Prashar Lake – A Jewel Midst White Gold We Call Snow

The Journey so far…

It was a very cold night at Prashar Lake and since we slept with window open, the chill in the air got me pricking and woke me up. On my face, the nose and surroundings were almost feeling numb, so finally I decided to take out the sleeping bag and sleep peacefully. Once into sleeping bag, it was much warm after sometime. After couple of hours of sleep, there was a mad knock on the front door. It was around 2 AM and we were not sure who can be there out in such conditions and at such odd hour of the day 😯 😯 It was hard to believe that in such odd hour, in that freezing cold someone can come and knock in the middle of a place which is no less than a jungle. They started banging the door madly as me and Saurabh got awake. We waited for sometime before getting off the bed but then we heard Ram Singh coming down and opening the door. Some loud shouts and things were settled after 5-10 minutes.

In the morning we woke up and asked Ram Singh. He told us that some drunk locals from Mandi decided to reach Parashar Lake while having drinks as they did not have anything to do after it and here they are right in the middle of night 😉 😉 … Hearing it, we were like Wow, True Adventurers !! 😀 😀 … Anyways, Ram Singh prepared a morning Tea for us and it was time to witness the Prashar Lake now. It was about 15-20 minutes of hike from the PWD Rest House and we decided to have breakfast plus lunch there at the Dhabha of DK ji besides the lake Prashar. Please note while going on the road towards the Prashar Lake, there comes a board that says Lake towards the right. DO Follow it as the path of road ends there and if you continue to follow the road, you will end up in a small village ahead or somewhere in Jungle. You have to turn right, perpendicular to the board and scale-up the small hill, after crossing that hill, you get to see the first sight of the Prashar Lake. So, do not forget it as many people get lost following the road. See pictures below too.

A little background about Prashar Lake

Prashar Lake is located 49 KMs North of Mandi, a district in Himachal Pradesh, at an altitude of 2730 Mtrs and has a depth unknown to anyone so far. You can also approach Kullu from Prashar Lake which is about 70 odd KMs North of it. The Prashar Lake hosts a 13th century old, three story Pagoda style Temple besides it, which is dedicated to the Rishi Prashar as he meditated here and that is why it is also considered as a sacred lake. The legends are that the temple was built by a baby with a single tree only. A lot of locals come here for worship and to offer prayers on religious ceremonies. There is a three day festival also held at Prashar Lake in summers, guess in second week of June. The Lake also hosts a floating island in it which you can see constantly moving around though slow enough for not being recognizable by naked eyes. So, you can compare it in different seasons by taking pictures from the same spot 🙂 …

You can reach Prashar Lake by taking a bus to Mandi as it is connected widely across nearby states. Then from Mandi, buses run everyday for Baggi Village and in summers even up to Prashar Lake top too. It takes about 12-13 Hrs to reach Prashar Lake from Delhi.

Enough of background and I will surely write a detailed Travel Guide of Prashar Lake which will cover most parts on How To Travel there. So, now coming back to story. We took the right path and started ascending the hill as Saurabh shouted first reaching the top, "come on guys, get up fast here!!" … As we reached the top, wow, what a sight. A Semi Frozen Prashar Lake, surrounded by snow covered hills !! The effort reaching the top, started looking like more than the worth… It was shining like a jewel midst white gold we call snow… See it yourself !!

Then for next few hours, it was nothing but silence among all as we kept hiking the hills around the lake and taking pictures from different angles 🙂 🙂 … I will let the pictures do the talking now which are taken from various vantage points all around the lake.

After spending good amount of time hiking around the lake, me and Bikram decided to go back to dhabha for some food. While Saurabh and Aashish stayed back atop hill as they wanted to climb to the topmost point of the hill there. So, they started upward and we descended down. I went inside the temple too to take blessings but that few minutes of removing shoes and walking in snow and freezing cold stones, got my feet numb and I was jumping up and down to get them some warmth. I had a word with Pandit ji, who told us that few people got saved a day before as they spent whole night in jungle because they took shortcut from Baggi Village, however, did not take along any local from the village. They lost the way in evening and had to spend whole night in the jungle 😯 😯 … Such a foolish act, I was thinking !! They had a narrow escape from life I will say because Pandit ji confirmed the presence of Bears too in the jungle during this time 😯 😯 … So, guys, if anyone of you plan the shortcut, then do take some villager with you in comparison to risking your life.

We went to Dhabha and waited for Saurabh & Aashish to join us for food. DK ji was not present today at the Dhabha and his boy was present. He cooked some really delicious food which we could not resist to have quickly. Aaloo Jeera was specifically quite nicely cooked. Both Saurabh and Aashish also joined us after a while as their adventure ended by sliding down, playing with snow, making snow man, etc.. up there 🙂 …

After having the nice food, we decided to go back to PWD Rest House and get going back but where, was the question? … And one voice came, lets head to Kasol and checkout the direct route that joins Prashar Lake to Bhuntar – Kullu. We will enjoy some fine dine-ins at Kasol and also pay a visit to Manikaran. So, plan was set and we decided to move down. To our surprise, light snow flakes started pouring down making it a yet more memorable visit. We enjoyed the flakes for 5-10 minutes and reached PWD Rest House. Ram Singh, quickly prepared last cup of tea we shared together and we settled the bill with him. We briefed him about DoW Causes and he was all excited to help people coming up there, wishing to execute such noble causes. Finally, bid adieus and started the snow trek back to Baggi Village.

Have you ever been to Prashar Lake? How was your experience or you looking forward to visit it? Do share you experiences or queries in either comments section of DwD Community with all other devils 🙂 🙂

The Journey ahead…