Tara Devi Temple - In queen of Hills

Tara Devi Temple - Queen of Hills

Trekking - It makes you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller. Taradevi  temple is located on Tarav Parvat in the western side of Shimla town in Himachal Pradesh. The location of the temple on the hill top makes it appear that the Goddess  Maa Tara Devi seems to keep everyone under the protective gaze , showering innumerable blessings on her worshipers.
     
                          The history of this temple dates back to 250 years when the temple was built here. There is a belief that goddess Tara was brought to Himachal Pradesh all the way from eastern state of  Bengal. Hundred of years ago , a king from Sen Dynasty visited this area. This king had his family deity in the form of a small gold idol encased  in a locket,which he always wore on his upper arm. For many years the idol remained encased but in the 96th generation of sen dynasty, had an unusual experience while hunting in deep forest nearby the temple, where he had a vision of his holly family deity,  Maa TARA along with her dwarpal  Bhairav and Hanuman  Ji who expressed her keen desire to be unveiled    before the people. The raja immediately donated 50 bighas of land and got constructed a temple there.


I went to this holy temple in 2013, when I was doing my industrial training during my graduation in Shimla. We were 9 people there during our industrial training. It was Sunday and I was gone to my relatives home in solan(Himachal Pradesh) for the weekend. Then suddenly I got a call from my friend Neha that we are going to the temple and we will meet you  in Shogi nearby Shimla. I got ready to go for temple. But I reached Shogi earlier than my friends and I tried to contact them, but I was not able to connect. There was a metaled road going to the temple and there was also a trek to the temple. I decided to go through trek to get a close view of nature.

                                                               I was almost alone when I was moving towards the temple through the trek. It was an amazing experience  for me as I had never been single gone on any trek earlier. I reached the temple earlier than my friends who were comming through road by bus. Then we assembled there on the top  and  moved towards the temple.

We then went into the temple. We were feeling positive wives there. We also ate Bhandara  there, which was organised by the local people there. After having our lunch we decided to move back , but now we were planning to go through another trek which could lead us to nearby shimla directly. It was an awesome trek,  rather it was small but included a great touch of nature.

After walking through the Jungle we reached nearby railway line which comes under the national heritage. It was a great experience for me to visit that temple through trek. When someone goes to Queen of Hills Shimla , one must visit this place to take blessings of goddess and also to get in close touch with nature.

Bijli Mahadev - A symbol of Positivity

        The religious Trek  "A Symbol of Positivity"

Into the Nature I go, to lose my mind and to find my soul. Whenever I gets an opportunity to feel the nature , I never thinks to miss that opportunity.  I have deep faith in god  and positivity and I can even feel that positivity when I go deep into the nature. Bijli Mahadev is one of those places where I had experienced a great positivity. Bijli Mahadev is situated at a altitude of 2460m from sea level  in Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh. Bijli Mahadev is one of the most sacred temples of Himachal Pradesh. The temple is situated in a meadow  with a lush green forest in the surrounding

The place got its name after a miracle that occurs occasionally. The Shiv Lingam is struck by lightening and it breaks into pieces, then the priest of the temple collects all the pieces and joins them together with the help of butter that act as a adhesive. During Shivratri   a lot of devotees gather here to pay homage to lord Shiva.

I was privileged  by God to  go for this  temple in 2015. I was gone to my hometown mandi (H.P) during my vacations from NOIDA. One day I called upon some of my friends and planned to go Bijli Mahadev. We all decided to go there in the upcoming  weekend. I went to Kullu with one of my friend Ayush Vaidya  on Saturday and  we assembled in kullu(H.P)  with our other friends. We moved from Kullu at 10:30AM  in the morning . We had to go by transportable  road for 14 Km from main Kullu Bazaar to a village named "Chansari" The landscape was changing slightly as we moved deep into the Kullu valley. Weather was almost clear at that time. Sun was shining and  cool wind was also blowing as we were approaching more heights. We all who were going for the trek were batch mates during our graduation. We all were meeting after a long time So,were very enthusiastic  about the trek.

