Himachal in winter 3/ In the Dalai Land

An extremely cold weather engulfed as I opened the door of the car. As of now, we are facing the heaviest burst of cold in this tour. The sky is cloudy. To make matters worse, an unbearable cold wind is also blowing. But this was not the case just an hour back. We were sweating like hell then.

But the sweating was not abnormal. Be it December or any month of the year, you are bound to be tired if you climb the Kangra Fort.

We are currently in Naddi. Not many people know Naddi. For them, I’m giving a brief description. We all know that Macleodganj is located above Dharamshala. Naddi is located above Macleodganj as well. It has an average elevation of 7,000 feet above sea level. As a result it bound to be much colder than the other places. But Kangra Fort is located in Kangra town which is just around 2,000 feet. So we were feeling such warm.

When we started our journey from Palampur in the morning, the sky was so cloudy that we became very hopeful of a snowfall. In fact Madanji also assured that if this type of weather continues, there are chances that it might snow in the higher reaches of Naddi. Riding on the cloudy weather and soothing breeze, our car moved on.

As we progressed towards Kangra from Palampur, I realized that the mountains are showing a tendency of being vanished. The road is mainly plain. Except for the Dhauladhar peaks, mountains can’t be seen anywhere. I had no idea that snow peaks can be seen from plains as well other than our very own North Bengal.

We reached the foothills of the Kangra Fort, bought tickets and started the upward journey to the top relying on our feet. Like any other forts in India, here also we have to climb a substantial height to reach the top of the fort.  

Let’s take a look into the history of Kangra Fort. It is probably one of the oldest forts of India. The fort was built by Katoch dynasty, which is a royal rajput family of the Kangra state. Though historians have no idea when the fort was built, they believe it is almost around 2000 years old. The Katoch people resisted the Mughals, the Gorkhas and the Shikhs from three sides. 

It was under the Katoch till 1828 when Maharaja Ranjit Singh annexed the fort. 18 years later it was taken over by the British. In 1905, the Kangra valley was ravaged by a huge earthquake which is also considered to be one of deadliest in India’s history. As a result of quake the fort suffered huge damage. 

We started climbing the steps of the fort after crossing the Ranjit Singh Gate. We gradually reached the top crossing the Amiri Gate, Jahangiri Gate, Andheri Gate and the Darshani Gate. Till the quake of 1905, there used to be lot of temples here. Like, the Laxminarayan Temple, which no longer exists today, but the name plate does. Except for the wall at the back, the whole temple came crushing down during the quake. The wall at the back still stands tall and there are beautiful artistic works. There is a Jain temple as well, which survived the quake. We carried out our final climb and reached at the extreme top of the fort.  

In just 45 minutes of starting the walk, we have reached the topmost point of the fort. The view from here is just mesmerizing. On one side we can see the massive snow capped peaks of the Dhauladhar and on the other side, the plains of the Kangra Valley. We could also hear the whistle of Pathankot-Jogindernagar train. After spending quite a few moments here, we started our way back journey. Car raced towards Dharamshala. 

I wished to say a special thanks to the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association for giving the tourists a grand opportunity of experiencing the Dhauladhar from the stadium gallery itself without charging any ticket fare. It is the most beautiful cricket stadium in the whole world. The gallery which provides the great view of the whole stadium is open for tourists. On non-international match days, the gallery remains open from 8am to 5pm for the tourists. For that the gate no 2 always remain open. Head to the gallery across the gate and witness the giant Dhauladhar. 

We took the Macleodganj bound road from Dharamshala. The road is heading upwards gradually. Just two kilometers prior to Macleodganj, our car turned left which is even steeper. I could well understand that we are now above Macleodganj as well.

