Mahabgarh - The shrine of Lord Shiva

Each one of us had once dreamed of a place that was very close to a fairyland. The site has white clouds all over, cold and melodious wind passing by your ears, embellished with lush green forests all around you, a place having horses and a flock of hens running all around.

I imagined if such a situation does exist on earth and have a sincere wish to be in such a place for at least a day. Like you all even I wanted to visit such a site for my next weekend trip where there will not be any uneasiness of urban life.

Frankly speaking, I was so much disturbed by this bounding lifestyle of the city and wanted a needed break from it. Then I contacted one of my friends, who told me about a place that was calming and untouched by urbanization. Mahabgharh is a name that is had not heard of from anyone or had not read any article about it on the internet. I became inquisitive to explore this new destination and was fully prepared for this unique experience.

Finally, the date of our travel arrived, and on the 20th of December, my folks and I started this journey to Mahabgarh. We boarded the bus from Delhi, which was the origin point of our trip, and then waited anxiously to reach Haridwar, from where our actual journey to Mahabgarh would finally start.

This was the night journey of 5 to 6 hours from Delhi to Haridwar - The abode of God. Promptly in the first part of the day at around 5 am, we finally arrived at the Holy City - Haridwar. Even though the excursion was somewhat long and tiring, we were overly excited about our forward trip to Mahabgarh.

We hired a local cab for a further journey to Mahabgarh, and the total distance that was still needed to cover was about 100 km. It took us about 1 hour to cross Rishikesh, and then we decided to make a halt so that all of us could refresh and have breakfast, due to hunger, our stomachs were grumbling. We halted our taxi at a campsite located in Gattughat village.

After getting a refresher in that camp, we came to know about a temple named Neelkanth Mahadev, which was located at a distance of just 5 km from the campsite; thus, we all chose to visit that temple as well.

Neelkanth Mahadev temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva, and according to the legendary records in old books, the sanctuary stands superbly tall on precisely the same spot where Lord Shiva had consumed the poison that was obtained from the sea during the process of the churning of the sea between the asuras and devas.

As Lord Shiva consumed the toxic substance, his neck turned blue, which gave him the name of Neelkanth, or the blue-throated one. After offering prayers in the temple, we moved forward for a further journey to Mahabgarh.

While in transit to Mahabgarh, we spotted a village, and we decided to have our breakfast there. Garhwali food, besides being luscious also made our stomach to be surfeited.

From that point onward, we legitimately got moved to Mahabgarh.  We were thoroughly enjoying the nature and the ambiance of that place, and it was a pleasant drive.

Following a five-hour-long journey, we finally reached Mahabgarh at 2 pm. This was the exact time to check whether the place that I had consistently envisioned in my fairyland did exist.

At first look, we were stunned by the entrancing magnificence of that place. It was far more lovely than I anticipated that it should be. Some charming valleys and mountains encompassed the area from all sides.

The view got us captivated, and we couldn't restrict ourselves to capture the beauty of this place in our memories forever. After obtaining hundreds of pictures, we finally reached our pre-booked Resort which was "Twin valley Resort," by trekking for around 200 meters.

Twin Valley Resort is the only place of accommodation that you will find in Mahabgarh, and there are no other hotels or resorts in this place. In the Resort, we were welcomed warmheartedly by Mr. Prashant,  who was the proprietor of this very Resort. We Got "Buransh juice" as our welcome beverage, and subsequently after imbibing the juice we felt so revived and vigorous, that it depleted out the entirety of our fatigue brought about by this long journey.

After that, we took all our luggage to the allotted rooms in the Resort, and they got invigorated by having a shower. As it was the afternoon time, so we reached the dining area to have our lunch.

The lunch served to us was extraordinarily flavorsome, and its taste was something that you can not discover anywhere else. Mr. Prashant told us that all the vegetables and spices that are used in cooking are organic; they grew these vegetables on their farm only without utilizing any synthetic compost.

After having a fulfilling lunch, other members went back to their rooms to relax for some time while I decided to remain back there just and had a long hourly talk with Mr. Prashant. He revealed to us a lot about that place.

