Loitering in Himachal

Kullu and Naggar

Nimesh Ved

Published by The Alternative on 20th August 2015.

We move towards Autt from Gushaini simultaneously charged and exhausted from our trek in the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP). Here we put up at a fairly basic hotel that lies amidst the stretch of shops which constitute the Autt market. An evening walk in the market had us pick up walnuts and red kidney beans to take back home and apples to eat; each of these local, fresh and delicious.

When we returned to the hotel we saw the hotel manager in exactly the same position that we had seen him when we left; busy playing teen-patti (card-game) online. Reach of the mobile-phone based internet and uses people put it to has been a mind-boggling phenomenon. As one travels, one learns more of one’s own country people. Not being able to contact the person we had planned to meet, we dropped the idea of going to Shimla. We would instead go to Kullu, the morning next, for Dushera celebration. Dushera at Kullu is akin to partaking fervor of Navratri in Baroda or Christmas in Shillong.

Breakfast we had at the Autt market after the morning walk where we saw some devtas (deities) come from across the river. Some had made a night halt at Autt like us. A tea-stall further ahead had people pool stuff to provide tea and snacks to those carrying devtas. The tea-stall, where we ate, also offered some eatables for the people carrying one of the devtas. All along people on the street had been showing respects and bowing to the devtas. These devtas were going from different villages of the Kullu valley to Kullu for Dushera – an age old tradition. This year each of them was to be carried on foot, irrespective of the distance of village from Kullu; vehicles were disallowed.

Map ~ Kullu District ~ By Maps of India

We took a bus for Kullu; many of them ply given that this is the road on which Kullu and Manali lie. Telephonic enquiries informed us most hotels were full and that we could try our luck with hotels at Akhara Bazaar. We put our bags at a shop which provided cloak-room service, 20/- per day per bag, and set off to the locality suggested. It appeared to be one of the older parts of town and housed some charming specimens of houses – construction of the kind that was both local to these parts and not easily seen these days. We came across shops where people were sewing the famous and very visible on the streets Himachali topi (cap). We stopped at a shop where interesting artifacts left us in awe. The old uncle there showed us flutes, parts of the weaving paraphernalia, chains and other stuff to put up at the devta.

As we chatted with him one of the police people maintaining order in the area (Kullu apparently has a lot of them during Dushera) peeped in to ask – ‘Aap danda rakhte ho kya?’ Next stop was a temple on the banks of surprisingly clean Beas where we sat in silence on steps that lead to the river.

Amidst all this we found a room to our liking and budget and brought our stuff from the shop at bus-stop. After a brief rest in the afternoon we got on to walking; this time in another direction. We walked across a market and reached the area that was getting ready for Dushera. After walking for a couple of hours we over ate at a joint serving delicious (read Indianized) Chinese food.

Map ~ Kullu City ~ By Maps of India 

Next morning after breakfast and loitering in the narrow lanes around the hotel we returned to the room. Previous night we had thought of day trip to Manikarna as one of the options. Manikarna is known for its Gurudwara and hot water spring. A booklet which we picked up in the morning talked of wildlife species that could be hunted in the hills around – with permission! We wondered if the author, retired school principal, had copied it from pre WLPA (1972) day’s literature!

We also looked up online and pondered on a trip to Naggar instead. Our hotel manager confirmed it being accessible by bus. Public transport usage has been an interesting aspect of this trip as have been long walks. Buses have enabled us to see places from a height that allowed us to observe, and interact with people. As a corollary we got to know of the place; with the bus-conductor (for example) we discussed a nearby village and with a co-passenger we chatted on local weddings, as a wedding processing passed by. Walking has allowed us feel the place, its sounds and smells. All this while helping keep our carbon foot-prints (and costs) on the lower side.

Map ~ Kullu Naggar road ~ By Google

The Castle at Naggar is 1 km up a steep road from the bus-stop. The Castle, once home to Raja of Kullu and today part heritage hotel, part tourist place and part museum is run by the state government. A small and beautiful structure it also houses a restaurant and a temple. Our initial thoughts were that it would be lovely to stay here but the idea of loud and unruly tourists peeping in the room and surrounding us soon took us the other way.

