TEHRI & DHANOLTY

I was planning to go to Tehri for years. Seeing an old city going under water would have been some memorable memories but my plans never materialized. These vacations I got some time to take my kids to Tehri and also fulfill my long standing wish. Plans were not clear, leave aside accurate. No idea of the accommodation or the tourist rush. Anyway starting from Kurukshetra I drove all the way to New Tehri (There is no old Tehri now) via Yamuna Nagar, Saharan Pur, Rishikesh, Narender Nagar and Chamba exactly 250 KMs.

Chamba is some times projected as a place of "unspoilt beauty" by some tour operators and some times by the Government also. But Chamba totally disappointed me the hills are almost barren. There can be some Resorts etc. at some vantage points around the place that are generally shown in the Pix otherwise it is not inviting at all and you are forced to move towards Dhanolty or Tehri. Any way. New Tehri was equally a disappointment, I have heard the people saying that at one time the people of nearby areas were very optimistic (when the new township was being planned) about the first planned hill-city of the independent India. But tourism never flourished here and the place became a nondescript transit point for the people rushing on the highways taking them to one of the "Dhams". It was the time when Old Tehri was rearing its head from the vast expanse of water, some crumbling walls of the old Royal Palace were visible. I think that one can always find a room to stay in Tehri in one of the 6-7 hotels there.

Returning from Tehri when you cross Chamba and after some distance before Kanatal, your mood changes totally the place is like heaven totally lush green and these 40 kms including Kanatal, Kaddukhal and Dhanolty are excellent for any nature lover.

At a number of bends over this road you will find valley on both sides of the road, I mean this thing I have never seen so frequently at other places the road is on a cliff. There 2-3 resorts in Kanatal and nothing more living options but the place is really excellent for long-long walks like Dhanolty. Kaddukhal is base for Surkanda Devi temple and walk to the temple is really rewarding in terms of 360 degree views of the surrounding areas. You are likely to find a lot of snow in the season here. Living options in Kaddukhal are nonexistent but GMVNL is developing a 12 room facility here and will be ready before snow season.

Dhanolty is really a gem, the place I liked the most and can be an ideal place for a relaxing and fragrant holiday away from the madding crowds. There are enough living options in the off-season but during peak-seasons you have to be a little careful. This whole stretch can best be used for Walking and munching on local juicy fruits like Kaafal, Phulam, Litchi Chullu etc.

Some Pictures of the trip are posted HERE

Brick Temples of Kalayat

It was another lazy and hot Sunday. This time I decided to have a ride in a Haryana Roadways bus on the most "EThnic NOrth INdian" route. The bus took me to Kalayat; a small town (village) in Kaithal District of Haryana.This village has one of the oldest existing bricks structures (Temples) in India dating back to 7/8th Century. These temples are the examples of early architecture of "Gurjara-Pratihara" Kingdom and the use of beautifully carved small bricks is magnificent.
Mortar has not been used in these carvings. The beautiful patterns of the bricks and carvings are still there on the walls of temples. Very first glance on the main temple takes you down the ages and the 19-20th century built temples give a bitter taste. What is important is the fact that none of the two olden temples matches any architectural patterns of the newer temples.

More Pictures of Brick temples

Muslims of Indian origin

Got a chance to lay my hands on a (nice) book about the "Muslims of Indian Origin during the Sultanate period". I could not stop myself from going through it "cover to cover". I under stand that no one in the present day generation is interested in the related issues. The matter is highly academic but can be of immense importance for methodology to be employed for the study of emergence of the attitudes of the Indian Muslims and the attitudes of the early converts. It is a very nice account of the developments in the medieval period, collected from various authentic sources.
A number of incidents of interest lay scattered in the stories recorded by the contemporary sources, including travellers. These incidents will certainly be of some interest for any one interested (to any extent) in history of this era. The author has tried to take back the reader to the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th centuries.All the Khaljis, Aibaks and Saiyyads etc. pass marching by your side. Khusrau and Barani try to drive home their theories about the Turks, Afghans and Arabs.

CHAKRATA ?

