Skywatch - Shades of Colour!!!

For this weeks skywatching is this photograph from Shilma clicked from Mall road. The blue sky, white snow capped Himalayan peak, the green pines and the colourful roof tops made it a great sight.

Happy Skywatching!!!

The Epic story of Jakhoo Hill of Shimla!!!!

Himalaya has always been a holy mountain range and is associated with many of the Hindu Mythology. Be the Char Dhams which are associated with Lord Shiva or Lakhamandal associated with Pandhavas or Sanjeevani with Ramayan. Jakhoo Hills in Shimla share the same Mythological significance of Ramayan, Hanuman's search for Sanjeevani. Recently I have been watching EPIC channel, a channel all about Indian History, which showcased an Episode on Jakhoo hills on their Kahi Suni series. So when in Shimla, I wanted to visit this hill.

The statue of Hanuman as seen from Mall Road

Its said that when Hanuman came to Himalaya in search of Sanjeevani, he heard the sound of a saint chanting Shree Ram and landed on the hill. The hill is said to have got reduced by 3/4th by his foot step. He asks the saint for guidance to reach the Sanjeevani, which is the present day Dronagiri Parvat in Uttarakhand. The saint was the guardian of the hill, so called Yaksha. Yaksha guide Hanuman to Dronagiri Parvat and asks him to visit him again during his return. But hurry Hanuman, leaves without visiting Yaksha. Its said Hanuman gave his virtual appearance to the Yaksha at the present Jakhoo temple in Shimla. Yaksha, which later got changed to Yakhoo, finally got its present name Jakhoo.

The snow capped mountains from the road to Jakhoo hills, just before sunset

Even today Jakhoo hill stands tall with the Idol of Hanuman visible from most of Shimla. Its a 10km drive from Mall road to reach the Jakhoo Hills. The road is very narrow and the final stretch is very much steep and you need to trek or can take the local taxi for the last leap to reach the top of the hill. By the time we reached Jakhoo, it was already very late and was getting dark, we were told the temple was closed. We enjoyed the beautiful snow capped mountains from the highest peak of Shimla, drove back to Chandigarh the same night and took our train back to Mumbai the next morning.
This is my final post of our Punjab and Himachal Pradesh trip which we had been to in March this year. Do check out the complete series on this trip of mine here.

A Photo Tour of Mall Road, Shimla!!

Shimla the capital of Himachal Pradesh, has always been one of the top honeymoon destinations. What makes it more special is the Kalka - Shimla toy train. But you really need to plan your visit in ease to experience the toy train journey. All we had was a day's time to take a trip from Chandigarh to Shimla, and so did we book a taxi for the day. With only a days visit, we had to cut short our visit to Kufri and Chail, which we had planned earlier.

We reached Shimla by 12, had lunch and wandered around. It seems like every hill station in India has a Mall Road, and all share the same look. Automobiles are not allowed on Mall road, though there are prams to hire to carry your kids.

State Library and Christ Church

Once the summer capital of British, the place still preserves the colonial look, with its heritage buildings - Christ church, State Library, Municipal Corporation Building, Police Headquarters, Gaiety Theater, General Post Office. The shops on Mall Road sell beautiful handicraft and woolen cloths, they are quite reasonable as well.

Christ Church with Hanuman Statue of Jakhoo Hills

Municipal Corporation Building

General Post Office

Murals on the walls of Mall Road

 

 

The Lamp Post, a beauty in itself

Statue of Freedom Fighter Lala Lajpat Rai at the junction of Mall Road and Ridge Road

Rock models, representing Rock garden of Chandigarh

An arch from the heritage building

I liked this statue in front of Police Assistance Room, a Policeman with a kid, DUTY WITH LOVE, so meaningful.

One of the stores at the mall road, any ordinary building, but liked the structural design with bright colour.

Thats kiddo with her new muffler and ear muff, aren't they pretty?

Travel Tips:

Shimla is the capital of Himachal Pradesh, around 115km from Chandigarh. 

By Road: Shimla is around 360km from National Capital Delhi and around 115km from Chandigarh and has regular PUNBUS and HRTC buses connecting Shimla with other places. There are over night Volvo buses as well playing between Delhi and Shimla.

By Train: Its the narrow gauge toy train which connects Shimla to Kalka. Chandigarh which is around 30km from Kalka, is connected to major cities of the country by train.

By Air: Shimla airport is 22km from Shimla city and well connected to Delhi, Mumbai and other major cities.

Best time to visit:

Winters, if you want to experience snow fall, summer to get of the heat from other parts of the country.

Do check out the complete series on this trip of mine here.