The Serene Himachal

Kullu Dussehra a grand celebration in the Kullu Valley it is one of the most revered festivals here. This unique and coruscating celebration lasts for seven days. This Kullu Dusshera starts when other conclude their celebration. This started during the Raja Jagat Singh reign when he was advised by his brahmin to bring the statue or murti of lord ram (Raghunath) from ayodhya to atone from his sins since that time. The festival is known for its cultural heritage, cottage wool weaving industry and kullvi shawls and caps. This festival symbolizes the triumph over evil, attracts blessing and prosperity.   This week long celebration is celebrated in the month of October with a great fanfare. More than 300 deities of Kullu district are invited to the occasion and pay their obeisance to Lord Shri Raghunath ji. A large number of National and International tourists also visit Kullu and even perform and show case their culture and traditions. There are sperate places for different activities...

 Hadimba Devi Temple - Manali one of the most popular tourist attraction in manali is the hadimba devi temple an ancient cave temple . The story of this devi, bhim's wife takes us back to the days of Mahabharata where she was born as a demoness or raksashi. But after her rigorous tapasya she was eventually was blessed with supernatural power and turned into a devi. However its the history but the devi temple that was built over centuries, has always left me mesmerised with its beauty. Its a pagoda style architecture installed in the serene forest of dungri and the people of dungri and old manali comprise to be her care taker. The temple is all wooden and ancient stone establishment, its calm atmosphere can easily touch ones soul. I have visited this temple many times and always get excited to visit again, now people come from all around the world to take a peek at this conical structure that beholds so much just in its atmosphere. It has also became a source of income for the local...

Lets talk about my home land the very special Himachal Pradesh the name itself depicting the presence of Himalayas and its unfolding beauty, mystery, cunning rituals and devotions of the folks towards their almighty gods and people. Only a few know about the history of this place. Himachal has been mentioned in the great Hindu text books such as Mahabharata and Puranas as "dev bhumi" literal meaning the land of gods. Talking about the ancient periods many empires came and ruled, it also faced the British colonial era. It was the British who established Shimla as the summer capital. Pre-independence Himachal Pradesh was just a cluster of small states which eventually integrated into the Indian Union. Himachal Pradesh became Union Territory on 1 November 1956.After this, the State of Himachal Pradesh was passed by the parliament and the new state came into being on  25 January 1971 emerging as the eighteenth state. Over the centuries , Himachal Pradesh has preserved its unique ...