I made my slow trek up the slope till the top, stopping many times on the way to take breath. This was because of my asthmatic condition, which made it difficult for me to climb this 500ft of almost vertical gradient. Finally, I made it with difficulty. It was really an achievement for me to climb this peak, as my asthma doesn’t allow me to go for strenuous activity.

The most sturdy and physically fit person in this trip proved to be Dr. Joseph Bara. He had grown up in the hills of Ranchi, which are not quite tall and majestic like the Himalayas, but he had a practice of climbing slopes since childhood. He made the tough walk over the sharp-pointed rocky path and then climbed up the top of the peak without any difficulty – even more easily than Balkrishan had done!

What is Balkrishan Photographing from Top of Chansal Peak?

After spending some time there, we descended from the top, picked up the remaining members of our team who had stayed behind and started for Balkrishan’s village near Rohru. We stopped on the way to have lunch in a small town and finally reached the village called Kainchi.

Villages in the mountains can be quite small – sometimes comprising of only half a dozen houses. By that standard, Balkrishan’s village is quite large – it has about 40-50 houses. Of course the alignment of the houses and the orchards is vertical – along the slopes. This means that in order to visit his house and orchards, we had to walk down the steep slopes and again climb up while coming back. After climbing Chanshal, I was not in the condition to do any more trekking up the slopes. So I excused myself and stayed behind in the vehicle, while the others went down to his house and saw the orchard.

This was a great loss to me but my health didn’t permit me to do any more trekking up the slopes. Starting from Kainchi, we stopped at Sungri village guest house to have a splendid dinner arranged by Balkrishan for us! On the way he showed us the Goddess temple near his village which is made of wood and dates to the mediaeval period. It’s a tall, wooden structure made in the Himachal style.

Goddess Temple, near Rohru in Shimla District

From Sungri, we drove back to Simla, reaching late in the night. The road was damaged and very narrow in many places. Throughout the Himalayas, roads are not in the best condition. Hence, one has to be very careful while driving. There are sharp curves and bends along the slopes which the driver has to negotiate all the time. There are usually no railings on the roads which are made at thousands of feet of height. Building a road at these heights and in the tough surroundings itself is a difficult task. Keeping them in shape through heavy rain, snowfall, avalanches and landslides is even more difficult. Hence, one should always take a sturdy vehicle like the jeep while travelling along these roads. Everytime we reached back to Simla, we felt we got a lease of life.

Come back for the next post – Simla to Rohtang Pass.

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

]]> http://archanablogging.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/simla-to-dharmashala-and-dalhousie/feed/ 70 28.635308 77.224960 28.635308 77.224960 Khajjiar Lake Archana St. John's Church in Wilderness, on the raod to Dharmashala Lord Elgin's Grave and Tombstone DSC00888 jwalamukhi-temple-2 Jwalamukhi (One with a Flame-Face) Banganga River, Kangra Kangra Fort Entrance Goddess Temple at Kangra Fort Dhauladhar Range seen from Kangra Fort Chamunda Temple Chamunda Temple Tank Namgyal Monastery, Dharmashala Lamps in the Namgyal Monastery Main Image in Namgyal Monastery Peak behind the Namgyal Monastery Dalai Lama's House Khajjiar Lake Big Balloon inside which Children Roll, Khajjiar A Rainy Season Waterfall, Coming from Dalhousie http://archanablogging.wordpress.com/2010/05/15/simla-to-renuka-lake/ http://archanablogging.wordpress.com/2010/05/15/simla-to-renuka-lake/#comments Sat, 15 May 2010 08:12:44 +0000 Saindhavi http://archanablogging.wordpress.com/?p=569 Read more]]> Click to view slideshow.

Renuka Lake

Renuka Lake is the biggest lake in Himachal, lying at a low height of 636 ft south of Simla, which means that the drive from Simla to Renuka goes down the slopes for most parts. The lake lies almost in a valley between several hills and hence, it feels quite warm here, especially if one goes from the cool hills of Simla.

There are actually two lakes here, one bigger known as Renuka and a smaller lake at its foot, called parashuram.

The place is actually dedicated to the legendary wife of sage Jamadagni, whose name was Renuka and her son Parashuram, who is said to have been a sage with great powers and fought with the Kshatriyas i.e., the warrior clans to exterminate them.

There are different versions of the story related to Renuka in different traditions in India. Here, for the visitors not familiar with the nature of Hindu texts, I would like to explain that Hinduism doesn’t talk in terms of any single so-called “true ideology” or “true sacred tradition.” Rather, it has the characteristic of absorbing myriads of beliefs, rituals and sacred traditions within its fold – often these may even be opposed to each other, but all of them are regarded as valid. There is no such thing as a notion of “invalid belief” in Hinduism. Hence, it is possible to get different versions of a story related to a figure in the texts as well as in the folklore and all of them are valid as far as Hindu religion is concerned.

