Lockdown hit us all hard and everyone, including us, were looking for a serene, open space full of greenery and of course to be a couple of hundred feets away from traffic and congested roads.
Don’t we all deserve a day in the lap of nature, where we can sit and relax while listening to birds chirping? If your answer is a big YES! Then I have the perfect place for you guys and that is where I went along with my friends last week for the 4th NFL half Marathon which was on 14th March, we left on Sunday early morning and I mean early at like 3 in the morning. So let me take you all along with me to Naya Nangal.
Naya Nangal
It is a town near the Bhakra Dam in Punjab. We arrived here just before sunrise, we could’ve made it earlier but stopping for washroom was an important stop we had to make. We finally reached this place and it just hit me that this place looks quite different from rest of the cities or even villages in India. The greenery and fresh environment just sort of hugs you, and you feel in a completely different country. After soaking in the ambience and coming back to our senses we started exploring and asking locals about the place. It turns out that earlier there were plans to make it into a sectored city similar to that of Chandigarh however later it turned out that was just on paper. I sure am glad they didn’t because this gives it a character and personality. Also, being on a lower plain having the background of Himalayas and Shivalik enhances its scenic beauty. Naya Nangal is known for its cleanliness, amenities and scenic beauty which we sure enjoyed.
Demolish Railway station - Naya Nangal
During my last visit here, I found that the Naya Nangal railway station was demolished unfortunately and that there will be no railway station for this place in future either, which is a shame honestly but what can we do? I have a few photographs of my previous and current time here which shows this dramatic change. After asking a nearby station master, he told us that it has been 2 years since the station was demolished. In my opinion, a railway station is the centerpiece of a town for machine lovers.
Newly build parks:
As we walked on Naya Nangal’s roads we saw there were some newly developed parks which looked great and very welcoming and obviously we visited them. These parks have jogging tracks, open gyms and ample space to spend some quality time with your family or enemies, I’m not judging. Overall, these parks are a great addition to this town and personally I think other towns should learn from it and include some quality parks as well.
Madhuvan park is one of them
Temple and Gurudwara :
As we were walking around the town, we had covered a huge area and during this time we had discovered that this place also houses multiple temples of various religious beliefs including Geeeta temple and Ravidas temple. Not only that but there are some Gurudwaras as well. We definitely wanted to visit and take a closer look in each of them but due to the shortage of time we just bowed our heads and moved along.
Just fun
While we were enjoying and just exploring we also saw an old crane and of course we went ahead and took some photographs with it because who leaves such an opportunity? I’m pretty sure it’ll still be there if you visit it. Also, you can do some regular shopping in an entire area devoted for shopping and market place, which of course we didn’t visit because shopping is a luxury we couldn’t afford during our visit because we didn’t bring our wallets with us, luckily we had mobile pay but we skipped it.
Bike ride and run: As soon as you move towards Una Himachal area, you will find a totally different area to visit. Although we didn’t have bicycles but we could see how much it would be to bike down the 2 km straight downhill road, which is ideal for bike or cycle ride and trust me, as someone who has done this in the past, you will never forget the experience of cycling down the hill.
Finally, the real reason why we went there. All of our exploring was prior to our run in The 4th NFL Half marathon. As a casual runner it was a great opportunity for me and my friends to see if we have what it takes to run through this endurance demanding task. More than that it was also an opportunity to enjoy Scenic views and Path of the Marathon’s route as it took us through Shivalik hills and alongside the Satluj river and various kinds of habitats for birds and animals. It felt great to see such an extension of nature in such a manner and also the exhaustion. Even if you experienced the scenaric path when you visit outside of the city, no place is like Naya Nangal, the paths have bevels, roads are cemented and there are bridges all over. It is so mesmerizing that I forgot all the pain and fatigue while running.
To summarize, If you want to enjoy scenic beauty in lap of nature and well planned town without traffic, Naya Nangal is the place to go.
