Location:
Himachal Pradesh
Altitude: 1,951m.
Places Of Interest: The Lake,
Golden Devi Temple
Best Time To Visit: May-July
& September-November
Shaped
like a saucer, this huge bowl of 7 emerald-turfed
meadows, 1.6-km long and 0.9-km broad, lies embedded
beneath a dense pine forest, surrounded by high
mountains, and fringed by gigantic deodars. Along its
fringes, amidst the thick forests above the woods and
in the centre of the glade, is a small lake fed by
streams that traverse the green carpet. Hutchinson
wrote, "Khajjiar is a forest glade of great
beauty, 6,400 feet above sea level". Khajjiar is
often referred as the "Gulmarg of Himachal
Pradesh".
On
07-07-1992, Mr. Willy T. Blazer, Vice Counselor and
Head of Chancery of Switzerland in India, brought
Khajjiar on the world tourism map by christening it
"Mini Switzerland". He also put a sign board
of a yellow Swiss hiking footpath showing Khajjiar's
distance from the Swiss capital Berne-6,194-kms.
Khajjiar is among the 160 locations in the world that
bear topographical resemblance with Switzerland. The
Counselor also took from Khajjiar a stone, which will
form part of a stone collage around the Swiss
Parliament to remind the visitors of Khajjiar as Mini
Switzerland of India. PRIME ATTRACTION
LAKES
The
Lake: Set in the rolling green turf is a small lake.
The earth is 'spongy' due to dense growth of weed
called 'vacha' over which dust has formed a thick
layer of earth.
TEMPLES
Golden
Devi Temple: Adding to the charms of Khajjiar, which
also hugs a golden-domed Devi temple, is a golf course
set in the midst of the idyllic surroundings. The
golden spire of the Devi's abode beckons one to the
fringe of the lake.
Khajji
Nag Temple: A little away from the lake is the temple
of Khajji Nag belonging to 12th century A.D. In the
mandapa of the temple one can see the images of the
Pandavas and the defeated Kaurvas hanging from the
roof of the circumambulatory path. The sanctum of the
temple has been beautifully carved from wood
