Manimahesh: the holy Kailash is located at an altitude of 5656 m. At the foothills is the Manimahesh lake height 4170 m. Mount Kailash is the abode of Lord Shiva and is in the Bharmour tribal valley of Chamba district. Sept is best time to go for the trek. You see Mani Mahesh Kailash.
Starting on September 15, the Chhari Yatra starts with the carrying of the holy mace of Lord Shiva is carried to Manimahesh from the 1000-year-old Lakshmi Narayan temple Chamba. You see a picture of the temple. The devotees reaches Manimahesh lake on September 22 to take the holy dip.
Route is Delhi, Pathankot, Chamba, Bharmour, Hadsar, Dhanchho to Manimahesh. After Chamba is a revered Chhatrai Shiv Shakti Temple that was made by King Meru Varman in the 7th century ie what you see. Bus takes you up to Hadsar from where it is a 16 km trek to Manimahesh. You are advised to stop overnight at Dhancho ie 7kms from Hadsar.
Icons inside the Shivshakti Temple. Also read
The Manimahesh yatra becomes more enjoyable when the devotees sweep into the sprawling Bharmour tribal valley. At a height of 2195 m the valley has a cluster of 84 hoary temples popularly known as ‘Bharmour Chourasi’. These temples were built as a sequel to the visit of 84 sidhas from Kurukshetra to Manimahesh. The idols in each are dedicated to different deities. You see a deity in one of the temples.
In one area there are 84 temples. You see an icon of Lord Ganesha.
This is at Bharmour, one of the Chaurasi (84) temples/shrines of the Chaurasi temple complex and this particular shrine is Narsingh Dev ie Lord Narasimha ie the half-man half-lion avatara of Vishnu who
appeared to slay Hrinyakashyapa demon king father of Bhagat Prahalad.
You see a bronze icon of Nandi ie in front of the Manimahesh temple.
This is the Manimahesh Temple ie truly eye catching.
From Chourasi (Brahmaur) a visit to Brahmani Devi temple (4kms ) is a must. The view of Budhal valley - Mountain range is worth viewing and mind freshing
You see us enroute to Manimahesh. To know more click here
From Hadsar you can trek by the side of river Bhujala or take this zig zag trek that you see in this picture.
About one and a half kms short of Manimahesh Lake is Gauri Kund that you see in this picture. Women take a holy dip before proceeding to Manimahesh. Men take a holy dip in Shiva Krotri before proceeding to the holy lake.
You see Manimahesh lake in the background and Manimahesh temple in front. The lake is oval shaped.
You see us with the Mani Mahesh Kailash in the background. A rock formation in the shape of a ''Shivling'' on Kailash is considered to be the manifestation of Lord Shiva. The local people call the snowfield at the base of mountain Shiva''s Chaugan.
View of Manimahesh lake. This photo collection is from two friends. One went when the mountains were snow covered while the other when there was hardly any snow.
A view of the Manimahesh temple with lake on the left and snow covered mountains in the background.
A close up view of the Manimahesh mandir.
Manimahesh mandir. On the Radhasthami day, pilgrims take the holy dip amid the chanting of mantras. Thereafter, pilgrims offer prayers to Mount Kailash and make floral offerings at the image of Lord Shiva established on one side of the lake
View of mountains surrounding Manimahesh. Narrations borrowed from writings of Avinash Katoch, P Chander. Thanks and credit to them.