Shimla
On a hilltop some 2.5km west of Scandal Point, the state museum sits right at the base of the prominent TV Tower. Rich if somewhat static displays include…
Must-see attractions in Himachal Pradesh
Spiti
At Kungri, this very large, custard-yellow monastery is predominantly new but has three much more interesting medieval shrines, featuring blackened murals…
Himachal Pradesh
In a serene spot along the delightful little lane that short cuts between Wah Tea Estate and Baijnath, this modern Drukpa-Kagyu nunnery is the base of…
Himachal Pradesh
At the streamside on the lower concrete road around 400m east of the castle, the Tripura Sundari wooden temple consists of a pagoda-style sanctum with…
Dalhousie
Accessed, like Dhainkund, from Lakkar Mandi, this sanctuary covers 31 sq km of forested hills east of Dalhousie, where you might spot langurs and musk…
Himachal Pradesh
At the southwest corner of Nako Lake are two inconspicuous little white-cube buildings with tin roofs. Inside one is a very ancient mural, inside the…
Museum of Himachal Culture & Folk Art
Manali
This dusty little museum is worth the nominal entry fee if you're visiting the nearby Hadimba temple. Its most interesting feature is the case of models…
Himachal Pradesh
An interesting, much-venerated old temple dedicated to the Kinnauri protector goddess Chandika stands in Kothi village. The taller of its two peaked wood…
Himachal Pradesh
This intricately sculpted stone Shiva temple stands on the spit of land at the junction of the Beas and Satlos rivers, 150m east of Victoria Bridge.
Lahaul & Spiti
Perched high above the hamlet of Stingri, 4km east of Keylong, ancient Tayul Gompa has elegant mural work, a 4m-high statue of Padmasabhava and a…
Himachal Pradesh
At the lake's southwest corner, visitors gather beneath a Himachal Tourism open pavilion throwing balls of atta (flour) or puffed rice into the water. The…
Himachal Pradesh
For fine views across the lake and village, walk around 10 minutes west from Knaygoh Kinner to a large, embossed copper prayer wheel with large metal…
Lahaul & Spiti
A fine example of a typical Pangi temple, this tiny box of a room topped by triangular eaves is fronted by colourful, wonderfully naïve carvings including…
Himachal Pradesh
Painted red and purple, this Tibetan-style Buddhist monastic academy for Buddhist monks has a central temple that features a large, central Sakyamuni…
Dharamsala
The Museum of Kangra Art displays some fine miniature paintings from the Kangra school, along with traditional costumes and photos from the devastating…
Dharamsala
Bhagsu's small, 16th-century Shiva temple would be forgettable but for the cold, clean, spring-fed pool out front. This has been enlarged into an open-air…
Himachal Pradesh
At the entrance to Bhootnath Bazar, 100m northwest of Indira Market, Mandi's most active historic temple is a small 16th-century stone structure with…
Lahaul & Spiti
In Gondhla, 14km west of Sissu, this six-storey, stone-and-timber tower fort was built about 300 years ago and used to be a local thakur's (lord's)…
Shimla
One of Shimla's most atmospheric timber-framed buildings, the green-and-white Ripon Hospital building (1885) has a couple of exterior wooden stair-spirals…
Mcleod Ganj
A charity that assists current and former Tibetan political prisoners, Gu-Chu-Sum has a gallery displaying harrowing photos chronicling oppression in…
Palampur Cooperative Tea Factory
Himachal Pradesh
This factory, 2km south of Palampur town, processes the leaves from numerous small local tea growers producing 300,000kg of tea for the Kangra and…
Himachal Pradesh
Conspicuous by the giant trident rising on the west side of the lake, this group of smallish Hindu temples are dedicated to Krishna and Lakshmi (white, in…
Himachal Pradesh
High on the hillside in Bhekhali village, less than 2km north of Kullu as the crow flies but 10km by road, the 1600-year-old Jagannathi Temple commands…
Shimla
Shimla's half-timbered old town hall building originally dates from 1908–10, but has been so restored that it looks essentially new.
Mcleod Ganj
This flourishing arts school keeps traditional Tibetan dance, music and colourful folk opera (lhamo) very much alive among the exile community. Irregular…
Himachal Pradesh
The five-minute cable car ride supposedly climbs to 3200m (though our GPS suggested more like 3000m). At the top there's a small cafe and selfie point…
Dharamsala
From Bhagsu's Shiva temple pools, a well-paved 1km path leads up the streamside to Bhagsu waterfall, most impressive during the monsoon.
Shimla
This 1840s square-towered church would turn few heads in an English market town but in Shimla it's a treasured landmark, prominent at The Ridge's east end.
Himachal Pradesh
Across the Beas River from Panchvaktra Mandir is this matching Shiva temple, dating from 1520 and similarly carved from bare stone with considerable…
Mcleod Ganj
At the base of a long flight of steps off of Nowrojee Rd, this peaceful gompa was built in 1987 to replace the original Dip Tse Chokling Gompa in Tibet,…
Himachal Pradesh
On the northeast side of the lake, this gold-domed Sikh temple was built in the 1930s but commemorates the 10th guru's month-long stay here in 1701 during…
Mcleod Ganj
Ringed by colourful prayer wheels, this recently built temple between Temple and Jogiwara Rds is generally known as the Chorten (Tibetan for stupa), since…
Himachal Pradesh
This typical collection of Kinnauri-style temple buldings lies behind Kalpa Fort. It's primarily dedicated to Durga, with naïve sculptures of tigers (one…
Himachal Pradesh
The sprawling Paonta Sahib Gurdwara is set on the banks of the Yamuna River where, according to legend, Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh guru, dismounted…
Parvati Valley
Next door to the large gurdwara is a Shiva temple where devotees whisper prayers into the ears of an elegant Nandi bull (Shiva's vehicle).
Dharamsala
Small but awesomely kitsch: inside Vashnu Mata Temple you climb into the very claustrophobic inner grotto through a concrete lion's mouth and emerge…
Spiti
On the very crown of the gompa crag stands the crumbling fort-cum-palace that gave Dhankar its name (khar means 'citadel' and dhak means 'cliff'). Now…
Himachal Pradesh
This ancient sikhara-type temple was built in the 10th century by Raja Sahil Varman in honour of his daughter Champavati, who is worshipped locally as an…
Himachal Pradesh
The sikhara-style Rama temple, up a few steps from the Vashisht Mandir, has old stone carvings on its exterior and a wooden canopy above.
Mcleod Ganj
Downstairs behind the government-in-exile building, the colourful Nechung Gompa is seat of the Tibetan state oracle, a monk named Thupten Ngodup.
