It’s 7 am in Naggar and the only living
beings that are awake are the birds. No motorbikes or jeeps with diesel fumes
driving up the hills! It’s too early for the children to be walking to school.
The sun isn’t shining yet, but it is already bright and I decide to walk up to
the ancient Krishna temple on top of the hill.
It’s easy to miss the small forest path
that leads up to the temple. Like most treasures, it is partly hidden. The trek
up the narrow wooded path is heavenly. Fragrant are the pine groves, like their
counterparts in distant Sakhalin. The air here is as pure and fresh as it is on
my beloved Russian Island.
I see a few beautiful traditional Himachali
homes as I walk up and then it’s just forest all the way to the temple. The
hill-top temple has the best view in all of Naggar. Visible are the chain of
snow-covered peaks and green rolling hills below them. From up here, it is just
pure nature. No farms, no construction and no people (except for the family
that lives up here). This is where I realise why Himachal is called the abode
of the gods. The more you move away from human settlement, the fresher, more pristine
and purer the Himalayan landscape gets. A landscape fitting for the gods
themselves!
The hospitable family invites me for tea on
a chilly morning. This is heaven! Piping hot tea and a stunning view fit for a
Nicholai Roerich painting.
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