    We started our trek at 12:30PM . We were altogether  8 friends. Some local people were  also going to the top for taking the blessing of lord Shiva. As we moved on the trek, we were covered with deep forest around us . Nature was exhibiting its beauty  in a great manner. Trek was well maintained. Some tea shops were there in between the trek. We were moving slowly as the the trek was not so much lengthy. We had to cover a distance of  5 KM  and had to return back to kullu.

 

We reached at the top with in two and a half hour. As I was leading towards the top , I was feeling positive vibrations heading towards me. We first went to the temple to worship lord Shiva and then we meditated there for some time. The view was awesome from Bijli Mahadev. A panoramic view of Kullu and Parvati valley can be scene from the top.

Every move through our trek teaches us  something in different forms . I was feeling very much positive by going through  this trek  and it had impact on me for a very long time , still now when I am writing about my experiences, I am feeling goosebumps. 

I advice  each and every one  to go through this trek  and feel the charming beauty of nature and also get a feel of positive vibrations  from the supernatural powers.

Prashar Lake : The Hidden Beauity

The woods are lovely, dark and deep but I had promises to keep and Miles to go before I sleep.Actually there is a proper transportable road to this Lake, but we decided go through a trek to this place.
It was the time of December and my semester exams were going to over when I planned to go for this holy lake. 2012 was also leading to its end and we planned to celebrate our new year there in Prashar.
 Prashar lake is situated at a height of 2730m(8960ft) in the 50km north- east of Mandi and 64Km south of Kullu in Himachal Pradesh. There is a little floating island between the lake which revolves itself after a regular interval of time.The lake has been named after the sage Prashar father of Vedvyas, who has mediated here.Alongside the lake there is an old three storied pagoda shaped temple dedicated to the sage Prashar. The temple surrounded  with  a small ground throws a picture of divine nature.

 We were total 10 people who were going on trek. All of us assembled in mandi to move for this holy lake. We moved from mandi on 29th December, 2012 at 9AM to a place nearby mandi (7 Mile) through transport vehicle. It took 20 minutes to there. Then we had to start our trek .We all were very exited as it was not an official trek and each of us was going to experience this first time. Weather was showing a good sign as sun was shining and little wind was also blowing.

We started our trekking from this bridge towards our destination with great enthusiasm. after moving some distance we reached  a village Grahan, which was almost last village of this valley.We arrived there at 11:30AM and had our lunch.It was an amazing feeling to have lunch in  between such a divine nature with all my best buddies.After having our lunch we moved forward and we decided to move fast as we were not aware of the trek.

After walking some more distance we were almost lost in valley. We were moving on a trail which was made by the local people for their cattle's. We were in a great dilemma for choosing the right trail towards our destination. We kept our faith on god and continued  moving . After moving for 6 more hours our body and mind were tired.But we had no shelter for the night neither we had our tents with us.  Then suddenly we heard a noise of some localide who was coming back from the jungle towards his home. He was surprised by seeing  all  of us in that jungle and asked "where are you all going". As most of us were also from mandi, it became convenient for us to understand the language of that localide. He told us that the next part of  your trek is  little bit dangerous to cross during night.Then he offered us to stay in his home  for the night. We all agreed to his proposal and decided to move early in the morning for our destination. That man was a kind of  god person for us because we were totally helpless at that movement. Then we moved back toward his home which was at a distance of 1 KM from the place where we were standing .Luckily  one of my friend had his birthday that night on 30th December. We celebrated his birthday there with great fun and after that we went to sleep as we were tired.

Next Morning we wake up at  8:30 AM , had our morning tea and moved forward by giving some money and thanks to that localide for serving us . We found a drastic change in the beauty of nature, a different view of nature was fascinating all of us. Density of trees started reducing as we went on high altitude and some signs of snow was appearing in front of us. 

We reached a nearby lake of Prashar lake after moving for 5 more hours. It was a sign for us that we are now very close to our destination. This lake was  almost freezed  and was giving a pleasant

 feeling . We threw some stones over the lake and there was a sound which was resembling to  breaking of a glass.We halted there for some time to feel that beauty more closely. Then we moved forward and after walking 1 more hour we reached on the transportable road that I had talked earlier.

We then put our bags down from our back and had some tea as it was very cold there . Then we freshen up our self and went to the temple to worship sage Prashar. Then we took a view of holy lake which was looking very beautiful covered with snow. Dhauladhar ranges and mountains of kullu valley which were visible from Prashar lake and were adding astonishing beauty to the nature. 