He said that the Vali Valley that is situated on the front side turns out to be brimming with the haze that seems like clouds in the rainy season, and the magnificence of this place gets enhanced, and it feels like we are really in heaven, above clouds.

He further included that this Twin Valley Resort is situated in the middle of two valleys, from the valley located in front we can have the perspective on places like Rishikesh, Haridwar, Mussoorie, and Dehradun.

Also, from the other valley, you can have a view of the grand Himalayan Ranges that are available in the backdrop of the Resort. From the Resort, the Himalayan mountain gives off an impression of being excessively close, and its charming perspective on white snow makes this spot feel too near paradise.

Later, we explored the Resort by ourselves; it seemed to be lavish and spread over a vast area; there was a farm where we saw some horses, goats, and the folk of the hen that was precisely the same as the dreamland that I had imagined.

We likewise took an interest in a portion of the experience exercises like Ziplining, commando net, Monkey creeps, Burma connects, horse riding, and a lot more we delighted in every one of these exercises completely.

By the evening time as the sun began to set, the entire Resort turned out to be more colorful and appealing. The orange shade of the setting sun was all over us, and what added flavor to this marvelous view was the delicious and mouthwatering snacks with a hot mug of espresso.

The feeling at that time was fulfilling and satisfying. What else is required in life other than this interior harmony? The flavor of the snacks was appetizing.

The night with so many twinkling stars in the sky appearing like a small fairy light the landscape became full filmy as in Bollywood movies. Again after having such a Licious supper, we as a whole headed out to rest in our comfortable beds.

The next day we woke up early in the morning at about 5:45 am to have the perspective on lovely dawn from the valley.

The Sunrise view of that Resort was also really fascinating, the rays of the rising sun that were falling off the white snow of the Himalayan mountains were causing it to give off an impression of being all red, this dawn made the entire condition extremely dynamic.

Afterward, we got refreshed and again had that delicious breakfast with some fresh juice. Then we packed our bags checked out from the Resort and went out sightseeing with an employee of that Resort, Mr. Pradeep.

The ambiance of the Resort was fantastic, and all the employees there were very cooperative and friendly. They were treating us as part of their family. 

The distance between Mahabgarh and Twin Valley Resort was just 1 km we reached there by car.

There were a few local shops from where we purchased the "Puja ki thali" and started trekking towards the Mahabgarh temple. Roughly hiking for about an hour we came to Mahabgarh Mahadev Temple, this temple is located at an elevation of about 6661 feet above sea level.

We felt blessed to be there, and then we went into the temple offering prayers to Lord Shiva, after exploring the temple we came across the priest Radheylaal Kukreti and he enlightened us regarding all the mythologies that were attached to that place.

He told us that this place is being visited by the parade of elephants that moves around the temple; he showed us a place named "Hathi Than" that was in the shape of an elephant and as per the mythology during the sunrise from Kailash mountain, the shadow of Mahabgarh Mahadev temple can be seen in the Holy waters of Ganga at Har-Ki-Pauri ghat in Haridwar.

You can have a view of the Tungnath temple, which is the highest Shiva temple and the holy river Ganga can be seen. The history of this place goes around ages; this place was supposed to be the favorite citadel of Maharishi Kashyap, Mahabgarh was also the hometown of King Bharat, who was the son of Queen Shakuntala and King  Dushyant.

This spot was truly enchanting and would not like to leave it this soon. However, we needed to arrive in Delhi on time, so we had to take off from this place.

So we paid regards at the temple, and then we drove back towards Rishikesh. On arrival at Rishikesh, we enjoyed the most famous River Rafting and then drove back to Delhi.

This journey of ours was a memorable and fascinating one, the ambiance created by animals, the forest, and the majestic Himalayan mountain can not be forgotten in this lifetime. I strongly recommend this place to all those who are seeking a break from their busy city life and want to experience their inner soul in the lap of nature. Add this place to your travel list, and I guarantee that you will never regret visiting this place. So, Plan Your Rishikesh Trip with a Travel Ride.