Simhachalam Temple - Lord Vishnu Position His Leg On The Earth To Save Prahlada Is Known As Simhachalam.

 SIMHACHALAM TEMPLE

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VISAKHAPATNAM

Simhachalam Temple, dedicated to the Lord Narasimha, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu is located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The ancient temple was built on top of the hill known as Simhachalam or Simhadri. This temple of Lord Vishnu is one of the eighteen “Narasimha Kshetra” in India.

The Main deity is Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy. The Idol of Sri Narasimha Swamy is in the tribhangi posture, with hands and the head of a lion on a human torso. The Idol is usually covered with sandalwood paste for the whole year. During the annual ritual of “nijaroopa darshan”, the deity can be seen in his holy appearance in true form. This nijaroopa darshan seva lasts for 12 hours and the deity is covered again with sandalwood paste on the day of Akshaya Tritiya.

The Simhachalam temple is unique in that it faces west. According to religious beliefs an east-facing entrance of a temple brings prosperity, while a west-facing entrance brings victory.

The temple is situated among the hills in the midst of cashew trees, shrubs, and mango groves. Many pilgrims take up giri pradhikshana (circumambulation) of the hill during auspicious days. The temple’s location in pleasant surroundings is an additional attraction here. The deity here is popularly called as Simhadri Appanna.

According to a common belief this temple was built at the place where the Lord Vishnu appeared in his Narasimha avtar to save his devotee Prahlad. Narasimha avatara is a lion-man incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

As per the legend, Lord Vishnu’s two gatekeepers at Vaikuntha,“Jaya” and “Vijaya” were cursed by three devotees of Lord Vishnu as they were not allowed to take darshan. Hence, the two gatekeepers Jaya and Vijaya reincarnated three times as antagonists of Lord Vishnu as they were cursed by the devotees. In one of the three Incarnations, Jaya and Vijaya took birth as Hiranyaksha and Hiranya Kasyapa.

In this incarnation, Hiranya Kasyapa was Prahlad’s father. Hiranya Kasyapa used to punish Prahlad for worshipping Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu took the incarnation as Narasimha, a combination of man and lion and rescued Prahlad from Hiranya Kasyapa at this place. The place where the Lord Vishnu put his leg on the earth to save Prahlada is known as Simhachalam.

The most popular festivals celebrated are Nijaroopa Darshanam and Chandanotsavam. Chandana yatra’ or ‘Chandanotsavam’ is celebrated when the deity is covered again with sandalwood paste after nijaroopa darshan which is conducted during Akshay Tritya. Millions of devotees visit the temple during this festivals. Laadoos are distributed as prasadam to the devotees along with free food known as annadanam.

By Air

Vishakhapatnam airport is the nearest aiprort, which is situated at 10 km.

By Train

The nearest railway station is Visakhapatnam which is located at 7 km.

By Bus

Simhachalam is 20 km away from Visakhapattanam Town. The temple can be reached from Visakhapatnam by buses or taxis.

Sela Pass – You Can Enjoy The Paradise View Of Snowed Place Throughout The Year

SELA PASS MOUNTAIN

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TAWANG

Sela Pass, also known as Se La, is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 4,170 m (13,700 ft) above the sea level, located in Tawang District of Arunachal Pradesh state of India. Sela pass is a high altitude mountain pass that connects the Buddhist city of Tawang with the rest of the country. 

Sela Pass is amongst the most frequented tourist destination in the whole of Arunachal Pradesh. It owns the credit of being the only high-altitude mountain pass in the world that is motorable. This is the only way to gain access to Tawang by road.

The road's winding design, providing stunning panoramic views, is very curvy and fun for a leisurely ride, so it pays to take it slow. It connects the Buddhist city of Tawang Town to Tezpur and Guwahati and is the main road connecting Tawang with the rest of India.

The views from Sela Pass are spectacular. If you venture to this place in winter, you will have before you a stunning view of snow-clad Sela Pass. You will find Paradise Lake on your way to Sela Pass. The lake, for the most part would be frozen during winter. The sunrays kissing the mountain top give you a different version of the mountain. Summer or winter, you are sure to love the experience. Sela Pass is rightly called the ‘Heaven on earth’.

