Monday, March 23, 2009

Naggar - a delightful hamlet

Perhaps it was because we happened to visit the place on a Monday. One of the attractions, an art gallery, is closed Mondays. So it seemed to us that we had the whole hillside village to ourselves.
At 17 km from Manali, Naggar is just a short drive away, and the Himachal Pradesh tourism department includes it in its regular circuits.
The Naggar palace (castle), with a very interesting history from pre-colonial and colonial times. The palace is now a heritage hotel with a restaurant, an outlet for woollen things, a museum and the Jagatipatt (Shiva) temple within the palace.
(The courtyard was the venue of a popular number of the likeable Hindi film 'Jab We Met').

The Shiva temple within the palace. The wooden pieces that hang ornately make the most soothingly delightful sounds when there is a breeze around.
An ancient Vishnu temple adjacent to the palace.



An even older Gauri Sankar temple a short walk away.
(If you wish to see and buy purses, caps, shawls and coatees made of rabbit wool, just visit the second shop from the palace gates. We were very impressed with the presentable young owner, who was evidently proud of his produce).

See more visions from around the world in My World Tuesday
More posts on Manali
Seeing is believing - hot springs of Manali
Interesting local items
Yak's hair
Manali snow in February

26 comments:

  1. Excellent! That's what MyWorld is about - traveling abroad with a click of the mouse! :)
    Thank you for sharing!
    Cheers, Klaus

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  2. Love this post! The Shiva temple is SOOOOO charming!! Thanks for sharing this!

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  3. Great post and shots. The palace and temple are so beautiful.

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  4. that is the advantage of going to a place when it's closed, like visiting a theme park during the winter months, you have it all to yourself. i love the village, so charming so full of history and so much personality. thanks for sharing.

    my entry is at http://ewok1993.wordpress.com

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  5. How nice you got to see all this without crowds of people all around. Everything is so well photographed.

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  6. What a delightful post! I love it and the Shiva temple! How lovely to be able to learn and see so much of India and your world through your eyes. Thank you so much for sharing!

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  7. I enjoyed seeing your part of the world very much. Thank you! Great photography!

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  8. What an amazing temple, and beautiful photos. Thank you for the trip!

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  9. Great series of pictures. The place is so beautiful! I'd definitely want to visit this place on my next trip to India :)

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  10. Loved the pics of the doorway and the one above it. So much to look at!

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  11. A charming village with much historical interest. Beautiful photos too.

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  12. I love history! How cool to have such a place turned into a hotel. The surroundings look very tempting!! So much nature always makes me smile!

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  13. It is a fabulous virtual tour around such an interesting area.

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  14. These structures are amazing, sturdy with such delicate detail. I'll bet it sounds mellow when the wood hanging decorations knock in the breeze. Great post and captures. Thanks for taking us along.

    Someday India.

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  15. Swarna: Thanks for sharing your visit with MW. What a neat set of buildings to share.

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  16. What a post, interesting! It was great to travel with you as a guide! Thank you!

    You can find my "My world" at:
    http://niinuska.wordpress.com/

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  17. Vishnu temple is a very interesting shape...and i like the details.

    thank you for the most interesting post and pictures.

    have a wonderful day.

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  18. Beautiful photos - enjoyed the travel with you.

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  19. I love the temple and castle. The intricate carvings and ornamentation on the buildings is beautiful. Thanks for taking us to visit it.

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  20. I love this series...thats the beauty of small Indian hamlets..

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  21. that is one excellent place to wander around. i cud only imagine myself going there. great shots.

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  22. Beautiful temple, nice to know the history and thanks for sharing..

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  23. Lovely,
    I liked the details and snaps. Being there on a holiday, helped you to capture good pics without lot of people moving around.

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  24. Cool Post. I think this was the king who sold the kingdom for a gun from the british empire?? Or was it a bluff.

    [Blog hopped from Indiblogger]

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