visit to Shuru Manali - part-1

December 5, 2019

It was almost 4-00 PM when we completed our tour of old Manali to see Hidimba Mandir, Ghatotkacha shrine, Himachal folk museum and Manu temple. We had to drop Vashisht Mandir due to time constraint. Next and last place for the day was Shuru village. The purpose of our visit was to find a person by name Kishandchand, a person I'd never met.

Rajesh (my host from Kais) and I rode into Shuru, wondering how to locate Kishanchand. Shuru village is situated on the slopes of Manali hills overlooking the Beas valley. The road leading into the village had a series of U-bends. At one of the bends, we saw two men coming out of an apple orchard. With no one else in sight, we decided to inquire with them. We told them we were looking for Kishanchand, not sure if there were more than one person by that name. One of the men who seemed like a local chap told pointed towards the garden and told we could find him n there. Wow! We almost found him! We thanked the men and took the foot path in the orchard. We saw a man hacking the ground with a toothed spade. We asked him if he was Kishanchand. Yes. I was all smiles but I had to be sure of his identity. So I asked him if he remembered Deepak from Bangalore.. he was your guest for a month back in 1996 or so. Yes, but I cannot recall his face. Then I showed him Deepak's photo in my phone. Yes, I remember. I called and Deepak and told him to speak with his friend. That's Kishanchand speaking to my brotherDeepak.

After their conversation, I spoke to Deepak again. Deepak said it seems like Kishan and asked for a picture. Then  with permission took Kishan's picture, sent it to Deepak. Confirmed, this is our man. It was great feeling to have located Kishanchand! Revived a two decade old friendship :)

At this point, I felt the need to introduce Rajesh properly, which I did. The warm gentle Kishanchand invited us home, asked us to stay couple of days. We told him we were on work, were supposed to be back at Kais but accepted his invitation for tea. Kishan called it a day at work, put his tools into the conical basket.. lets go. His house was five minute walk, next to the huge Deodar tree seen here.

This is one of the lanes of Shuru, nice looking houses. I was trying to imagine how the village looked in 1996. The houses would be stone-n-wood back then, hardly any concrete structures in this village. Of course, there would've been more number of trees.

That's the huge Deodar, probably this is the largest tree in Shuru. Its a landmark tree. The house with a green stripe is Kishan's new house. The old house was demolished few years back and built a new one.

That's the grand old Deodar (pine tree). See its girth, its as wide as the house next to it. That's Kishan's storehouse, it looks tiny next to the tree, isn't it?  Kishan put down his basket and farm equipment next to the tree. In the background are the snow-capped mountains.. the Himalayas.

There's a nice open space in front of Kishan's place. That's Rajesh and Kishan. His backyard is the slope of this mountain, the slope is covered in huge Deodars and at the top is snow. Kishan said that Shuru also gets snow fall in December. The ground would be covered with 2' snow.

Kishan suggested we visit the village temple first. The temple is right behind and above his house. The temple is dedicated to Mata Sharvari, usually known as Durgadevi. The temple is ancient but it has been renovated recently. Its architecture is the local Kath Kuni which specializes in building with layers of wood and stones. The corner blocks are wooden blocks which make the buildings earthquake resistant.

The temple has a sheltered circumbulation path around it. The walls are made of some white colored stone and the wooden beams would be most likely Deodar. The wood has been sculpted exquisitely.. floral and geometric patterns. The window shutters have images of Hindu legendary characters. 

This is the temple's front wall, the door frame is quite grand. The window frames and shutters are decorated with images of Mataji on a lion.

This is the inside of the temple. The floor is coated with a layer of cow-dung. I was quite surprised to see cow-dung flooring here. This is quite common in villages homes in Karnataka which means coating mud floors with cow-dung was an ancient practice throughout the Indian subcontinent. The temple priest was a young-man, probably in late twenties. He told us that the 'Havan Kunda' (fire pit) is never emptied but the level always remains. Flanking the door are the images of Durgadevi and Saraswatidevi.

That's the young man, a masters graduate, a priest of this temple. Happy to see him carry on our traditions. In the background, the window shutter has an image of Sarswati Devi.

The temple ceiling too is richly decorated. Buildings are build of wood to keep the interiors insulated from the cold air, keep it warm.

A group of people, probably of one family, had been sitting in the courtyard since the time we came here. They had been waiting for the elder priest to consult on some personal matters. Kishan told us that they followed an ancient custom to solve problems using a flower, grains, ball of cow-dung and a pot of water. The ritual would start as soon as the priest arrived.

As we waited for the priest to come, I looked around the temple. The small house here is a source of fresh water. Spring water collects into a pit inside the temple and flows out of a mouth of a legendary creature. This water is so clean, it could be consumed without filtering it. This is Vikas, also from Shuru village.

The roof is made of small sheets of dark stone. I think this is the recent innovation. If you see village homes, their roof are made of larger (and thicker) sheets of slate. Anyway, the principle of the technique is same. Water flows off the roof without any leakage issue.

The senior priest arrived, prepared the platform for the ritual. The family gathered around the platform and the ritual began. The priest dropped a flower and cow-dung ball with a rice grain into a pot of water and whichever surfaces answers the question. I'm entirely not sure of the method but I respect their belief. Rajesh too had a nagging issue, he mentioned he would make a trip here one of the days to consult the priest for a solution.

This is the view from the temple courtyard, the never ending valley. Through this valley flows the river Beas towards Kullu and Sundarnagar. The time a this point was 4-21, sun had set an hour ago, day light would be gone in matter of another hour. This place is truly peaceful. The mountains, the valleys, the jungles, the fresh air.. must come here and spend a week or two doing nothing.

Another view of the valley. The buildings of Shuru. Kishan said his village has changed a lot since Deepak's visit. I kept on trying to ignore the concrete buildings, trying to imagine the green slopes dotted with little houses next to trees. Oh, how man can ruin the beauty around him.

Kishan is now ready to take us to his home..

The article will continue in visit to Shuru-Manali - part-2.
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