 It was one of remember-able trek as I was there at holy Prashar Lake  on  the ewe of new year. One must go there to have the positive vibes, but if  some one really wants to feel the bauity .

Manimahesh Kailash

IN Every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. When I was on my trek to Shrikhand Mahadev, I met a person there who was about 60 years old. He told me that there are five kailash  namely Shrikhand Kailash, Manimahesh Kailash, Kinner Kailash, Mansarovar Kailash and Aadi Kailash. At that moment I decided that my next expidition would be Manimahesh Kailash.

                                                  As per Hindu mythology it is believed that Lord Shiva used to reside at Kailash. So, no one can even dare to think about going there, until he/she is not blessed by lord Shiva. So, I was blessed  by god after 3 years to visit Manimahesh Kailash in 2016.


                           I was doing my summer internship program in Delhi. Suddenly one day I asked my friends to go for Manimahesh Kailash. Two of my friends get ready for the trek. I and one of my friend Pushkar Sharma booked our bus from Chandigarh to Chamba situated in Himachal Pradesh and one of our friend Monash Thakur was coming directly to Chamba from his hometown Kullu in himachal pradesh. We all met in Chamba. The weather was too much clear there in chamba, but it was heavily raining in other areas of himachal pradesh.Then we took a taxi from chamba to Bharmour, a town in chamba distt, in himachal pradesh situated at a height of 7000 feet
   
                                  We arrived bharmour at 3PM. We put our luggage in our rooms there which was already booked for us by one of our  friend Abhishek Thakur, who is local resident of bharmour. Then we went to Chorasi Temple which was just near to our room. Chorasi is in the center of bharmour town and has immense religious importance because of its 84 temple complex.

These 84 temples were built 1400 years ago and  offers a delightful, clean and scenic view. When we entered into the temple, we were filled with positive vibes. I had never seen so many shivalings  altogether in a single complex. There is a temple of Dharm Raj in chorasi, which is the only one of its own kind.in whole world.
                                        

Then we had to go for Bharmani Mata temple which is situated at  a distance of 4 Km from chorasi temple .According to legends and local belief when lord shiva went to kailash , granted a boom to Bharmani Devi that all persons intending to go on pilgrimage to Manimahesh Kailash must have to visit Bharmani devi. We moved for Bharmani devi at 4PM. As we started moving toward it , we were being almost hypnotized by charming beauty of nature. Local school children were also walking with us towards the temple , but we with fast speed as compared to us,

         
We reached the temple after walking for one and half hour. Then we went to inside the temple to pray in front of goddess. I was fascinated by seeing the temple as it was very old and was a symbol of old culture.
                                   

Then we came back to our rooms after taking rest there . It took just half and hour to reach back our room in chorasi. It was just like a warm up trek for us before climbing to kailash.

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Next morning we woke up early in the morning , but weather was not  allowing us to move forward. It was raining completely for whole night.We waited for some time and then weather got cleared after some time . Sun starts rising  from behind the clouds  and we moved to hadsar in taxi , which was 3 KM from bharmour. It was the  station from where we had to start our trek . WE started our trek at 10:30AM from hadsar. The weather plays an important role when we go to mountains, but this time weather was in our favor. We moved with full enthusiasm towards our destination. River was flowing along with the trek and it was giving a fantabulous feeling . We took our first halt after walking for 2 hours. We had some toffees, chocolates with us which provides enough protein during trekking.Several small shops were also there in the trek in which pranthas, magi, were being served.

The signal strength was zero in our cell phones and we were disconnected from the whole world for 2 days. But then suddenly we saw a BSNL landline there in a shop. We were surprised to see that at this much high altitude we are getting a facility of  calling.Then we made call to our parents from that PCO and informed them that we are good and safe . So, don't worry about us. 

Then we move forward and decided that now we will take our next halt at Gauri Kund which was 6KM from there. As the altitude was increasing  nature was taking different shapes and showcasing its beauty in a  flamboyant  manner. We met different strangers during the trek.  Usually Seva Langars are being organised there during official yatra , but as we were gone before official yatra, so people of seva smiti were establishing their shops at that time.