Just before entering Naddi, there is lake known as the Dal Lake. But to be frank it is a shame for the lake to be called Dal Lake. The little water that the lake has is totally dirty. 

 read more:  Himachal in winter 2/ On the foothills of Dhauladhar

Though it is small in size, but the room which was given to us by the Sahima Hotel management was actually awesome. We could see the white Dhauladhar just in front of our eyes. It was so near that we felt we could touch the peaks. We are literally shivering in the cold. In order to get rid of the cold feeling we decided to have a walk after lunch.

Naddi is the highest point of Dharamshala region and is easily the nearest point the Dhauladhar ranges. It is a small hamlet. There is a taxi stand. There are quite a few restaurants, tea stalls and momo centers adjoining the taxi stand. You can park your car in the taxi stand and take a walk witnessing the Dhauladhar. There are telescope facilities here which give you an opportunity to see some far away spots as well. And yes, you should not miss the brilliant sunset scenes here on a clear day.

The sunset means not the setting of sun, but the colouring of Dhauladhar during the sunset time. The colouring is so magnificent that you will remember this for a very long time. We too witnessed such wonderful scenes and thanked ourselves that instead of staying in Dharamshala or Macleodganj, we chose to stay in Naddi.

Next day, right after having breakfast we started our sightseeing tour. We had seen the Dal Lake, so we are now heading to Macleodganj. Our first destination is the Bhagsunag Temple. We reached the Bhagsunag Temple after encountering the congested road of Macleodganj. 

Bhagsunag is considered to be the main deity of the Hindus of Dharamshala region. It is one of the oldest temples in India and legend says the temple is around 5,000 years old. There is a hot spring as well. Apart from the temple, another attraction here is the Bhagsunag Waterfalls. You can take a walk from the temple and reach the waterfalls in about 20 minutes. This waterfall actually looks dangerous when it is in full bloom, but now due to poor monsoon, it has totally dried out. 

From Bhagsunag, we headed to the Namgiyal Monastery in Macleodganj. This Monastery is popularly known as the Dalai Lama Temple. His Excellency the fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenjing Giatso is staying here since 1959 when he came out of Tibet in exile. The monastery is considered to be the capital of the Tibetan government-in-exile. Various moments of the Tibetan revolution against the Chinese occupation is being encrypted here. All those people who have lost their lives in the revolution have been remembered here. With those things, there is also a belief in the Monastery, that Tibet will be independent one day. The Monastery is very large. It houses around two hundred Buddhist Monks, both male and the female. 

From Namgiyal, our destination was the Kunal Pathri Temple. The temple is located on the outskirts of Dharamshala. This is a rock temple and the main deity is Durga. The Goddess is under a rock. A little amount of water always remains in the rock. But no one has any idea about the source of the water. Locals claim that it belongs to the 51 Satipeethas, but that fact is arguable. 

We are now heading towards Naddi, but on the way we will visit the Macleodganj church on the way.

Since it is the Christmas time, the Church, known as the Saint John’s in Wilderness Church has been decorated beautifully. It was built in 1852. The area of the Church is magnificent with pine and devdar trees all round. The garden is also beautiful. We spent quite a few minutes in the garden itself. 

As the sightseeing tour came to an end we headed towards our hotel in Naddi. As we reached our hotel, Madanji promised us that tomorrow he will give some surprise.

How to Reach

There are many ways by which you can reach Dharamshala/Macleodganj/Naddi. How can reach Pathankot from Howrah or Delhi and take cars or busses to reach Dharamshala. The distance from Pathankot to Dharamshala is 85 kms. Macleodganj and Naddi are at a distance of 8 and 11 kms respectively from Dharamshala.

Where to Stay

Macleodganj is too congested to stay, and the town doesn’t provide a good view of the Dhauladhars. To witness the Dhauladhar you have to stay in Dharamshala and Naddi. But Naddi is always better for its peace and serenity. Himachal tourism runs three properties in Dharamshala (Dhauladhar, Kunal and Kashmir House) and two in Macleodganj (Club House and Bhagsu). To book the properties log into hptdc.in. There are many private properties in the three mentioned places. You can find them in various booking websites.