Bike Ride up to Shikari Devi Temple

Hi,

I hope you are doing good. This was one day bike ride from Sunder Nagar to Shikari Devi and back to Sunder Nagar cum visit to Shikari Devi temple, with Mr. Tarun Goel .

Standing in front of the Shikari Devi Temple, Mandi(H.P.) (Forest rest house is hidden in the photo behind my right thigh) - clicked on 4th May, 2014

• A 92 km road Journey from Sunder Nagar to Shikari Devi

Today(5th May 2014), I feel refreshed but my body, specifically my hips are still paining. Generally the bike seats are not that much painful to sit on, but this 92 km single lane road distance was a different story. Canal service road from Sunder Nagar to Baggi along the BSL(canal) is constructed with a numbers of speed breakers and pot holes which make it a little uncomfortable for the person sitting behind.

On the way to Baggi from Sunder Nagar through BSL -clicked on 4th May, 2014

Road from Baggi to Janjehli is a single lane  surfaced road, good enough for a comfortable car drive. After Baggi, you can reach Chail Chowk at a distance of 9 km and then there is another 56 km ride to reach Janjehli.

A little back from Janjehli we stopped to click on this massive stone at Pandav-Shilla, this is said to be kept here by Bhima(A character in the Maha-Bharata). Locals say that one can move this stone with your little fingers of hands.

Pandav Shilla (Pandav Stone) at a short distance from Janjehli, Mandi(H.P.)- clicked on 4th May, 2014

We had the plan to try that effort while coming back, but due to heavy rain we were already late.

Janjehli has a cold climate and so it is possible to grow apple trees, on the way I clicked on many such orchards, but I will post this one here which shows typical houses in the area too.

A typical view of Janjehli, Mandi(H.P.) showing, homes and apple trees covered with anti-hail nets. -clicked on 4th May, 2014

Janjehli has hotels and Govt. guest house for your night stay but we were on a one day ride, so we moved without a single break. Road is same i.e. single lane paved road, up to next 6 km but then starts a Katcha road(Non-surfaced and unpaved road) which is about 9 km long to reach at the foot-steps to the Shikari Devi Temple.

Road to Shikari Devi from Janjehli becomes difficult to ride on rainy days.

This non-surfaced road becomes difficult to ride on rainy day and by co-incidence it started to rain on the mid-way. Tarun was on the steering and decided that we were not going back, our anticipation was that rain shall stop within few minutes.

Road got too much slippery at some places and I had to get off my seat to push the bike. I was feeling too much cold because I was wearing single pants and shirt but a monkey cap saved me a little which luckily ,Tarun was carrying in his bag.

This is May, but Tarun was reluctant to remove the helmet at the Shikari Devi Temple, Mandi(H.P.) -clicked on 4th May, 2014

• Stepping up through foot-steps

Finally bike(Thunder-bird) had to stop at a distance of about 100 m from the main Gate because the road was totally muddy.

This is really important to follow the instructions, at Shikari Devi Temple, Mandi, H.P. - clicked on 4th may, 2014

We stepped up the concrete foot-steps which were okay enough to walk on even in rainy days.

A 5 minute foot-path up from the last vehicle stop at Shikari Devi Temple, Mandi(H.P.) -clicked on 4th May, 2014

The path was surrounded by a thick Oak tree jungle, but with no shrubs or small trees. The trees look old and resonated with the mythological tale of the Shikari Devi.

After this tiresome up-walk we reached at this beautiful and mind blowing spot which showed us the Shikari Devi Temple and the beauty around in 360 degrees which was hidden on the way by the thick jungles.

• Finally at Shikari Devi Temple

We spotted few tents and houses, some of them are known as sarays and some others were small shops for the things related to the worship of the Goddess.

Sarays(Shelters) and tents at Shikari Devi Temple, Mandi(H.P.) - clicked on 4th May, 2014

 Sarays are the shelters offered to trekkers and are open 12 months a year but in winter they get filled with snow because snow makes its way through the open doors or any other opening.

After showing you the scene above, I will show you the first view of the Shikari Devi Temple from the same spot from where this picture was clicked.

A heavenly spot, known as Shikari Devi Temple, Mandi(H.P.) - clicked on 4th May, 2014

I judged the heights of the mountains around the 360 degrees and concluded that this must be the highest among them. This spot seemed to me as a heaven of my dreams, a place purely under the shadow of nature, peaceful and hard to reach.

This was a roofless temple, surrounded with four walls of sufficient height to hide the inside view of the idols.

Shikari Devi Temple, Mandi(H.P.) - clicked on 4th May 2014

 There were a numbers of idols and I don't know if you will be able to recognize them, but still please have a look through the images or through the video link that I will post at the end here.

Shikari Devi Idols, Mandi(H.P.) - clicked on 4th May, 2014

• On the way back to Sunder Nagar from Shikari Devi Temple

This was the journey up to here, I hope you enjoyed. Now, the journey to back down was a little more un-comfortable because rain showed up again and this time this was heavy and continuous. We took about 1 and half hour to reach Janjehli from Shikari Devi because we had to stop in between due to heavy rain. The path was slippery at many places and clouds seemed still full of million tonnes of water.

Thunderbird(Bullet) at rest while this was raining heavily, on the way- Shikari Devi to Janjehli, Mandi(H.P.)

We took the same path back to Sunder Nagar but this time, rain was with us and so it took a little longer. Although Tarun kept going with riding skills but still he was not able to save me from getting jack hammered with the back seat of his Thunderbird which was a little hard to sit one.

In my mind, I was planning to carry a cushion with me in future, just to save my ***. While I am writing this post on the next day of the ride, I anticipate that pain in my hips will still be there for next 3 days but honestly speaking this is a pain which makes me remember the contentment of visiting this holy place which I was planning since last 2 years.

In my previous attempt, I was alone in my own motor-cycle but I returned back due to some reason, if you want to read that story please visit the link here.

Shortly I will post here the link to the video of the same trip, please be patient.

Thanks for your kind visit