Nature has its own way of making any regular land turn into a piece of art. Having said that, Prashar Lake falls under Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. Holomictic in nature it’s primary sources of water is rainwater and then glacier runoffs. There is also a tiny grassy island that floats atop of this lake. The depth of the lake is still unknown.
It is learnt that Sage Prashar meditated near the lake. Hence, the lake is named after him.
Now that the relevant information's been told above, here come the part where Chindi Safar and I went to explore Prashar with a set of 21 travel enthusiasts from Delhi and around.
Like any usual trip made toward Himachal Pradesh, this one too started by boarding the bus from Potala Ground, Majnu-Ka-Tila, New Delhi around 08:30 pm.
By 06:30 am we were in the main Mandi, H.P. After all the morning chores once the team had freshened up, we started our journey split into 2 vehicles. A 14+1 seater Traveller & an Innova(bigger vehicles carrying people and Deluxe-Buses are not allowed on the roads the of most places in Himachal Pradesh keeping in mind the safety of the travellers and the conditions of the road)
We pushed off from Mandi at 10:30 am, reaching our campsite Krishna Camp in Village Bagi by 12:30 pm.
After our quick breakfast and settling our belongings in our allotted tents we started our walk toward the Prashar Lake which is barely 30 mins of walking from the campsite.
On reaching Prashar Lake, the team first strolled the lake and a few of them even hiked up to the top of the hill for the best view and pictures of the lake.
By 2:30-03:00 almost everyone was hungry so we had lunch at the dhabha run by the Prashar Rishi Temple. Post lunch everybody headed to the temple to offer their prayer and the whole team then started the walk back towards the campsite.
By 4:30 we were all at the campsite so instead of dozing off or lazing our we all decided to experience the sunset at the other end of the camp, into the jungle.
After walking 45-50 mins we all settled in an unidentified place and enjoyed our evening playing games, telling stories and catching the sunset.
Post-sunset we headed back to the campsite, had some snacks and were ready for some bonfire, music and dancing around enjoying each other’s company. The rest of the evening and a bit of dawn was spent having a gala time.
The next morning post our breakfast we again started our journey back to Main Mandi in our Traveller van and Innova. But right before that, we stopped at Sukhana Lake which is on the route to Mandi. Not many people know of it and therefore, it is not explored much. In another 2.5hrs we were at the bus stand and we strolled around in the market since we had a little time on us before we board our bus to Delhi. At 09:00 pm we were are settled up in the bus and the next morning back to the same old life.
Prashar is a quick trip we all deserve, away from the hustle of the concrete jungle. We all crave a few hills and mountains while sitting here in the landlocked city.
(For more highlights from the trip, click here)
