Himachal in winter 1/ Journey starts in Bilaspur

This is a story of wish come true. The wish which I made way back in 2011, have finally been fulfilled. Will come to the wish a bit later, first let’s start from the beginning.

Madanji came and hugged us as soon as we arrived in Chandigarh station late last night. He is Madanlal Sharma. In 2011, he was our pilot when we toured for twenty days through the rugged terrains of Kinnaur Kailash. I can still remember the moment when we first met. Madanji, at first expressed his annoyance seeing our tour schedule. But as the days progressed, he became our close friend, our guide in the tour. While ending our journey in Chandigarh that time we could see drops of tear in his eyes.

Now Madanji has developed his business. Six years back he was just a driver, driving agency’s car. Now he is a car owner and has his own agency. But we didn’t lose touch with him in these six-and-a-half years.  

To be frank we were very skeptical about touring Himchal right in the middle of winter. We were actually in two minds, whether to carry on with our trip and experience snow, or cancel it fearing that it could affect our health. As we were two minds, Madanji came to be our savior. He constantly motivated us from the other side of the phone and asked us to come to Himachal. There would not be any problem whatsoever.

Riding on his courageous words, we have finally decided to carry out our trip. Last night he took us to a hotel in Chandigarh. We started our journey today morning. Our first destination is Bilaspur.

After spending a few hours in Pinjore Gardens not far from Chandigarh, we started our journey. Our car drove through the borders of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Right after crossing Anandpur Saheb, we started our uphill drive. Massive developmental works being carried out. Roads are being widened by cutting trees.

When we reached Bilaspur, the clock ticked 2:30 pm. Not a lot of tourists know about Himachal’s Bilaspur. Most of the people know about Chattisgarh’s Bilaspur, but believe me this town is a gem. So, why we chose Bilaspur first? Here comes the story of wish coming true.

Bilaspur is a very important town in Manali-Chandigarh route. While we were moving to Chandigarh from Manali back in 2011, I felt in love with the place. The love for the town doubled on seeing the Lake View Hotel of Himachal Tourism. The hotel is situated on the banks of the massive Govind Sagar Lake, with all the rooms facing it. That time we wished to spend a day in this hotel.  

 

HPTDC's Lake View Hotel

This time our tour is based on Kangra Valley. If you start your journey from Chandigarh, then the nearest place of Kangra Valley, Palampur is at a distance of 256 kilometers. Hence we decided to break our journey and stay at Bilaspur for a night. It is exactly halfway between Chandigarh and Palampur. So we got an opportunity to experience the massive lake as well.

We wanted a lake-facing big room and got exactly that. It has a massive balcony overlooking the lake. Apart from the lake we could notice ruins of a few temples as well in the middle of the lake. In order to know about those temples we would have to walk through the pages of history.

What we are noticing below, is the old Bilaspur. The place where we are currently in is new Bilaspur, which is just around seventy years old. But the old town was constructed way back in 1665. During that time, these temples were built. 

The submerged Temples

But in 1954, Bhakra Nangal Dam came up in Sutlej River. The artificial Govind Sagar Lake was created. As a result the old town of Bilaspur submerged. Though the people of old town were shifted to the new town, the temples remained where they were. According to historians, before 1954, there are around thirty temples, now there are only around 5-6 temples.

Once the water of the lake recedes during summer, the temples rise from its ruins. People can actually walk and visit those temples that time. But for visiting the temples now, boating is the only way out.

But we have decided against going for boating instead we will be visiting to Bundla Hill Top now. Just after having lunch, we started our Bundla bound journey. After moving towards Manali for a kilometer or so, Madanji took a sharp turn on the right.

The road uphill towards Bundla was so steep that some of our team members got frightened. Some even decided against going to Bundla, but Madanji was determined. He was constantly assuring us.   

Bundla bound road

After climbing for about 12 kms from Bilaspur, we reached Bundla. We are now at a height of 4,500 ft above sea level, which means we have climbed about 2,500 ft from Bilaspur.

Keeping the Forest Department run Rest House in a side, we trusted our feet and climbed some more steps until we reached a beautiful view point.

The entire Bilaspur and the Govind Sagar Lake was looking so magnificent from the view point. The beauty can’t be expressed in words. Very far away, we can locate a few snowcapped peaks of Dhauladhar, which were trying to peep out from the clouds. But the peaks were so far away that we couldn’t capture them in Camera.  

We wished to see a beautiful sunset from the view point. Though there were clouds, still the sunset scene was mind blowing. The entire Govind Sagar turned red, as the sun set. With the day nearing its end, we started our journey back. (to be continued). 

Day ends in Bilaspur

How to Reach

Reach Chandigarh from any part of world. Bilaspur is located at a distance of 130 kms from the capital of Punjab. Regular buses are available. But if you hire your own car, then you can pay a visit to Bhakra Nangal and Naina Devi Temple on the way.

Where to Stay

With its location, the Himachal Tourism Development Corporation run Lake View Hotel is the best property in Bilaspur. Book the hotel online through the website of HPTDC (www.hptdc.in). There are loads of private hotels also in Bilaspur. You can find them in various hotel booking websites.