There are lots of tourist places in Himachal and visiting all can't be possible in one go. You can plan out different trips to various places at your convenience.
The Kullu valley is also known as the valley of the Gods where beside seeking blessings of Goddess Hidimba at Manali and a dip in hot water of Vashistha you can enjoy trekking, rafting, gliding and skiing. Don't forget to visit Solang valley, Roerich art gallary and the Naggar Castle, a stone and wood structure built by Raja Sidh singh over 500 years ago.
Kangra valley has lots of sacred places like Jawalamukhi, Brajeshwari Devi temple, Chamunda Devi, Rock cut temple Masroor, places of historical importance like Sujanpur fort, Kangra fort, Judges Court in Heritage village Paragpur. You can have a glimpse of western culture at Mcleodganj(Dharmshala). Dharmshala cricket stadium , Bhagsunath, lush green tea gardens of Palampur and Sobha Singh art gallery at Andretta are other famous tourist spots of Kangra.
Chamba Chaugan, Khajiyaar the mini Switzerland of India and Shiva temples in Bharmaur, Manimahesh are special attractions of Chamba district.
State capital Shimla has been hot spot for tourists since British rule. Round the year tourists from India and abroad visit Shimla, Jakhu temple, Kufri, Naldera and Mashobra.
Briefly glance at famous tourist places and plan your next visit to Dev Bhoomi Himachal:
Dev Bhoomi Himachal has affluent flora and fauna. Approximately 64% of total geographical area of state is covered with forests. This huge forest area accounts to variety of Wild Life found in Himachal Pradesh. There are two national parks(Great Himalayan National Park & Pin Valley National Park) and Thirty two sanctuaries in Himachal Pradesh till December 2008.
Great Himalayan National Park
Situated in Distt. Kullu at an altitude of about 1500mts to5800mts, it consist of upper area of Jiwa, Tirthan and Sainj tributaries which merge in Beas river. This area consist of good forests and meadows having diverse wild life population. Tirthan was declared sanctuary on 17th June,1976 and was declared national park on 1st March 1984. It is surrounded by pin valley national park on the north east, Rupi Bhaba sanctuary on the North west. Here one can find Leopard cat, Barking deer,Himalayan Black bear, Musk deer, Red fox, Jackel, Goral, Ibex, Brown bear, Langur, Leopard,Blue Sheep,Snow leopard,wolf,Rich in flora, it has Banoak, Deodar, dry alpine scrub, Bamboo, Brakes. Tackers,flora and fona lovers have the ideal choice for this park. More information can be found at Wikipedia or at website created by Friends of GHNP.
Pin Valley National Park
Situated in Lahul-Spiti the Pin Valley National Park spreads over an area of 675 Km2 and altitude of the National Park ranges from about 3,500 metres near Ka dogri to more than 6,000 metres at its highest point. It was declared a National Park on 9th January 1987.
With its snow covered higher reaches and with limited vegetation, Pin Valley National Park forms the natural habitat of a number of endangered animals including Himalayan Ibex, Snow Leopard, Bharal, Wooly Hare, Tibetan Wolf, and Snow Cock. Whereas locating a Snow Leopard or Snow Cock could be a once in lifetime experience, it is the Himalayan Ibex which can be seen standing on a shoot against rising or setting sun. More information can be found at H.P. Forest department's website.
Pong Lake Sanctuary
Pong lake situated in Distt Kangra was created in 1976 by constructing a dam in the river Bias.This reservoir spreading over about 300 sq. km.attracts a large number of migratory water birds.It is a wet land having dry bamboo and Himalyan forest. It has one permanent Island and several others connected to the shore.The reservoir has become a habitat for several species of fish generating good revenue. Migratory birds during the winter season attracts a large number of tourists to have a glimpse of different species of water birds.Water sports are also organized for sport lovers. Indian wild beer,redfox,barking deer,hare,Mongoose, Nilgai, Sambar, Indian cobra,Indian python besides various varieties of fish like Mahasheer, Millap, Soal etc do exist.
Here is the complete list of Parks and sanctuaries and area covered by each.
S.No.
Sanctuary/ National Park
District
Area ( Km² )
1
Govind Sagar
Bilaspur
100
2
Shri Nainadevi
Bilaspur
123
3
Sach-Tuan Nala
Chamba
103
4
Gamgul-Siyabehi
Chamba
109
5
Tundah
Chamba
64
6
Kugti
Chamba
379
7
Kalatop-Khajjiar
Chamba
69
8
Pongdam Lake
Kangra
307
9
Dhauladhar
Kangra
944
10
Rakchham-Chhitkul
Kinnaur
304
11
Lipa Asrang
Kinnaur
31
12
Rupi-Bhaba
Kinnaur
503
13
Sainj
Kullu
90
14
Tirthan
Kullu
61
15
Kias
Kullu
14
16
Khokhan
Kullu
14
17
Kanawar
Kullu
61
18
Manali
Kullu
32
19
Kibber
Lahaul & Spiti
1400
20
Bandli
Mandi
41
21
Nargu
Mandi
278
22
Shikari Devi
Mandi
72
23
Daranghati I & II
Shimla
167
24
Talra
Shimla
40
25
Water Supply Catchment
Shimla
10
26
Churdhar
Sirmour
66
27
Simbalbara
Sirmour
19
28
Renuka
Sirmour
4
29
Chail
Solan
109
30
Shilli
Solan
2
31
Majathal
Solan
40
32
Darlaghat
Solan
6
Total Area Wildlife Sanctuary
5562
33
Great Himalayan National Park
Kullu
765
34
PIN Valley National Park
Lahaul & Spiti
675
You can see all these parks and sanctuaries on map at Maps of india. So next time you are in Himachal watch out for Wild Life.