In the Sanskrit texts, the legend says that the sage Jamadagni suspected his wife Renuka and asked his son Parashuram to behead her. Parashuram obeyed his father without questioning him. Jamadagni was pleased by his son and asked him for a boon which he would grant. Parashuram asked his mother to come back alive. Jamadagni used his powers of penance and brought Renuka back to life.

The bigger lake at this place is dedicated to Renuka. In Indian tradition, women often take the form of rivers and lakes. Thus, this lake is an embodiment of Renuka herself. The small lake at the foot of the bigger one is dedicated to her son Parashuram.

Renuka Lake

Parashuram Lake

This journey from Simla was taken by me again with Dr. Ganesh the Associate Fellow (from the previous post), another Fellow Dr. Bapat from Karnataka and his wife who was visiting Simla at this time. We hired a car and came down to Renuka by lunch time – there is a Himachal Tourism retsaurant here as well.

By the time we reached Renuka, we felt very warm and took off our woollens. There are two temples dedicated to Renuka (the red one in the photograph below) and Parusharam (the white one). My companions went in to pray while I stayed out to enjoy the scenic beauty. There are fish in the clear water of the lake, whom people feed soaked black grams.

The lakes are used for boating by the travellers. Palm trees are supposed to be desert trees, but you can see here palm trees growing inside the lake waters!

There is a small zoo here where lions, bear, deer and a leopard have been kept. Personally, I’m not in favour of keeping animals in captivity unless it’s a wild forest reserve where they can roam freely. The animals did look quite lazy and “unhappy” to me and I was sorry for them, though they are fed well.

We started from there around 5pm and reached Simla for dinner. This is a nice picnic spot for residents of Simla, who can go there and come back within a day’s time.

Renuka and Parashuram Temples

At lunch, Dr. Bapat told us that in South India they have a different version – in the folk genre – according to which when Parashuram came to kill his mother (who was a Brahman), she hid behind her maid who belonged to a lower caste. Parashuram killed both of them. When he asked his father to make them alive, his father said that he should just fix their heads to their bodies and they will come alive. In his confusion, Parashuram fixed the wrong heads on wrong bodies, so Renuka got the Brahman’s head with a low-caste body and her maid got a low-caste head on a Brahman body!

It is interesting to see how the folk version changes the equations in the story. The Sanskrit version emphasises the power of penance and the obedience of a son to his father and also his love for his mother. On the other hand the folk version brings out the caste equations in the society and attempts at equalising the castes by exchanging the bodies of two women of different castes.

Himachal’s Hinduism is very different from the Hindusim of the plains in the mainland India. On some levels it accepts the usual social equations, but on other levels, it rejects many notions and the social theories which are used to explain the Hinduism in the plains don’t often work in Himachal. This is because of the diversity of groups of people who have lived in the Himalayas for ages and who have intermingled with each other.

The goddess who is worshipped at Renuka Lake is from neither of these two legends, but she is a local folk goddess, revered by the Himachalis. On another level, the Sanskrit version is also accepted and hence, Parashuram temple is built.

For the devotees, all the three versions – and any other version that they may come across, are valid!

Leopard in the Renuka Zoo

Bear in Renuka Zoo

Come back for the next post – Simla to Dharmashala and Dalhousie

Archana To Kharapatthar

My First Experience of snow!

Most Indians don’t get to see the snow on a regular basis and hence, they find the idea of snow exciting – just as the British find the idea of sun exciting! Indians don’t like to be in the sun, because sun is so hot here.

In mountainous places like Himachal and Kashmir, Indians go to find a place where they can see, touch, feel and walk on the snow! Much of Himachal tourism is based on this.

I too had never seen the snow in my life and had a great desire to experience it. There was another Research Associate called Dr. Ganesh at the IIAS from South India, who loved the snow and of course South India never gets a snowfall. A third woman Fellow was from Bengal, but she had lived in England during snowfall. I had been in England from April to August, so I hadn’t seen the snow there. So when we heard the news that there had been a snowfall at Kharapatthar - a place about 1000 feet above Simla (yes, in the mountains you measure distance in heights, not in Km lengths), three of us hired a car, wore enough woollens and drove towards Kharapatthar. Even before reaching there, we found snow on the slopes – the first time I saw it and we became ecstatic to see it. We came out of the car to run across the slopes covered with snow.

