Parashar Lake - Even When It's Cold Outside Our Memories Keep Us Warm.

The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams. – I believe it with all my heart

These days the most inquiries I’m being queried are “Have you started travel agency?”

“what are you doing these days?”, “I’m so jealous of you, “How are you travelling those many places?”, “How are you getting money to travel?”, “What is your job?”, “Will you plan a trip for my friends?”

One thing even if I say, they won’t understand is – “Honey! I became an addict to Travel, exploring places, leaving everything behind and just accepting myself. No matter what you think, this is all I wanted to answer nevertheless I can’t”

I like quiet places where I can feel solitude and even though sometimes, I end up with crowded places, I make my lucid way to reach the place I want. So, one such place is Parashar lake.

It a Lake which is 50 kms away from mandi, Himachal Pradesh. The lake is located at a height of 2730 m / 8960 ft above sea level. With deep blue waters, the lake is held sacred to the mystic Parashar and it is believed that he had meditated there. The lake is surrounded by snow-capped peaks and the ranges of Dhauladhar can be seen around.

There is a round, floating island inside the lake, which is a common natural phenomenon and is composed of plant matter in various stages of decomposition and is held aloft by the oxygen in its plants' roots. The floating land moves in all directions in the lake. The floating land covers 7% of area of lake whereas water is with 93%. Till now it is said to be unclear how deep it is, with a diver not being able to determine its depth.

After reaching Mandi in the morning at 7, travelled to Baggie village which is 1 and half hour by cab or 3 hours by local bus. It’s quite a journey where you get to watch serene green farms, barren hills and suddenly there comes snowcapped mountains, all the way obscured with snow. The moment I set my feet in I slipped and so my friends.

This is an easy trek and is around 8-9 kms one side. The slope is also considered minimal except there are some steep curves where one should be careful. We started from Baggi village at 1.30 pm, crossed a wonderful trail of green trees covered with snow and a warm sun. the trek was a pleasant one. Captured very astonishing views, amazing landscapes and the way is less inclined which allows to trek without any hassle. During this trek the captivating sceneries are one with the sun. the blue sky was so clear, sun was too bright, and the perfect shots were captured.

After trekking for around 3 hours, before I was about to reach Parashar, the path that stretched to the lake was plain and after reaching the lake, all the efforts we took went vain. Such an elegant beauty. I heard a lot of times about the lake but experiencing in the real time is a different scale I would say.

Upon reaching we had maggi and chai. I don’t remember how many recipes I tried with maggi except the compliments. But maggi on the top of the mountain is always tastier than anything and it is absolute scrumptious thing, it makes everything wonderful.

After loading my stomach, I went up hill to watch sunset, it was magnificent. So royal to watch and when the sun was descending, the only thing you can think would be how lucky you are to watch the splendid sunset and how the place will reminisce you to miss it more again. It was incredible. I just happened to watch the sunset, till the dusk set off.

Since there’s no pollution, the sky was lucid where it allowed to capture the scattered stars and the snow-capped mountains during the night were shining. A blessing to view that fantastic mountain range. After a splendid night, I called it a day and the next morning, I woke up to the sunrise. Captured the beautiful trees mountains and trekked for around one-kilometer hill and the view from the top was extraordinary.

Every mountain I visit, I tend to feel the peace over there by meditating. I closed my eyes and trust me, that serene feeling is what I travel for. May be the words are short for the feeling. Coming back, I met lot of 4 legged friends. Had some fun with the dogs. Later after freshening up, we headed towards the temple.

The lake infront of the temple is frozen and the lord’s a sage named - Parashar. It was believed that the sage meditated there for a long span which got the lake his name – Parashar Lake. There are rooms in the temple to stay. but we didn’t enquire about staying in the temple prior. The temple architecture is limpid and the people who had built the temple must be Intransigent to make it look effulgent. I was impressed by the view of the temple and the lake is surrounded with a fence. The sun was too bright.

The must things:

One should not miss the sunset at Parashar lake, evening walk to the Parashar

How to Reach:

Bus from ISBT Delhi to Mandi – 1290/-

Mandi to Baggi (Local bus)– 70/- or a cab (10 capacity) – 2500/-

Where to Stay:

1. You can opt a tent on rent

2. Stay in the temple

3. Local stay (Which I opted)

What to carry:

Don’t carry heavy clothes if you’re trekking.

Energy bars, minus degree jacket (winters only) , thermals, head light (if the stay is in tent), gloves, walking pole, cap.