Prashar Lake - A landscape that truly is Earth’s eye

“A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.” – Henry David Thoreau

the majestic lake that mesmerizes

Introduction:

Prashar Lake was a long pending in my ‘places to travel list’. The lake’s pics throughout internet were just mesmerizing. I always wanted to spend a couple of day camping at this scenic beauty. I never knew getting there is almost effortless. Every time I see the mesmerizing photo of this majestic lake on internet I just felt like being there.

About the place: Prashar Lake lies 49 km north of Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India, with a three storied pagoda-like temple dedicated to the sage Prashar. The lake has a floating island in it and it is said to be unclear how deep it is, with a diver not being able to determine its depth.

Prashar lake is just 480 kms from Delhi and a must do weekend destination.

Altitude from sea level: 2560 meters

How to reach: Prashar Lake is around 50 kms from the town of Mandi, Himachal Pradesh. Direct bus form Delhi to Mandi are available from Kashmiri gate ISBT and the last bus departs at 10:30 pm. A motorable road goes right uptill the Lake. Just ask for direction at Mandi to Katola. Road condition from Katola is a bit challenging but easily doable if you have an experience of driving in hills. Public transport to Prashar lake is almost non-existent. The only bus available departs from Mandi at 7:30 am and reaches Parashar Lake at 11:30 am. It leaves for Mandi at 1:30 pm same day and reaches Mandi at 5 pm. Here is the bus driver’s number in case you need to confirm the bus status to plan a trip.

Thakur Singh 09817634619 (available from 5 pm to 8 pm only)

Best time to Visit: March to November. Prashar lake may become inaccessible by road from November last week to February mid due to heavy snow. However, this may prove to be the best time but not the safest.

Brief Itinerary:  

Day 1, Friday, May 27,2016: Leave for Kashmiri gate ISBT at 11:30 pm. Board bus for Chandigarh at 1:30 am

Day2, Saturday, May 28,2016: Chandigarh to Mandi to Katola to Prashar Lake. Reach Prashar lake at 5 pm. Relax, overnight camping.

Day3, Sunday, May 29,2016: 12 km to and fro half way trek towards Tunga Mata (could not complete this trek due to apparent bad weather conditions)

Day4, Monday, May 30,2016: Trek to the peak adjoining to Prashar lake for that great aerial view. Leave at 1:30 pm by direct bus from Prashar lake to Mandi. Reach Delhi Next morning.

Expenses:

Transport: INR 1500/- each

Meals and Beverages: INR 1500/- each

Accommodation: NIL (we had our own camping gear)

Total: INR 3000/- each

Back to travelogue:

Day 1: I was craving for camping at this scenic gem and got a phone call from Sandeep Sharma (HR at NIIT Technologies) to plan for a weekend trip. It had to be Prashar Lake!

I have two Quechua 2 person camping tents and thought of utilizing both this time. I immediately called the man who never says no for a weekend trip ‘Sanjay Kashyap’. One of Sandeep’s friend Deepak also joined for this weekend trip. So now we were four with camping gear to experience the serene beauty of Prashar Lake.

Here is the plan: Catch overnight bus to Mandi from ISBT Kashmiri Gate, reach Mandi at 9 am.

Mandi to Baghi village by 12 pm.

 7-8 km 4 hr Trek to Prashar Lake from Baghi at a leisurely pace.

Reach Prashar Lake at around 5 pm, overnight camping at Prashar Lake. Leave Sunday noon and Back to Delhi.   

Simple it was, But… we had a problem with bus schedule here, the last bust to Mandi from ISBT Kashmiri Gate leaves at 10:30 pm and our office shift ends at 10:30. Nevertheless, we were determined enough to plan to reach Kashmiri gate ISBT at around 11:30 and board the bus to Chandigarh and then catch a morning bus from Chandigarh to Mandi. ISBT Kashmiri gate has 24 hours bus service from Delhi to Chandigarh every 30 minutes. We knew very well that the weird ‘via’ Chandigarh plan would cost us 3-4 hours behind the schedule. Any ways, who cares? Let’s be there…!!

