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| Woodwork - Naggar Castle |
After enjoying couple of days full of activity in Manali we were thinking of spending a night in seclusion. So we thought of Naggar. Naggar was the old forgotten capital of Kullu valley, where time stands still. The highlight of naggar is the Naggar Castle - a heritage hotel run by HPTDC.
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| Apple Orchards enroute Naggar |
We requested HPTDC office to change our existing booking of hotel Beas in manali to Naggar castle for a day. As rooms were available, our request was readily accepted.
Naggar can be reached in two ways from Manali - one via Patlikhul driving through the NH along the west bank of beas river, another via the old naggar road, which runs along the east bank of beas, crossing through small little hamlets such as Jagatsukh. To enjoy a slice of rural himachal, we chose the second option. The drive was really scenic. We drove past the sprawling apple orchards, and tiny little hamlets, with the cascading beas flowing in the distance. It was October, most of the apples have already been plucked by then, but we were lucky enough to spot a few red juicy ones still hanging to the branches.
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| Looking from the valley view retaurant |
Naggar is hardly an hour's drive from Manali. From the main Naggar village, the castle is another 1 km uphill drive through a forest of thickly wooded deodar. On the very first sight the castle looked intriguing. Standing tall atop the highest hill in naggar and overlooking the kullu valley and the cascading beas river it really looked the royal residence. We checked in to our 'River View Suite', which was certainly one of the best located rooms in the castle. From the balcony we got a bird's eye view of the beas river. The room beside it is named Greenfield Suite. Which also boasts of the same view. The room was spacious, squeaky clean and neatly maintained. The curtains in the window are classy. We really felt a home away from home inside our river view suite.
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| Naggar Castle -view from outside |
After two hectic days in Manali we planned total non activity in Naggar, so after freshening up, we came to the valley view restaurant for a sumptous lunch. The valley view restaurant is superbly located overlooking the naggar valley and the main naggar village below the castle. Me and my wife ordered roast chicken and chikcken shashlik. In places like this the service will be slow, and that's what makes it a perfect romantic destination. We sat there enjoying the view, the cool breeze and the ocassional tweets of mountain birds. It was a perfect place to spend some quality time with your loved ones. The lunch took almost 40 minutes to arrive. It was really delicious, specially the roast chicken with its crispy skin tasted awesome. We enjoyed the meal thoroughly.
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| Walking through the quaint hillslopes of Naggar |
After the meal we roam around the castle. The castle is made of stone and wood. The architecture is typical to himachal, the wood carvings in the pillars and in the outer walls in the balcony is really intricate, and oozes class. There is a temple inside the castle called Jagatipatt temple. The richly carved wooden door of the temple is amazing. Built in 16th century the castle was the royal residence for the Kullu kings for almost 100 years until the capital was shifted to Sultanpur in 17th century.
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| Tripura Sundari Temple - Naggar |
On the afternoon we went for a short walk in the naggar village. The village was sleepy serene. The hill slopes are thickly wooded with huge deodar trees. We went uphill towards the Nicholas Roerich art gallery which is another famous place in Naggar. The view from the sorrounding hills were awesome. We say few blue magpie in the foliage. After spending half an hour in the art gallery we came downhill and visited the richly carved tripura sundari temple in the village. The temple is huge, and richly decorated. When we visted the temple the priest was performing the sandhyarati. The chimes of the bells and the chants of the devotees on a sleppy silent afternoon created a divine atmosphere.
After the sandhyarati was over we came back to the castle and watched the sunset from the balcony sipping on a hot aromatic tea.
We sat on the balcony for an hour more and ordered our early dinner by 7 p.m. Just like the lunch, the dinner was delightful as well. The crumb fried chicken with french fries marked a perfect end to a very satisfying luxurious stay in the lap of himalaya.
