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Kullu Valley

Four km north of Kullu, on the road from Kullu to Manali is the Vaishno Devi Temple containing a small cave with an image of the goddess Vaishno (you get on your belly and crawl a short distance thru the opening). It is worth the effort.

Fifteen km south of Kullu, in Bajaura, is the famous temple of Basheshar Mahadev with fine stone carvings and sculptures. There are four large image slabs facing north, west and south. It is truely an incredible structure artistically as well as the spiritual feeling it exudes. Bajaura is just south of the airport in Bhuntar. (Photo Coming!) Manali is well known to travelers and as such has expanded to become the bustling center of tourism in Kullu Valley..Never-the-less it is still quite charming and beautiful. There is a Tibetian section of town, an older area where you can find Traditional crafts from Tibet and Kashmir abound along with the local Himalyayan crafts such as the Kullu shawls. There is a wonderful selection of restaurants and cuisines here due to the nice mixture of cultures. Visit the natural hot springs, Vashit, for a relaxing bath and afterwards sit at their open-air cafe and marvel at the equisite beauty of the mountains before your eyes.

Manali is a bustling town with lots of cars, people, shops, a hot springs, a few temples, Old Manali and a Tibetan section.

Naggar is a quiet, smaller village approx 45 min drive south from Manali through apple orchards, green pastures with grazing horses and lovely quaint traditional country homes. In Naggar you can walk thru the residential areas and observe people weaving on their front porch, and literally bump into 1/2 dozen ancient temples including the magnificent 11th century greystone Siva Temple of Gauri Shankar. A drive above Nagar Castle on the ridge is Murlidhar Krishna Temple and above that is the Nicholas Roerich Gallery--a real treasure! One can stay at the historic Naggar Castle or across the way at the small family run Poonan Mountain Lodge. The Poonan restaurant, with indoor and patio seating, has fabulous food!.