Page 126 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - India

124  DELHI & THE NOR TH

Mandi’s hinterland contains
many other places of scenic
beauty. To the east, Jhanjheli
and Karsog, both about 100 km
(62 miles) away in apple orchard
country, offer the possibility of
treks to the hilltop temples
of Shikari Devi and Mahunag.

q Kangra Valley
Kangra district. 222 km (138 miles)
NW of Shimla. * 9,200. ~ Gaggal,
10 km (6 miles) N of Kangra town.
£ Joginder Nagar and Una. @
A cluster of village houses with sloping roofs in Mandi
Located in the western part of
0 Mandi most famous among these are Himachal Pradesh and spread
Mandi district. 156 km (97 miles) N of the Madho Rai Temple, the Tarna between the Shivalik foothills
Shimla. * 26,900. £ Joginder Nagar, Devi Temple and the Bhootnath and the Dhauladhar Range, the
53 km (33 miles) NW of Mandi, then Temple, where the Shivratri Kangra Valley is a land of gentle
taxi or bus. @ _ Shivratri (Feb/Mar). festival is celebrated. beauty. Undulating expanses of
tea gardens and terraced paddy
Often referred to as the gateway Environs fields are crisscrossed by
to the Kullu Valley (see p130), Rewalsar, a bustling village at sparkling snow-fed rivulets.
Mandi is situated at the a height of 360 m (1,181 ft) is Kangra is the most populated
confluence of the Beas river 24 km (15 miles) southeast of district of Himachal Pradesh, and
with a small rain-fed tributary. Mandi. On the is well connected
The capital of the erstwhile shores of the with the plains
princely state of Mandi, this small Rewalsar Lake, as it is situated
market town once functioned resting in the along the border
as a vital link between the hill hollow of a with Punjab.
communities on either side of mountain spur, The valley
it. The busy market, where all are three Buddhist derives its name
manner of merchandise is sold, monasteries, three Mandi district apple orchard from the ancient
and located in a sunken garden temples and a town of Kangra,
in the centre of town, is one of gurdwara commemorating the even though Dharamsala
the more interesting sights here. month-long stay of the tenth (see p126) is the present district
Also situated in the town centre Sikh guru, Gobind Singh, in 1738. headquarters. The history of
is the former residence of the It is said that Padma sambhava, the town goes back 3,500 years,
Mandi kings, built in the colonial the 8th-century Indian apostle when it was called Nagarkot
style, and now the heritage credited with bringing Buddhism and was the capital of the
Rajmahal Palace Hotel. Several to Tibet, used his legendary kingdom of Trigartha. In 1620,
16th- to 17th-century temples powers to fly from here to Tibet. Kangra and its fort were
with beautiful stone carvings can His spirit is believed to reside in captured by Emperor Jahangir,
be found all over the town. The the tiny floating reed islands after which it became a Mughal
on the lake. province. Dominating the town
today are the ruins of the once-
formidable Kangra Fort,
perched on top

The square-shaped Rewalsar Lake resting in the hollow of a mountain spur
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p695 and p707

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