Day 2: Boarding the bus from Delhi to Chandigarh was easy. It was only at Chandigarh stop we came to know that bus to Mandi from Chandigarh plies from sector 43, around 10 km from there. No problem, we fortunately got a local bus to sector 43 ISBT within no time and that too for Rs. 10/- each! It took 15 to 20 minutes and a total mess was waiting for us sector 43 Bus stop. No line for tickets, ticket counters there were crowded like hell and getting a ticket was like winning the world cup. Deepak took the brave initiative and directly went into the pool of people yelling “4 Mandi….  Chaaaaaaar Mandiiiiii” (four tickets to Mandi). In a hope to organize the crowd, the official at ticket counter put this condition if people don’t make a queue he will give tickets only for Manali, no matter what your destination is. Even this could not deter our plan and Deepak switched to yelling “4 Manali…. Chaaaaaaarr Manali”  :D (four tickets to Manali). That was really hilarious. :D :D . Getting a ticket to Manali also got us confused whether we shall head to Manali or stick to the plan and deboard at Mandi. Sandeep had a good question.. why change the plan?? Hence, no confusion at all J

The bus from Chandigarh was scheduled to move at 8 am. We reached Mandi at 2:30pm. From Mandi, within half an hour,  we got a bus to Katola. Unfortunately, there is no public transport to Prashar Lake except an HRTC (Himachal Road Transport Corporation) that departs from Mandi at 7:30 am, reaches the lake at 11:30 am and leave for Mandi same day at 1:30 pm.  I have shared the driver’s number and you can plan your weekend to Prashar lake. Make sure the bus you board from Delhi arrives at Mandi by 7 am to catch the only bus to Prashar lake. We reached Katola at 3 pm and dropped the plan to trek to Prashar lake as we would not be able to reach the lake before dark which I always avoid while hiking. We decided to hire a taxi for INR 1200/- convincing ourselves that it will only cost us 300/- each. Katola to Prashar lake is around 25 Kms with a challenging road condition. 

Deepak, Sanjay, Sandeep (left to right)

Enroute Katola, there was a sudden change in weather, what locals called bad weather was actually a joyful moment for instead. We reached Prashar lake at 5:30 pm.

Reached and ready for Camping!!

Had something to eat and ofcourse, enjoyed ‘our cup of tea’. Searched for a camping site, unfortunately I had to compromise ‘the view’ in lieu of a safe place that kept us from high intensity wind.

Sorry for blurred pic. I did not clicked it.

After mounting our tents, it was time to relax and enjoy one of the most beautiful landscape you can be at, on any given weekend!! We went to sleep in our lovely camping tents.

The lake is absolute beauty and reminds me of Thoreau’s appreciation of a lake in his work ‘Walden’. Yes, Prashar lake actually is the ‘eye’ of this landscape. Here are few clicks.

The Pagoda style Prashar Rishi temple

I had heard that the Island in the lake keeps on shifting its position. It really does!

Day 3: Next morning, we planned a 12 km trek to Tunga Mata. We left at 9 am. Tunga Mata trek gives you an experience of how a trek in absolute wilderness would be. There were almost no sign of human establishment after 3 km of trek. Every now and then, we were worried about a wild encounter which, was magnified by a Carcass still not fully consumed or decomposed L that confirmed the presence of, may be, a predator. Bones or remains of dead had became a common site till now.

Garuda Dev - The great Himalayan Griffon!

After hiking around for 3 hours and 6 km, we met a shepherd. He told us that it will take us another 3-4 hours to reach the Tunga Mata temple. I bet, if you are in hills and a local tells you an estimate of time it would take to reach there, simply multiply that by 1.5. Hence, for us, it would be around 5 hours. That made us assume that it will be impossible for us to return to Prashar lake before it gets dark. Therefore, halfheartedly, we headed back to our campsite. There, I experienced a strange aspect of human being. That is, our tents were being treated like celebrity and people were like crazy to have a pic. with camping tents. That really was crazy. Having plenty of time in hand we kept enjoying the tranquility of the place. Meals quality is really a problem here; I would suggest bringing your own canteen.

Deepak having Prashad and blessing at Prashar Rishi Temple

Day 4: Next morning, we climbed the peak adjoining Prashar lake to have this aerial view of the lake.

Ariel view of Prashar Lake

The only bus was on time and scheduled to leave at 1:30 pm. The bus driver, Thakur Singh is a humble person and gave his mobile number to contact if we plan Prashar lake next time.

Return journey was quite simple with a direct bus from Prashar lake to Mandi and Mandi to Delhi both.

Prashar Lake is a must visit weekend destination recommended by MustVisitHimalayas.

Keep Travelling!!