           We reached Gauri kund at 6:30PM. The weather starts changing tremendously and drizzling starts there. Then we stopped there and had a cup of tea . After that we went to Gauri Kund to worship Gauri Maa .As the weather was turning bad so after worshiping , we moved towards our final destination Manimahesh Kailash(Shiv Kund) .
                                                                               

It took half an hour to reach us to Shiv Kund. We were tired but then suddenly weather cleared and we were blessed by lord Shiva as we were able to see the Shiv Mani on kailash . It was feeling very good to see the sky after weather clears up. Stars were clearly visible and were giving tremendous touch of beauty. After that we slept in our tents.Then we woke up next day and went to shiv kund for having bath. It was very cold in the morning . People were taking bath there and loud sayings of Har Har Mahadev were giving strength to them to take bath in that much cold. We also took bath and then worshiped Lord Shiva  to bless us with positivity and a proper direction to lead our life. Then we had our breakfast and came back to our homes safely with lots of positive energy.

Shrikhand Mahadev

Himachal Pradesh is known as land of Gods and also land of snowy mountains. Shrikhand Mahadev is one of the pilgrimages in Himachal Pradesh. It is situated in  Distt. Kullu of Himachal Pradesh. One can only experience this anonymous beauty of  nature if and only if  he/she has a strong faith in god and one must have strong will power , determination to complete this trek.

                                                                     I was obliged by Lord Shiva to experience this beauty in 2013. I was completing my graduation(B.Tech) during that duration. Official Shrikhand Yatra was going to start from 15-July-2013 and I decided to go for  this trek on 18th July along with my friend (Sumit kaushal). I asked my parents to for the trek. First they refused me to go the trek, but then I convinced them any how and then packed up my rucksack and left my home town. I met my friend in Shimla and then we moved on further for Rampur. We arrived rampur at 9AM and then we  collected some important accessories  for the trek.From rampur we hired personal taxi to the Village(Jaon) from where we had start our trek. Weather was pretty awesome there in Jaon. We Started our trek at 11AM with loud saying's of  "Har Har Mahadev"  

 

Positive energy begins to affect both of us  as we put our pace towards our destination. We had to cover a distance of 15 km on first day  and had to reach our first  halt  position Thachru. Trek was full of adventures from the beginning. Several people from  different areas of himachal pradesh had organised free food services for the trekkers and devotees.

After walking 8 to 9 hours we reached thachru at 9 PM. We put off our bags in our tents and then had our dinner which was also free , organised by  Seva Smiti  of Shrikhand Yatra. After having our dinner we went to our tents and took rest for the next day trekking.

When we woke up in next morning, drizzling starts, but we moved ahead to complete our trek. We had to cover a distance of 3 Km and had to reach Kali Ghati.

It was steep distance between thachru and Kali ghati , but our will power and determination kept us moving along the way. As the altitude was increasing , different view of nature was appaering in front of us.We took rest after arriving there and had some Maggi and pranthas in Dhabas there.

Then we move forward for  our next destiny Bheem dwari which was 7 KM from Kali ghati. 

It took about 5 hours to reach bheem dwari. . We met our batch mates there suddenly near Parvati Jharna, who were coming back from shrikhand mahadev. We were happy to see them .We stopped there for a while and asked them about their experience. They motivated us and then we moved forward for our next destiny Parvati baag.

Fascinating beauty of  nature and peaceful positive vibrations were  attracting us and  we were actually feeling the presence of god there in the valley.

Trekomania - For deep Himalayas

We reached parvati baag at 8PM . We were feeling tired after reaching parvati baag. We then booked a tent for ourselves and get packed into our tents as it was very cold outside .

Now it was the time to put our maximum efforts in next morning as we had to cover a distance of 10 Km . We had to go to the top and then had to come back again to parvati baag and weather was also changing there instantly.  So, we moved early in the morning to our final destination . The view was fantastic that we were filled with enthusiasm to achieve our goal .

We reached finally Shrikhand Mahadev at 1PM . I was feeling too good and too positive there , but as weather was turning bad , we were not able to feel that beauty for a longer time . So, we just thanked lord Shiva to give us this great opportunity to visit this pilgrimage and then we came back for our homes.