Kasol
- June 17th & 18th 2022
We finally left the town of Manali by 1.30 in the afternoon for Kasol. A little outside the outskirts of Kullu, we stopped at a roadside fruit shop to pick up some fresh fruits and squashes. This is something which people should not miss. Absolutely fresh fruits and the perfect squashes without the artificial tinge.
Around 45 kms from Manali, we reached the town of Talogi in Kashawri for lunch at Freedom Dhaba. It had started raining by the time we left Kullu and it had settled into a mild drizzle when we reached this place. A pure veg restaurant with some really good variety on offer.By around 4 in the evening, we continued our drive towards Kasol which was still around an hour’s drive away.We unfortunately got stuck in a traffic jam near a place called Sarsadi and which took almost 90 minutes to clear.
The drive overall was very picturesque and we got to see some lovely views of river Parvati in full flow.
We finally reached the holy place of Manikaran by around 7 in the evening. Fortunately it was still daylight and we could get a clear view of the Gurudwara Sahib and the Parvati river and the steam emanating from the hot water springs. We went around the Gurudwara and a Shiv Mandir inside the complex. The sulphur spring was just outside the Shiva temple and the water out there was bubbling hot.
As an offering to the deity people were buying small cloth bags filled with rice or chickpeas and boiling them in the hot water spring for about 15 to 20 minutes and consuming them as prasad. We left the premises of the Gurudwara and drove through the market area for our hotel by around 8 PM.
It was already late but we managed to find our way through and reached DHI Ananta Homestay. A very nice property with not much of frills and built a little away from the din and bustle of the market and main road. This was run by a Gujarati couple from Mumbai Ameet and Jesal and while it appeared like a hotel, it was run more like a homestay.
Lovely backdrops of green covered mountains on one side and a dense forest cover on the rear side, this property had excellent reviews on the net and which is what prompted us to settle for this. We got ourselves some nice dinner freshly cooked and sent upto the room.
Got up early and walked across to a small Durga Devi temple adjacent to the property. The air was so fresh and nice and the weather perfect with clear blue skies all around.
Ameet was also up early and served me a refreshing cup of tea and until the other folks got ready, got chatting with him. He turned out to be a travel freak like me and shared quite a few of his travel sojourns across India. Kasol as per him was the drug capital at one time until the law caught up with folks.
Pretty famous for the rave parties and for its free growth of cannabis plantations, this place at one time used to be a favourite with foreigners from across the world and folks from Punjab and Delhi especially during weekends.
A sizeable chunk of tourists from Israel visit Kasol which has helped it earn the sobriquet of Mini Israel.
Another interesting snippet of information was on a place called Malana which comes enroute before we enter Kasol.
This village has its own rituals, its own democracy ruled by Jamlu Devta who is considered as the father of Lord Parushram. Though this place comes under the jurisdiction of the state government, the government does not interfere in their internal matters and things get settled through Jayeshthang (Lower House) and Kanisgthang (Upper House).
Every house in the village has one member in the parliament. A visitor to Malana cannot touch people from that village not the articles in the temple and if he does so by mistake, entails a hefty fine.
The people out here consider themselves to be descendants of King Sikander.
excellent