To Kharapatthar

So far, I didn’t know that before beginning to melt, snow solidifies into ice-like sheet which is very slippery. I saw such a sheet and wanted to test it. So I just touched it with my foot and I slipped. I began to slide down the steep slope on this ice sheet, with nothing to hold on to. Then, I found a small twig coming out of the snow. I held it – it was so strong that it didn’t break with my weight. The others came there and pulled me up. I thought I was going to die at that moment! This was my first lesson to first test the ground covered with snow before trying to walk on it. Fresh snow which looks like white sand is the best to walk on. But one should avoid solidified snow or ice sheets.

Tank Near The Goddess Temple, Giri Ganga, at Kharapatthar

We reached Kharapatthar around lunch time and had lunch at the Himachal Tourism Hotel there. Himachal Tourism is perhaps the best tourism department in India – it has good facilities in remote areas of Himachal, with very cordial staff and the rates are affordable. The travellers in Himachal can safely rely on Himachal tourism services.

We were told that about 400 feet above there is a small stream – frozen now – called Giri Ganga which flows into the tank of an old Goddess Temple on the top of a hill. The snow was so thick on the ground that no vehicle could pass over it, especially because the road was basically mud-track, which might collapse under the weight of the vehicle as the mud had become softened with the melting snow. Hence, the only option was to walk up to this temple. We decided to walk up, guided by a local person who knew the place.

While walking up, I saw some footprints in the snow and asked our guide whose they could be. He looked at them and looked scared – leopards roam in these mountains freely. But, not to make us frightened, he told us it could be of any animal – even of a dog. We decided to stick together and not wander in the forest on out own.

Giri Ganga

Trudging through thick snow up the slopes, we finally reached the top near the temple and the tank beside it, where the stream Giri Ganga poured its water – the stream and the water in the tank were frozen. Sunlight had turned the snow in the tank into a sheet of ice.

It was an exhilerating experience to see so much of snow all around! Dr. Ganesh wanted to walk on the ice sheet in the tank, but I told him not to try this as the water underneath would be icy cold, hence it could be dangerous.

The priest told us the Goddess temple was very ancient. But looking at the architecture, I deduced it may not be older than 6th-7th century CE. It had the traditional Himachali style of stone blocks criss-crossed with local cedar wood, plastered with burnt mud and slanting roofs made of gray slate slabs. We were told the people from Kharapatthar bring food and worship materials for long winter months for the priest and he stays here through the cold winters when the roads get blocked because of snow and the temple gets cut off from the rest of the world. Snow is their only source of water during these winter months.

At Tattapani

On our way back, we diverted the car a little to go down from Simla about a couple of hundred feet to a place called Tattapani (i.e., “Hot Water”), where Sutlej River has made a deep gorge in the valley. Sulphur springs of hot water meet Sutlej at this point. Hence, it provides an ideal place to visit and enjoy, where on the banks you have hot, boiling water and if you dip your feet in the river, you’ll experience icy cold water! People come here to take a bath. They dig big bathing holes like small “swimming pools” in the sand on the bank of the river, where hot boiling water emerges from underground and the cold river water meets it to make the water lukewarm, ideal for bathing. On the hill top there is a shrine for a folk Cobra deity (called Mau Nag), where local people go to worship. Each of the stones and the pebbles on the bank is unique in shape, size and colour. I particularly liked Tattapani very much and went there several times, with different groups of Fellows and family. Winter months are the best time to go there, because the hot water springs make the place a little warm. There are some lodges on the bank, where foreigners come and stay in isolation of natural surroundings for months.

Tattapani during Summer

Usually, when going from Simla in early morning, one reaches Tattapani for breakfast, spends some time there and reaches Naldehra on the way back for lunch in the afternoon. Naldehra again has a Himachal Tourism Guest House and Restaurant. It used to be the place for the Golf Course for Lord Curzon, who was very fond of this place and named his daughter after this place – in whose room I used to stay at the Viceregal Lodge. There is a pond here and a walk through the forest on the hill, which gives a beautiful view of the surroundings. After spending about a couple of hours here, we could always reach back to Simla by evening, have dinner and spend some time on the Mall before going back to the IIAS.

Driving from Tattapani to Naldehra in Monsoons

Naldehra Forest on the Hill

Come back for the next post – Simla to Renuka Lake

Christ Church, The Mall, Simla

While the Viceregal Lodge was the power-centre from 1889, architectural constructions – both private and official had been built here from the early 19th century onwards. I have mentioned some of these in the first post in this series. Most of these buildings are renovated now, but they still exist. You can see them if you take a walk on the road from the Viceregal Lodge to the Mall.

