Mandi: ‘Varanasi of Hills’

From Shimla, our next destination was Mandi, a significant cultural town in the Himachal Pradesh state of India and was once part of the salt route to Tibet.

Mandi is also known as the ‘Varanasi of Hills’ due to its similarity with Ghats on the banks of the River Beas and temples of Lord Shiva close to the Ghats. (Ghats being steps which lead down to the river).

Once we had arrived in Mandi, Maddy our guide took us on a walking tour of the city. The weather was quite cold and drizzly however we stopped at the Panchvaktra Temple where Maddy took some time to explain the origins of Hinduism and significance of the Hindu temples of Mandi. This 600 year old temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva, the complex and mysterious Hindu god of destruction (destroyer of evil).

This was the site of severe flooding in 2023 where the Panchvaktra Temple was partially submerged by the River Beas and also over 100 people lost their lives.

As mentioned ‘Ghats’ are steps which lead down to the river and are used for accessing the river for bathing. They are also used by Hindu’s for cremations.

At the temple there was a Hindu script which Maddy translated along the lines of: “you are here for a short time, don’t get attached as you can’t take anything with you. If you get happiness or sadness it doesn’t matter as you end up with nothing anyway”.

From the temple we walked through the market streets of Mandi.

And towards the town centre.

At the centre of Mandi is India’s only sunken shopping area. Here, Maddy left us with some free time to do our own thing. The group split off and some went back to the hotel. I took this opportunity to have a look around on my own and explore a bit more.

The ‘sunken shopping centre’ is surrounded by shops and restaurants and is a lively point of entertainment.

The sunken gardens at the bottom of the shopping centre.

We were fortunate to stay for one night in the Raj Mahal heritage hotel in the centre of Mandi which was part of the former palace of the Raja of Mandi.

By complete contrast from my modern hotel room in Shimla, this time I stayed in a large ‘wooden’ room full of old world charm. The room was cold but thankfully it was supplied with an electric heater and a large thick overthrow blanket.

Tonight we had dinner included as part of our stay and here we had one of the most delicious meals of the trip. Several different curries, breads and bowls of rice were brought to our table and all of them tasted superb. What a treat!

For dessert we had gulab jamun, a popular Indian ‘dough ball’ dessert which was sweet, deep fried and served warm with ice cream. Tasty but not too good for the waistline!

Getting to Mandi

We were driven by mini bus from Shimla to Mandi much of which was along twisty mountain roads in the rain. For lunch we stopped at the fabulous Suket Cafe. The owner had spent time in New Zealand and wanted to create a relaxing place in India where people could enjoy spending time together and eating good food.

Momo’s are Tibetan or Nepalese steamed dumplings and the first time I tried these was in Nepal in 2019. These were the first momo’s I had in India and were presented with a spicy sauce in which to dip them. In the Suket Cafe I also had a tasty Americano made with local Indian coffee.

The owners were so sweet and friendly and just as we were finishing lunch they brought us a complimentary walnut and vanilla cake to share.

The second half of the road trip to Mandi consisted of a dual carriage way complete with the odd cow in the central reservation. The occasional cow could also be found in the middle of the road and cars, lorries and buses would slow down and drive around it.

Next up is Dharamsala, home of the Dalai Lama…