After the Castle we walked to the Roerich Estate. Along the way to the left on a path meandering downwards was a beautiful temple; local architecture with enchanting wood carving. At the Estate preparations were on for Nicholas Roerich’s 140^th aniversary. This was yet another pleasant surprise of the trip- ‘all good things in life happen by chance’ goes the saying. Nicholas Roerich was a painter, writer, theosophist, philosopher, explorer – a multi-talented towering personality. We brought tickets and moved around the estate. Some rooms had paintings by Roerich, some original some replicas, some had images like that of Nehru and Indira visiting during 1942 and some maintained as they stood during his time. Memory of his paintings of Himalayas would encourage me to read of him online after reaching home.

The Urusvati Himalayan Research Institute housed in the Estate, one of the first multi-disciplinary research stations in Asia, was set up during 1928 after Roerich’s seminal expedition to Central Asia – to house its collection. One of its rooms had a collection of journals – some of them around a century old. What a treat it would be to get in there with these journals we thought. Little higher on the hill I sat for a while with legs stretching forward and back resting on one of the tree trunks which were at the same time quiet, large and strong. Walking downhill we came across dance rehearsals. It felt nice to sit at ease on the loans and see the lively practice by interested and enthusiastic dancers. We took a look at the schedule for the celebrations the next day and made up our mind to return.

We went directly to the Kullu Dushera mela, on return. Traffic jam meant we had to walk from the Highway itself. Such a different world we suddenly found ourselves. We caught up with the local team that had accompanied us on the trek. They took us to the devtas of their village, to Ram Bhagwan, shared of the mela and we partook the fervour in the manner we best could. We walked around the mela and grasped a fraction of its size and scope. From a handkerchief worth 10/- to a vehicle that cost 10,00,000/- the mela had them all. Clothes we were told were a major attraction. It was fun to see the fair and lights at night from the height of the Giant-wheel. On the Merry-go- round we realized safety was a non issue with side-bars absent and people positioning them in a manner that pleased them. These were run on crude diesel guzzling and smoke emitting generators. Agra generators; named thus as the place used to be hub of manufacturing these. Makes sense to join in the fun!

Next morning we got the very bus we had taken the previous day; this we identified from the conductor, smart and in red. From our seats on last row we tried peeping into the Hindi newspaper he got like previous day.  On the way we saw apples on trees; what a happy and healthy sight. Difficult to picture the not so large trees bearing weight of these apples.  At Naggar we climbed up till the German bakery adjacent to the Naggar castle and felt it made sense to have coffee and accompaniments before we walked up to the Estate. We also picked up some locally made apricot jam and sunflower-seed butter to take home.

When we reached the Estate the Deputy Commissioner was giving a non-typical speech. This was followed by few others from Russia and other countries like Belarus. The star however was the Russian ambassador with fluent Hindi and charming personality on and off dais. The Program began with dances and songs by children some of whom were practicing yesterday. All the children giving performances were local and their parents and friends had turned up for the program, which was the reason for such a genuine and active audience. The Estate had followed Roerich’s philosophy and successfully generated ownership in the landscape that housed it.

Our thoughts went on to wildlife conservation that we engaged in – did we have successful examples of this level of involvement of local people in landscape conservation programs? Then came the Russians and seeing their energy filled and happily coordinated dances in the backdrop of the Himalayas was the proverbial icing on the cake. We agreed of how live performances have a connect that technology cannot achieve. After the program we enjoyed some silences in other parts of the Estate and slowly moved downhill. German bakery it was again for coffee and here we conversed with local people we had seen actively participate in the program and got to know more of the Estate and Naggar from them. This conversation sealed what little doubts we had on returning to Naggar – soon. Naggar is different and special in ways difficult to put in words.

Map ~ Manali Delhi bus route ~ By Maps of India 

The next morning we moved to the bus-stop to get return tickets to Delhi. The state transport buses were full and private buses charged 1,850/- for a seat; we had arrived in 850/-. We would later realize that the bus operator had allotted more tickets than seats on bus! Off to the mela again on the final morning. Sports events were on and we cheered one of the volley-ball teams happily before moving on. We had it all, candy floss, marble bottle masala soda, coffee from espresso machine, soya kebab and more at the numerous shops which lined the street. We also tried bargaining at one of the stalls for bells but it did not work. This is a fair of the people, by the people and for the people.

As we waited for the bus in the evening we felt glad we neither planned nor got worked up during the trip but allowed ourselves go with the flow – chatting, eating, walking and more – soaking in fun and energy of the places in the process. 

Many thanks to people we met at Naggar and Kullu - some of whom have since been friends, The Alternative, Adil and Aarti.