Tirthan valley- The untouched beauty

Tirthan valley, a place little known and road less taken by travellers is a hidden treasure in the lap of Himachal Pradesh. The valley is a picture perfect beauty with the turbulent Tirthan river flowing across the whole valley and having quaint little villages, offering a completely different experience which is nothing less than a paradise. Tirthan valley is located in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh, at an altitude of 1600 meters. One can reach Tirthan valley from Kullu (59km) or Manali (99 km) or Aut (30 km). If one is taking HPTDC bus from Delhi to Manali/Kullu, they can alight at Aut just before entering the Aut tunnel and continue their journey south to Tirthan valley. It is also the gateway to The Great Himalayan National Park, a UNESCO, World Heritage Site covering 750 km2 area of diverse flora and fauna and trekkers paradise. Last year on 30th June 2019, me and my husband went to this wondrous land.

Manali:

We first went to Manali, taking HPTDC bus from Delhi and spent a lazy relaxed day. From our resort ‘The Hadimba Cottage’, we strolled 1 km uphill to visit Hadimba Devi temple for the third time and then visited old Manali, it was overcrowded. We had a fine dinner at ‘The Lazy Dog’ restaurant with a great ambience and amazing river side seating located beside Manaslu river. Next day we went for a single day trip to Solang valley, a popular tourist spot. Weather was cloudy warm with too much traffic, hustle and bustle in the morning and I felt Manali before 10 years was much quieter, cooler and soothing. We enjoyed the mesmerising beauty of the green Solang valley passing underneath while riding in cable car. After reaching the top, view point of the valley was even more picturesque. After torrential rainfall as the sun came out in the afternoon, the view of snow clapped magnificent Himalayas kissing the clear blue sky was a treat to the eyes. While returning back to Manali, we took a little detour to visit Bahang village through its green apple orchards, a quiet, secluded village at hilltop, very near to Manali town and wished to stay in their cosy home-stays or cottages next time for seclusions. Reaching Manali, we relished our dinner with special trout fish fry and finally with great expectations for the second phase of our journey we curled into our bed.

Tirthan valley:

Next day we booked a cab from Manali and proceeded towards the main attraction of our tour- The Tirthan valley around 11am and it was indeed a breath-taking 4 hours journey. The magnificent Beas river showed all our way and never left our side till we reach Aut. From Aut, the Beas river transferred its baton to its own tributary, none other than the Tirthan river and we entered the beautiful land of Tirthan valley. The magical bluish green Tirthan river flowing down the valley between mountains covered with dense pine forests offers spectacular vistas. Several quaint underexplored villages along the pristine river gives a heavenly touch to the valley. One of such village is Bari Ropa in Banjar tehsil where we stayed at ‘Offbeat Abodes-Tirthan Valley’ located just on the bank of Tirthan river. Entering our room, we were thrilled by the roaring sounds of the river. And from our balcony we experienced the turbulent, pristine river flowing with all its vigour and enthralling us. It was one of our best stay amidst nature with an amazing overall experience. Thanks to Mr. Manish, owner of the place for building such exquisite property and providing all necessary facilities for visitors. One can experience riverside retreat from Offbeat Abodes, can do a little adventure of crossing giant rocks on the river banks and find solitude sitting just beside the mighty Tirthan river. Evening was so peaceful with the only sound of the roaring river never caring to stop. Early morning with the first rays of the sun sparkling on the river was fascinating. After having tea and breakfast we started for Jalori Pass around 8:30am.

Jalori pass:

Jalori Pass is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 10,282 ft (3134 m) above sea level. It is in the peaks of northern Himalayas. One should start early in the morning as weather is unpredictable there and specially if one is planning for trek to Serolsar lake. It was two hours ride from our resort through breath-taking beauty amidst pine and oak forest in the valley with picturesque villages via National Highway 305. Never seen so pure untouched land with paragon of beauty all the way long. The road after a beautiful village Shoja is steep and narrow. The road has mud, pebbles with dangerous curves but this journey was a memorable one which never failed to amaze us. After reaching, we showed reverence to Jalori Mata at her temple and strolled in the Jalori Pass. First week of July was pleasant with bright sunshine falling in the valley with stunning view of the green valley in Jalori pass with myriads of flora fauna in their slopes and with great view of Himalayas with Dhauladhar peaking from behind. One can also plan for a number of treks from Jalori Pass. Like trek to Serolsar lake, which takes 4 hour from Jalori Pass, following a trail along thick oak forests or trek to hamlets like Shoja through oak and pine forests or to the Great Himalayan National Park are mesmerising. We took the oak tree trail leading to Serolsar lake and strolled lazily through the serpentine trail under the shadows of the giant oak trees and sounds of buzzing bees in their bee hives for 1 hour but returned back retired hurt to the base camps of Jalori pass. Though we did not make upto Serolsar lake, but we carried back beautiful memories etched in our heart. Our next station was Jibhi waterfalls, one of the best kept secrets.

Jibhi waterfalls:

Jibhi is another beautiful village that comes on the same way while returning from Jalori pass in half an hour. We walked 10-15 minutes from the road at Jibhi village, to reach Jibhi waterfalls through the forest trails beautifully decorated with flora, fauna, ferns and petals and we wished this road never ends. A stream flowing down from the waterfalls showed our way and small wooden bridges over the flowing stream added beauty to the place. Interestingly a black hairy dog befriend us and accompanied us till we reach the Jibhi waterfalls silently reminding us of Yudhisthira’s journey to heaven. The Jibhi waterfalls standing tall inside the forest was a celestial beauty and the overall experience is nothing less than a paradise. We returned back, the natures beauty here was so deeply absorbed in my thoughts that I fell into a kind of trance, not knowing something more virgin was waiting for us the next day.

Next day was our HPTDC bus to Delhi and we requested the bus driver to pick us up from Aut bus stand. So we could save some couple of extra hours as we did not have to return to Manali for our bus. So we planned to visit a quaint little unknown village at the hill top called Sarchi, described as Jannat meaning heaven by our driver.

Sarchi:

Sarchi is a tiny beautiful village situated at an higher altitude, most probably 2000 mt above sea level at hilltop. The road to Sarchi is narrow, bumpy, but it offers a spectacular view of the valley below. The road is decorated with deodar trees and pine trees with beautiful brown pine fruits falling here and there on the road with no one to pick them up. We had an unplanned visit and little did we know, but it was no less than a fantasy world. We reached in 40 minutes by car. The colourful houses, green apple orchards, green meadows, white clean village roads, farm houses and adjacent green valleys of different shades has made this a gorgeous heritage village that no one knows. There is a beautiful temple at the middle of the village in the green meadows. The houses are stone walled or wooden carved with beautiful gardens and flowers hanging from every house. There are terrace fields of corns and wheat. I saw a girl harvesting, reaping and carrying bundles of wheat in her back all alone probably singing a melancholy strain reminding me of ‘Solitary Reaper’, the poem that had always fascinated me in my childhood. I was so spell bound with the purity and beauty of this village and the villagers that 2 hours were gone and it was like the swiftest hours as they flew. Nature has truly created such a wondrous land yet hidden from everybody.

Time has finally come to say goodbye and we started our return journey to catch our bus from Aut to Delhi. With lots of pine fruits that I had collected from the road and with lots of extra care that I took to bring every single pine fruit back home intact, we returned back to Kolkata with unforgettable memories and desire to visit Tirthan Valley again in future.