This place is snowed in most of the year and offers excellent and heavenly views all year round. This part of the Eastern Himalayan range is pretty special for the Buddhists as it is believed that about 101 lakes exist in and around Sela pass and each of these lakes has a huge religious significance for the Buddhist community. 

The pass has hardly any vegetation and is usually snow covered to some extent all through the year.Very close to the Pass is the beautiful Sela Lake (sometimes called Paradise Lake because of its beauty), which could be fully or partially frozen if you come in extreme winters. Some small rivers also flow out of the lake and during grazing season, you could see a lot of yaks grazing around the lake too.

You can start from Guwahati, which is well connected by rail, road and air with the rest of India. You can either hire a cab from there, or take state transport buses to Bomdila or Diring and then share or hire a cab/jeep etc.

If you are going to/coming from Kazinranga National Park side, you can travel via Tezpur and Bhalukpong, another beautiful place. You will still rejoin the main route before Bomdila, close to Rupa.

Yumthang Valley – The Place Has Been Astonished Visitors With Its Floral Variety

YUMTHANG VALLEY

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NORTH SIKKIM

Yumthang Valley is a beautiful valley situated in north Sikkim. It sits at an elevation of 3,500 metres above sea-level, so naturally home to many beautiful Himalayan flowers.

Yumthang valley is about 25kms from Lachung located at an altitude of 11,800ft and takes about 1.5 hours of drive. The name Yumthang Valley means 'Valley of Flowers'. So you know what to expect.

Yumthang Valley is extremely picturesque, with green slopes covered with trees, yaks grazing in the flower-spangled grassy plains below, and a river flowing right through the valley. The serene and tranquil air of the Valley cannot be described in words. A single visit there can leave the visitor in an enchanted state for weeks.

But the name would have been more appropriate if it said 'Valley of Rhododendrons'. Because here as the tree line ends and the vast stretch of flowering valley exposes a dense bed of rhododendron flowers for miles and in many different colors like purple, blue, red, pink etc.

The Valley has an astounding, over 24 species of Rhododendrons which paint the Valley red in spring. Rhododendrons are shrubs or trees, and different species of Rhododendron cover different large stretches of the Valley.

the wonderful views of vast valley of flowers, Yumthang also offers lovely views of the mountain peaks such as Pauhunri and Shundu Tsenpa forming the backdrop of the river Teesta. Before entering the Yumthang Valley, a pedestrian pathway goes over a small bridge and reaches Yumthang Hot Spring. You will need to walk for few thousand yards to reach the hot spring.

In such a cold climate, this surprisingly natural warm water comes as a pleasant surprise. The water is rich with sulfur and said to have good healing and medicinal value. The spring water here is directed to a hut and couple of pools inside so that one can take a healing bath here.

Nearby there are couple of rivers - Yumthang chu and Puniya chu where you can do fishing if you have time. But for that you need to plan a longer stay at Lachung. About 7kms further north of the hot spring, there is a Shiva Temple.

It also happens to be situated at what is called "the tree-line", the altitude above which there are no trees. This makes the Yumthang Valley unique in that it has trees and Rhododendrons, and yet abounds in tiny, low-growing Himalayan flowers.

There is no accommodation available at the valley. Visitors stay at Lachung from where the valley is about an hour’s drive. Over the last few years several hotels and resorts have come up in Lachung. Facilities are clean and descent, but cannot be compared to other more upmarket destinations. This is primarily due to the inaccessibility of the destination. Your accommodation and food will be arranged as part of a package tour to Yumthang.

The road to Yumthang from Gangtok follows the Teesta River, crossing a spectacular gorge over the Rang Rang suspension bridge. The last major town is Chungthang about from where Lachung is an hours drive where tourists stay overnight.

Even now Yumthang is reached mostly as part of a tour group. Individual and independent travel can be organised on demand.

These packages typically includes all transport, accommodation, sight seeing and food. The package tours are for one or two nights from Gangtok to Gangtok basis.Each vehicle carries maximum 7 - 8 tourists. All our tours are exclusive so that you dont have to share the vehicle with others.