Comberemere Bridge 1829 (image from 1850s)

One of the earliest structures to come up  was the Comberemere Bridge near the Mall in 1829, which carries the name of Lord Comberemere who built the Jakhu road connecting the Mall to the Jakhu peak, the highest point in Simla. The Bridge joined the ridge on the Mall to an escarpment nearby. Today, this entire area is filled up with hotels and shops. There is a lift  on the Bridge – also built during the British times, that carries the visitors from the base of the hill to the top, covering a height of hundreds of feet in a matter of a few minutes.

The Christ Church of the Baptist Order on the Mall is the earliest Church in Simla, built in 1844 by Colonel Boileau, whose residence is the Observatory House in the campus of the Viceregal Lodge. Christ Church is the second oldest church in North India. In 1857, St. Michael’s Church of the Catholc Order was built below the Mall in the defense area – still serving as the defense cantonment of Simla. Both of these churches have beautiful stained glass windows, which have survived till today.

St. Michael's Church Stained Glass Windows

Around 1840s, the huge Gorton Castle was built on one end of the Mall as a residence of Mr. Gorton, one of the civil servants of Simla. Later, this building was donated for a hospital space, but was burnt down in a fire. In 1904, Sir Swinton Jacob the famous architect from Jaipur rebuilt the Gorton Castle as the Civil Secretariat of the Imperial Government of the British India. This was the most imposing building of Simla in its days, when the Viceregal Lodge was not there. Its one floor was paved with rosewood brought from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands by B. Ribbontrop, head of the forest department. Today, it serves as the office of the Accounts General of the Himachal Pradesh Government.

Gorton Castle

In 1896-97, the Railway Building was built near the Gorton Castle as the office of the Railways department. It was built as a fire-resistance building, using a lot of steel. In 2001, a fire erupted in the building and it stood testimony to the British architectural genius – the fire could do no damage to the building. Today it houses many government offices, including the Passport Office of Himachal Pradesh.

Railways Building

The architect of the Viceregal Lodge, Henry Irwin also designed the Gaiety Theatre on the Mall, which was inaugurated in 1887 Queen Victoria’s jubilee year. This theatre saw many performances played there – in the British as well as in the postcolonial times. Some of the famous Indian actors have performed there in more recent years. In 2008, the building was completely renovated when I was at Simla. I felt that the dimensions of the building looked different after renovation – the renovated building looked taller and less broad. The Earlier structure had been more squat and broader.

Old Gaiety Theatre

Renovated Gaiety Theatre in 2008

In 1913, a house called Yarrows was built for Sir George Rivers Lowdnes, a member of the Viceroy’s Council in the Glenn that goes down from the entrance of the Viceregal Lodge. Today this building serves as the Audits and Accounts Office and Training Institute. They have renovated most parts of the building now.

Yarrows

Yarrows History

In 1866 when Simla was declared as the Summer Capital of British India, plans were made to develop it, resulting in the buildings mentioned above and the Mall Road connecting these buildings on the East to the Western end of the city. This also included the Tow Hall and the Mayor’s office around 1870s, still serving the same purpose.

Mayor's Office, The Mall, Shimla

Town Hall in the British Days

The Eastern end served as the commercial hub of the British. Even today, the Mall has all the major shops and commercial offices of Simla. Since the British days till today, vehicles have not been allowed on the Mall, except the carriage of the Viceroy in the British days and of the Governor in postcolonial India. This makes it a pleasant walk for the tourists who flock there to shop, to eat in the various restaurants and just to feast their eyes on the natural surroundings on both sides of the road. The eastern end has a broad ridge where the Christ Church is located. After this point is the Lakkar Bazar or the wood market on one side of the Christ Church and the Jakhu road on the other side, leading to the highest point in Simla the Jakhu peak, full of monkeys ready to snatch your belongings!

If you have been to England and you come and stand on the Mall, you will feel as if you are standing in a small English town – which is exactly what Simla was. I went to Simla from England and my memories of England were revived in Simla seeing its architecture, more so because of its history.

See more photographs of Simla in its British days here.

See the historical account of Simla here.

Come back for the next post – Places around Simla

View from the Mall - Dhauladhar range in Kangra, hundreds of kilometres away

View from the Mall - near Jakhu Peak

From the Mall on a Winter Evening

]]> http://archanablogging.wordpress.com/2010/04/30/simla-monuments-2/feed/ 7 28.635308 77.224960 28.635308 77.224960 Mall on a Winter Evening Archana Christ Church, The Mall, Simla Combermere Bridge1850s St. Michael's Church Stained Glass Windows Gorton Castle Railways Building Old Gaiety Theatre Renovated Gaiety Theatre in 2008 Yarrows Yarrows History Mayor's Office, The Mall, Shimla Town Hall View from the Mall - Dhauladhar range in Kangra, hundreds of kilometres away View from the Mall - near Jakhu Peak Mall on a Winter Evening