Gateway to the High Himalayas — the Kullu Valley adventure town where the Beas River roars past apple orchards and deodar forest, Rohtang Pass leads to the moonscapes of Lahaul and Spiti, and Old Manali's backpacker scene contrasts with the snow-covered peaks above
Manali is the principal adventure-tourism hub of Himachal Pradesh — a town at 2,050 metres in the Kullu Valley where the Beas River flows between deodar cedar forests and apple orchards, with snow peaks visible from the main bazaar in winter and early spring. The town divides into two distinct worlds: the New Manali commercial strip (hotels, tour agencies, gear shops) and Old Manali (3 km north) — a village of stone houses, apple gardens, and backpacker guesthouses with a more relaxed atmosphere. The Hadimba Devi Temple (1553), a pagoda-style wooden temple built in a natural deodar forest, is…
The Kullu Valley — the broader valley in which Manali sits — was an independent princely state (the Kingdom of Kullu or Kullu Raaj) that resisted Mughal control and was incorporated into the British Empire only in 1847. The name 'Manali' is a corruption of 'Manu-Alaya' (abode of Manu) — the valley is associated in Hindu mythology with Manu, the progenitor of mankind, who is said to have meditated here after the great flood. The Hidimba Devi Temple (1553) was built by Raja Bahadur Singh of Kullu to honour the goddess Hidimba (from the Mahabharata — the rakshasi/demoness who became wife of Bhim…