Continue Reading......
Last 10 years have been years of technology in Himachal. If you look at Himachal of 90's, having a dish antenna to watch satellite channels, BSNL landline phone, computer and that too with a internet connection was a sort of privilege. Though Ramayana(Popular T.V. serial) had intensified people's desire of having a television set, yet non availability of signal was a major hurdle. Making a STD call still required a trunk booking.
Then started an era of technology evolution in Himachal. Then telecom minister Sukh Ram(Who is convicted in few cases) played a major role in this emergence of technology. His rural telephone scheme and tie up with Doordarshan to set up T.V. towers made it possible for people of Himachal to have a landline connection and a T.V. set even in remote areas.
There is no looking back for hill state since then. Now almost every part of Himachal has broadband connectivity, more than 5 GSM or CDMA mobile operators, DTH services or Cable network equipped with latest fiber optics, Cyber cafes, and bank ATMs . You should not surprise if you see Himachal Pradesh State Co-Operative bank providing online banking and ATM facility to its customers. Himachal is soon going to have IPTV, WiMAX, 3G and list goes on.
This technical advancement has helped in industrial growth of Himachal. Beside other industries, software industry has also flourished in state. Shimla, Baddi, Parwanoo and Dharmshala have software companies and freelancers who are doing well in the field of software development .
Today one can see exam results of Himachal Pradesh Board of school education or HP university online on their websites. Penetration of IT in the state can be seen from the fact that now there are number of full time websites and blogs writing round the clock about tourism and travel in Himachal, pahari songs, and news on Himachal Pardesh. Websites like Himvani.com and Himachal.us (both are N.G.O. initiative) not only provide latest news on Himachal but also run so many social campaigns.
E-Governance
IT revolution is not limited to private sector but Govt. of Himachal Pradesh itself has gone Hi tech. Himachal Govt. recently won national awards for e-governance. Official website of the state government, www.himachal.nic.in, constructed and maintained by a team of the National Informatics Centre (NIC), has been adjudged as the “Best website” by editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Website Himachal.nic.in provides information related to vacancies in Himachal, gazetted notifications, pension related information. You can also send your complaints to Chief Minister from Himachal.nic.
Himachal Pradesh State Wide Area Network (HIMSWAN) project under National e-Governance Programme has been launched in the state to provide Hi-tech connectivity down to the level of tehsils, sub-tehsils, blocks and Panchayats with state headquarter shimla throught internet to introduce e governance throughout the state. Himachal Govt. in collaboration with GNG has started Gram Sugam Kendras(Common Service Centers (CSCs)) in each Panchayat. The scope of services that can be provided through CSC is not limited to State Government domain but also include services of Central Government Departments as also that of private/public sector organizations like LIC, BSNL, Mobile phone service providers, Internet Café and many more. In private domain, CSCs may provide services like Ticket Booking, Gram Haat, Tele-Medicine, Tele-education, Internet Access, Insurance, Cable TV etc. Few good websites on Himachal: Himachal.nic.in Himachal.us http://www.mcllo.com/ www.123himachal.com www.himvani.com
People always wonder why Himachal is known as Dev Bhoomi(Land of God)? Land of snow fed meadows, singing streams has more than 2000 temples with almost every village having at least one temple besides community Devta or local Deities. If you track high areas of Himachal and find small temples built of stone at places with no habitation then don't be surprised. It is a common thing in Himachal.
No fair or festival is complete without the presence of local Devta who travel in Palki. Belief is such that there are places in Himachal where all the decisions are made by the Deity. Whether someone is suffering from hysteria, ill mental health, or it is a land dispute all has to be solved by local Deities.
It may sound unrealistic and unbelievable to rest of world but still few people of DevBhoomi believe in such things and they always abide by whatever is being ordered by local Deities.
The Temples in Himachal Pradesh are both, the holy places as well as the tourist places. One should not miss eighty four temples of Bharmaur including swarg ka dwar, Chintpurni, Jawaliji, Naina Devi, Hidimba devi temple, Vashisith, Chamunda Devi, Shiv Temple Baijnath, Jakhu temple and list goes on.............
