Lahaul and Spiti: History and famous places for wondering
Here we are talking about the origin of the Lahaul and Spiti district, how they become the district of the Himachal Pradesh. We are also talking about the some of its famous places for the wondering. This district is also known as the "Land of Lamas" because here so many Lamas live.
History and Origin of the Lahaul and Spiti district in HP
Here we are talking about the origin and history of this district. This is one of the biggest districts of the state in area.
Origin of Lahaul and Spiti district
Lahaul and Spiti, which is the separate district of the Himachal Pradesh, was the sub division of the Kullu district which is bordering the Tibet in 18th century. Basically Lahaul and Spiti are the name of the two mountains, so the name of this district is basically taken from these two mountains. These two mountains are opposite to each other.
Hiuen Taisang, was the first person to come the Lahaul Valley in the beginning of 18th century and started living here. This village is about 610 KM from the Kullu. After that Tibetan Li-Yul also come from Tibet to this place and started living here.
In the 1960 century this is separated from the Kullu and formed the separate district. This place is also known as 'Land of Lamas", because in this district there are so many Lamas receiving education and so many Buddhist monks and nun living in this place.
History of the "Land of Lamas"
This is one of the biggest district of the Himachal Pradesh in area which is spread in about 13850 square km with least amount of population in the state and third least populated district in the India. This district is basically famous for the Monasteries and Lamas that why this is also called the Land of Lamas.
These both parts Lahaul and Spiti have separate background history. In the 18th century the king of Kullu wins the Lahaul and ruled both Kullu and Lahaul for long period until the British came to India. In the 19th century Lahaul is given back and formed separate district.
This district is basically famous for the mountains, rivers, glaciers, Monasteries (Gompas) and ancient statues of the buildings and various instruments. Its headquarters is situated in the Keylong. When both these are not single district, than Kardang was the capital of the Lahaul and Dhankar was the capital of the Spiti. Kunzam Pass is the main entrance for entering the Spiti valley from Lahaul. Spiti is about 21 km from the Chandra Lake, which is one of the biggest lake in the state.
Famous Places for wondering
There are so many places are present for wondering in this district. Here we are talking some of these places.
Keylong: Headquarter of the district
Keylong is the headquarters of the district. All the administrative offices of this district are situated in this place. This place is about 120 km from the Manali and about 190km from the Kaza. The nearby places for wondering in the Keylong are Tandi (about 8km from it), Sissu (about 15km from it) situated on the bank of Chandra Lake, Gondla (about 18 km from Keylong), Triloknath temple (about 55 km from Keylong) is one of the famous temple of Hindu religion in this district.
Kaza: Famous for snowfall
Kaza, is situated on the bank of the river. This is also the headquarters of the Spiti sub division. This place is connected to other parts of the country by highways. You can reach this place by bus; it is about 445 km from the Shimla and about 200 km from the Manali via Kunzam Pass. Nearby places around this place for wondering are given below.
Tabo, it is about 300 km from the Kaza which is basically famous for the Buddhist monastery, Kay Gompa is about 7 km from Kaza and it is basically known for monastery here one of the biggest monastery of the Spiti valley is situated which was built in the 11th century and houses so many collection of the sculpture of Buddhist and other musical instruments like drums etc. Kiber is about 18 km from Kaza, which is the world's highest village situated on such a height and connected with road, Chander Tal Lake, is about 80 km from the Kaza on the bank of the Chandra River.
These are some of the famous places in this district. Here we are providing the overview of these places and how to reach these places.
How to reach
You can reach in this district by bus taking bus from the Manali via Rohthang Pass, from where it is about 120 km. you can also reach this place via Shimla from where it is about 350 km. These roads are closed in the winter so if you wants to visit this district than you have to come in the month between April to October.
