🇮🇳 Happy Independence Day 🇮🇳
Thought to put down all possible details before I forgot, we (me and my family) just came back from a 4-days and 3-nights vacation to Chindi. It’s a lesser-known place in Himachal Pradesh and comes under the district Karsog.
The plan was set a month back and the hotel HPTDC Mamleshwar, Chindi was booked. Taken a day off on Friday 12 August and got 5 days off due to Rakshabandhan on 11 and Monday was 15 August, a public holiday. You can book the hotel from the site http://www.hptdc.in. Let me put the details of each day in order.
Day 1: Started from home (Ghaziabad) at 5:30 AM on 11 August, the plan was to start at 4 AM as the distance was long but could not make it. The total distance is 450 Km in which 150 are mountains and the rest is plain, but 150 KM of mountains has taken the most time due to the wrong route suggested by google maps, and bad and single-lane roads. Reached Chindi at 6:30 PM after 13 hours of driving. It was approx 11 hours of driving and rest taken in stoppages for eating and other nature calls.
Day 2: We decided to take a rest in the hotel rather than venturing outside and exploring anything, everyone was tired. We had all 3 meals in the hotel itself. Tried local delicacy Rajma Madra (Beans) in the dinner, its preparation is different from the typical Rajma preparation. Rajma is cooked in curd and garnished with coconut flakes. Rajma Madra does not taste like typical Rajma but was very tasty.
Day 3: Karsog valley is approx 30 mins from Chindi and there are 3 historical temples between Chindi and Karsog. The first temple is just 400 meters from the hotel is Chindi Mata (Monther Chindi), the next temple is in Karsog valley which is Mamleshwar Mahadev temple and the third is Kamaksha Devi temple which is 4 KMs from Mamleshwar Mahadev temple. Each of these temples are there since the time of Mahabharta and was built by Pandavas in one night. All these temples are wooden and very beautifully constructed, looks almost new.
Chindi Mata Temple: It’s said that she was the reincarnation of Goddess Durga and the youngest among 3 sisters who did not married and were later worshipped as Goddess.
Mamleshwar Mahadev Temple: This is in the town of Karsog and has a wheat grain of 250 grams, it also has a holy fire burning since the time of Mahabharata. I have noticed a dhol (drum) and when I enquire about it the priest told me that it of the same time when the temple was built and its made up of Rhino skin.
Kamaksha Devi temple: As per the priest of the temple it is one of the Shakti peeths of Sati. There is a bedroom in the temple for Devi to take a rest. It is said that every night priests prepare the room and keep water for drinking and every morning they find that water is being drunk and also the bed is scrambled as if someone has slept on it overnight.
Taking photos inside temples is not allowed. Apart from visiting the temples, we witnessed some very beautiful landscapes. The weather was nice and a cool breeze was flowing but it was not much cold. The view of Karsog valley was simply breathtaking.
Day 4: 14 August was the day of return, unlike our start which happened early in the morning, we started around 9:30 AM for the back. There is a hot water spring at Tattapani which we were trying to see but came to know from locals that it went underground now. There was a major landslide on the way between Shimla and Solan, as per news the 4 lanes of the highway were washed away due to heavy rain in that area, and traffic was diverted. Thanks to traffic police and local authorities we have not witnessed long jams. I was keeping a day in a buffer so that in case we need to take a night break we can stop on way but it was not required. We were enjoying the way back with beautiful landscapes.
We returned back to home (Ghaziabad) at 3 AM on the 15th of August morning.
The hotel in Chindi is surrounded by forest and there are a few places of interest as well, but they were closed due to the monsoon season. If you are planning to visit Chindi or Karsog try to find out a discount period of hotels before you book. I came to know from the reception that 20% discount will be applied from 15 August till 30 of September.
If you are traveling from Delhi and following google maps refer to the following link, the route shown on google maps is the best – https://goo.gl/maps/KGf19i3UZ36FhhXPA
I have tried to put all possible details which I could as Chindi and Karsog is not very well known travel destination and people often do not get much information on the internet. Hoping this blog will help travelers.
Pawan Blog 