I was longing for a break for the last three months, things were going really awesome at my workplace and the four-corners were making me sick. It was a pure coincident when 3-4 of my friends mentioned that they were planning to go to Hemkund and Valley of Flowers and they had deliberately kept me out. Any way I made up my mind and clubbed my two day leave with Gandhi Jayanti thereby making a long weekend of 5 days, packed our bags and on the eve of our departure, we received the news that the roads towards Hemkund are all blocked due to heavy rains. Things were sinking. Suddenly the idea of going towards Chakrata flashed in my mind, I had no information at that hour except the route plan. Any way we left Delhi at 8 in the morning towards Panipat-Karnal-Yamunanagar-PaonataSahib-Kalsi-Chakrata. On this route are situated Hathnikund Barrage, a very ambitious hydel project of Haryana and Paonta Sahib, a historical Sikh Shrine.

We easily reached Kalsi at around 1 noon and took a break to visit the Rock Edict of “Asoka the Great”. The traffic towards Chakrata is regulated through gates and 2 PM was the gate time when we moved towards Chakrata.

I could not believe my eyes; Chakrata is situated on one of the best locations in the hills. One side of the hills is covered with grass that gives the hills a very special look like the meadows and the other side is forest laden. Really wonderous. The town is very small with no good hotels (except Snow-view) and literally no Hill-Station type Restaurants but the weather was very pleasing.Tiger Falls situated nearby is an excellent excursion for one day you can trek 5 KMs or drive down+ trek 1.5 KMs. They say it is one of the highest waterfalls in India. Be it or not the place is really good. I wonder why Government is ignoring this place. The place can be converted in to an excellent picnic spot.

Kanasar Forest and Deoban are the other places that can be visited nearby. But due to a minor accident we had to cut short the trip and return immediately and could not visit Deoban and Kanasar.

I compare this place with Lansdowne but Chakrata is certainly a better and cool place.

I stayed there for two nights but enjoyed my stay.

Some pictures of the trip are available here: CHAKRATA.

Kanwar Time

Some times cultures change very fast. We never heard anything like Kanwar up till 1995. After coming to Delhi these men started catching my attention.

Today their numbers are growing exponentially, They come pouring in millions. The most amazing fact is that they cross Delhi after traversing some 250-300 KMs. and go even farther.

They are supposed to be the devotees of "SHIV JI" but mostly they are mischief mongers, carrying base-ball bats and hockey-sticks in their hands, hitting and pushing any one coming in their way. They bring the life in East Delhi and Highway Districts, like Meerut and Ghaziabad, of UP to a standstill. The state Govts. set up large camps and feed them on tax payers money.
They are Kanwariyas:

Standing on road and watching the Kanwariya with colorful giant Kanwar is really a feast for the eyes.

I suppose in a year or two they will become a tourist attraction like the "Pandharpur Yatra"
Some more photos of this interesting phenomenon are available HERE.

Rishikesh again

I don't know what keeps me calling back to the mountains and splashing water streams.

Morning and once again I was on the banks of holy Ganga. This time we had plans to spend day 1 at Neer garh, Vashishth Gufa, sandy beaches and day 2 at Nilkanth and Garud chatti.

Fore noon at the Neer Garh waterfalls was excellent and while coming back one of our partners, Phl, fractured his arm badly. We had to cancel all plans and return immediately.
Some of the Fotos of this very short trip are available here.

A very long morning walk.

Walking is a great pleasure. you can enjoy early morning walk as much as you enjoy your extended weekend tours in the mountains or old forts. For me walking around my place is a great pleasure, I have done long walks around Kurukshetra looking for "Kos Minars", old temples, excavation sites etc.
But this time I decided to explore the country side and walk along the railway track to a full 25 kms., up to Shahbad markanda in hot May. My friend Mj also came.

We started at 4-15 in the morning watched the sun coming up,

villagers going out in the fields, Parakeets and Mynas screaming, Sun flowers blooming

and finally Mj spraining his ankle after 10-12 KMs. I managed to load him on a bullock cart and and then on to a local train and kept walking. It took me around 5 hours but the last one hour aws really hot. Any way it was a great fun.