Kheerganga - New Year Destination

The Story Behind Kheerganga

Eons ago,Kartikeya, the younger son of Shiv and Parvati, meditated here for a thousand years. Legends say that when he was here, Shiv and Parvati occasionally came to see him and Parvati used to make kheer for them (rice pudding) and hence the greyish colour of the Parvati River is because of this fact.

Four day before the New Year 2019, I decided to venture out into the wild and enjoy some time on my own, well, life! Wanting to get away from the hustles of the city life, I realized it was now or never and since there were a bunch of holidays for me to avail, I went for it. All I knew was that I had to travel, but where, I had no idea. But that soon got sorted when I saw  some post on instagram the location was kheerganga.  Without thinking much about it, I went for it and finalized everything regarding the Kheerganga.  In the next  day received a golden ticket to the mountains. 

Kheerganga is perfect getaway from our hectic city life and is a highly recommended trek for people who like to get lost in nature.

Itinerary for Kheerganga :

Day 1 : We started from Chandigarh at around 2:30 Am on Saturday, 29th of December, Took a bus to Bhunter from ISBT Chandigarh. Bhuntar is a town in Kullu district in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Bhuntar Airport also known as Kullu airport, serves the town along with Kullu and Manali, Kasol and Manikaran.It took us 7-8 hours to reach Bhunter, We are reach late night in bhuntar around 11 o clock. Then we decide one night stay in the Shamshi. The distance  from the bhuntar to shamshi are  2-3 km , here we stop the over first day journey also over 29th night stay was Shamshi. We plan everything about over next day and decide wake up early and the breakfast On kasol and lunch plan on Manikarn Sahib this is just plan and plan maker was a PHP developer  also my good friend Mohit Sharma.
Day 2 : And the next Morning we get up on royal time because i am a engineer and engineers have on specific time to sleep and wake. The Engineer's famous dialogue " Bhaad Mein Jaaye Duniyadari Bawe Neend Hai Pyari " ( laugh is required here.)
Now back on the trip. We have really woken up around 10 o'clock. We left Shamshi at 11:30 and got bus from Bhuntar to Manikarna Sahib. This distance was about 35-37 km and normal time was 2-3 hours but we reached Manikarn Sahib at around 5:20.Due to Christmas and New Year many people came to visit Kasol and Manikarn. f of them arrived with us at Kheerganga.

And around 6 o'clock,we hire a private taxi for barsenie. After few hours of travel, we rech barshaini, after arrive at barshaini i checked that the temperature of barsanei was less than 5 degrees.

Here we decide to stay the night at the cafe and start the trek next morning. we were served tea and maggie in a cozy cafeteria that also had blankets to keep us warm. Saw the whole scenario amazingly and welcoming us .
Everthing was trippy here, the people, the music, and me too!

Day 3 : We woke up for a completely different view in the morning, our morning breakfast was parathas and tea its amazing.After that we packed the bag and got ready for a journey from Barsanei  8:30 pm for Kherganga.The journey was 12 km and it took 5-6 hours. The trek was indeed mesmerizing and there are so many pristine waterfalls and eternal viewpoints on the way that you do not feel tired at all. The first few kilometers of the trek are very easy and our trail went through lush farms, small hills and villages along the Parvati River. It is only after we crossed the first dhabba that the trek began to seem challenging but our enthusiasm helped us go on.

Here we saw the local people climbing hills with heavy load on their back. I talked to them and they were very friendly, there is something about the people living in the hills who warm them and welcome them.

We stopped at Rudranaga village for a short break,before making the final push to Kheerganga.The cool breeze felt relaxing and we were told that the path becomes steeper after Rudranaga.

The last part of the trek was very demanding and grueling but we continued despite being extremely tired and exhausted.  We covered the 12-13km trek in 4-5 hours and our eyes opened up as we reached Kheerganga. Kheerganga is more beautiful than anyone can describe, it is a place with spirituality, beauty and serenity. 

After that our first priority was to find a place to set up our tent, And take 15-20 minutes to set up the tent. On the left side of the picture, it was our tent, which covered with snow. Here we spent the last night of our 2018.

A blissful feeling of being immersed in warm water with mountains around that were covered with snow! I’m not sure how many hours we spent in that pool but it was enough to suck out the tiredness of the trek.

 The last night of 2018 was good because location, camp, music, wildlife were wonderful, here we welcome 2019.

Day 4 : Next morning, we went back to the pool for another dip before starting our trek back to barshaini. After a big breakfast, it was time to say goodbye to Kheerganga. While the climb up took between 4 – 5 hours, the way back was only 3 hours. As always, there was a sense of achievement after finishing this trek.

Respect nature and keep the surroundings clean for everybody to enjoy the freshness of Kheerganga.


A dreamlike natural pool surrounded by snow but warmed by hot springs.

Final Words : Kheerganga taught me a lot of things! Some about life, some not so much. In the end, as a wise man once said and I learned, “danger is real but fear is a choice”. And that is true for everything in life!Make that once in lifetime Yatra to Kheerganga!

After Reaching Home : We are back home but the memories of adventurous trek, beautiful sights , nature’s nurture, fun in the camp and amazing foods are still alive and fresh.

Additional Information :

• Cost: INR 5500 per person 
• Duration: 3N/4D (29th December to 2nd January)
• Inclusions: 3 breakfasts, 4 dinners,  camping (both in Kasol and Kheerganga), transport, and taxes
• Exclusions: Lunch and other personal expenses that were not part of the itinerary
• Trip Type : Adventure