July 17, 2017

Weekend excursion to Prashar lake

Prashar is a mystery-lake cloistered inside the lush green mountains towards north of Mandi town in Himachal Pradesh [link]. Anyone, who is familiar with the hustle and bustle of Mandi, would find it hard to digest that anything worth visiting would lie as close as 50km from it. However the steep accent will take you from 850m to 2730m above sea level. Moreover, the narrow single-lane and tortuous road, with landslides and streams flowing through it, will surely send chills down your spine. Nevertheless, it keeps the faint-hearted away, and the destination will reward you with its serenity and quiteness. On top of that, you will be enthralled by the beauty of lush green grass-lands surrounded by awe-inspiring scenery of mountains and forests.

Besides the lake, this place is known for a temple (mandir) dedicated to Prashar rishi. The lake has a small and round island kind of thing which mysteriously keeps on changing its location. There is a mythology related to this [read more]. This place is ideal if you want to relax and need some time away from the city life. You can sit on the side of the lake, visit temple or just stroll around to cherish nature and beautiful landscapes. Just look around and you will find ample me-spots where you can spend time with yourself and introspect about life. There a couple of eating joints to serve your appitite with delicious rajma-chawal, maggi and tea.

Travelling to Prashar is very convenient from cities like Chandigarh and Delhi. There are plently of luxury Volvo busses which ply till Mandi. You can book HIMSUTA online busses [here]. The only bus which goes to Prashar departs at 8:00AM from Mandi and reaches at 11:30AM. The same bus drives back to Mandi and departs at 1:30PM from Prashar and reaches at around 4:00PM. Apart from bus, you can also drive your own car/ bike to Prashar. I, along with my three friends, drove an XUV to Prashar. Only one among us could accumulate the confidence to drive on the precarious and narrow dirt-road. At many places, we had to reverse the car to let pass the vehicle coming from the opposite direction. So drive only if you have good experience in hills. If you are into trekking, you have a couple of options. Trek from Bagi [link] through Prashar forest [link] or through Nal forest [link] from the other side. However, the trail was not very obvious and we lost our way a couple of times. Finally we managed to find a local guy who helped us. So, take a guide along.

If you want to stay at Prashar, you have a couple of options. There are two government rest houses - PWD and Forest. Both of these accomodations are very well maintained and can be booked at as cheap as Rs. 200 a day (including food!). However, since there are government facilities, you need to know someone to get these prebooked from Mandi. In the other case, you can stay at the dorms inside the Prashar temple at similar prices but without the luxuries of attached washrooms, hot water, etc.

I chatted with a local guy and found another good site nearby known as Shikari Mata. You can probably visit this place as well. However, you will only get a bus till Janjhelli, after which you have to book a private cab. Otherwise, even a visit at Prashar alone is worth your time and pocket: it will impress you with its profound beauty and silence.