Saturday 19 September 2009

Rewalsar Lake, Himachal Pradesh, India

I had gone to two lake sites in winters, Prashar and Rewalsar, both in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh in India. Prashar was snow bound as it is located at a higher altitude but Rewalsar is comparatively only at 1360 m above the sea level. Rewalsar is a very small town located about 24 km from the Mandi town.

View of Rewalsar Lake from High Up

The town is considered sacred by Buddhists, Sikhs and Hindus alike.

The Statue of Bodhisatva at Rewalsar

The first view of the town is the huge statue of Bodhisatva (it was still partly under construction when I had gone there). Rewalsar has three Buddhist monasteries and has several Buddhist scholars and students studying here. Besides these there is one Sikh Gurudwara as well as three Hindu temples as well.

One of the three Buddhist Monasteries at Rewalsar

If one is fond of Tibetan food then there is no dearth of restaurants offering the same at Rewalsar at very reasonable prices.

Another View of the Rewalsar Lake

The Rewalsar Lake amidst flowers & flags

I had stayed in the Himachal Tourism Rest House though there are other options also available for staying here.

Fish in the Rewalsar Lake

Since the Buddhist consider the place and the lake sacred they take the circle of the lake chanting slogans and also feed the fish in the lake.

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