Himachal in winter 2/ On the foothills of Dhauladhar

What a gift from God! I was thinking this only while entering Palampur. Actually, the scenic beauty in this town is just mersmerising.

The whole region is located almost around four-and-a-half thousand feet above sea level. In spite of that is region is absolutely plain, with the snowcapped Dhauladhar in front of us. The British-era tea gardens have increased the beauty of the region.

This is a brief description of Palampur.

It was foggy all around in the morning when we started our journey from Bilaspur. However the fog cover lifted completely as we progressed a bit from Palampur. It was totally sunny all of a sudden.

We didn’t take the straight road to Palampur from Bilaspur. Mandanji told us that we would visit the Jwalamukhi Temple on our way. Jwalamukhi is one of the most important religious sites in Himachal Pradesh and also it is one of the 51 ‘sati peeths’.

Jwalamukhi is situated at a distance of 100 kms from Bilaspur. When we reached Jwalamukhi the Sun was overhead. People have to encounter a steep road from the car parking area to reach the Jwalaji Temple here. You can trust your feet for the climb, otherwise auto services are also available to take you to the temple. Instead of walking we hired an auto. It took us to the temple.

Let me talk about the most astonishing feature of the Jwalaji Temple. There is a natural cave where eternal flames continue to burn. Some say there are seven or nine flames for the seven divine sisters or the nine Durgas. Whatever people say, the amazing part is that, the flames never died down. Even Mughal emperor tried to defuse the flames but he also couldn’t succeed.

To find out the reason behind the flames the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru approached a team of scientist. They carried out many researches in the mountains around the temple, but couldn’t find the source.

The flames are actually worshipped here. We were very eager to see those flames. But to our bad luck, the temple was extremely crowded. It would be too late to reach Palampur, had we waited here. Instead we decided to proceed towards Palampur.  

read more: Himachal in winter 1/ Journey starts in Bilaspur


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Let me tell you here that Jwalamukhi is located just a few thousand feet above sea level. The roads are actually plain. We slowly started our mountainous journey right after leaving Palampur. As Palampur approached us we could notice the giant ranges of Dhauladhar. On reaching Palampur, we realized that Dhauladhar is guarding this town. Palampur is large, but at the same time, quite peaceful. Our car moved through the tea gardens. When we reached our hotel, the sun was about to set.  

The sun rises very late in this part, especially when the season is winter. During the time of sunrise, I rushed to the lawn from our hotel room. The colouring on the Dhauladhar during the sunrise was an awesome moment to cherish. First it was red, then yellow, and as the sun rose completely, the peaks were all white.

Since the whole region is absolutely plain in spite of being at 4,500 feet above sea level, the British opened tea gardens here. Our hotel is right in the middle of the tea gardens. I took a walk around the hotel and through the tea gardens to get a little glimpse of Palampur. The beauty here can’t be expressed in words with the snow white Dhauladhar all around. After spending time for almost thirty minutes I headed back to hotel as we have to go out for some sight seeing.

Our first destination for today is the Neugal Khadd. This a sort of a picnic spot which is very close to Palampur. It is sort of a gorge with the Bundla river passing-by. Dhauladhar is another attraction here. There is a hanging bridge here. We took some photos standing on the camera. The beauty all around is amazing.

From Naugal Khadd we went to Baijnath. It was constructed in 804 AD and is considered to be one of the Jyotirlingas in India. But there is a conflict on the status of Jyotirlinga between Baidyanath Temple of Deoghar and Baijnath. But regardless of the conflict the scenic beauty around this temple is bound to attract tourists.

Like the other places of Kangra Valley, snow white Dhauladhar is a special attraction here also. Quite below, a river named Binaya flows by. Odisha style architecture is prominent in the temple. But the main thing which attracts, is the peaceful and calm environment unlike others temple in the country. We stayed here for almost an hour to experience the beauty of the place. We started our sightseeing tour once again. Our next destination is Palampur Railway Station.  

Palampur is famous for its Railway Station. It’s an important station in the Pathankot-Joginder Nagar rail line, popularly known as the Kangra Valley Railway. Like Shimla, Darjeeling, Ooty, the essence of the British-era can be felt in the station. The station is full of colonial structures.

The platform is a few steps down from the ticket counter. Since there no trains now, the station is sleeping. There are some people in the platform, but there is a sense of laziness. Here also the USP is Dhauladhar. It is peeping out through the trees in front of the platform. I had wished to travel a bit in the train, but since our time is too short, we were no position to wait any longer in the station.  

  

 From Palampur station, we went to Chamundaji temple. On the banks of Banganga, the 900 year old temple is built amidst a beautiful backdrop. It is situated on the way to Dharamshala, 10 kms from Palampur. It was around 4:30 pm when we completed our sightseeing tour in Chamundaji temple.

The the last rays of Sun making the white Dhauladhar reddish, we headed back to our hotel. Tomorrow, we will head to Dharamshala, on the way we will visit the Kangra Fort. (to be continued)

How to Reach

It is my request to stay in Palampur for a night, if you visit Kangra Valley. The nearest rail head to Palampur is Pathankot. Pathankot can be reached from anywhere in India by trains. You can also break your journey in New Delhi and then head to Pathankot. The distance from Pathankot to Palampur is 112 kms.

Where to Stay

Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation has two hotels in Palampur, The Tea Bud and The Neugal. Book the hotels online on www.hptdc.in. Other than these there are many more hotels in the town.