Trip to Paonta Sahib & Renuka Lake

Mom had gone to dads place and i spent 3 weeks alone at home. I wanted to enjoy this period. One weekend i spent cleaning my house which was locked for 20 days and then another weekend went in socalising with old friends and third i wanted to utilise.

Me, niks and mohit decided to go to Paonta Sahib. Its a famous gurudwara on the bank of Yamuna in Himachal. We started at 3.00 am in the morning and took the chandigarh highway which is also called as GT Karnal Road. Reached there at 9.00 am. Did darshan and then decided to sit at the bank of Yamuna to enjoy. We entered into the water and felt like bathing in it. Me and niks sat in it for hrs together. Poor mohit sat in a corner near our Handbags.

About Paonta Sahib:
Surrounded by a sal forest and on the banks of river Yamuna, the historic town of Paonta Sahib (350m) was founded by a tenth sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh. When only 16 years old, the Guru left Anandpur Sahib and on the invitation of Raja Maidini Prakash of Sirmour, lived at this beautiful spot for over four years. The historic gurudwara commemorates his stay and interestingly the water of the Yamuna fall silent below this- which happened at the Guru's behest. The old 'Paonta' means 'Space for a foothold'.

From there we started for Renuka lake which is 40 kms. Never ask the route to just one person. Please ensure that you cross check with couple of people before starting in any direction. The biggest mistake what we did was asked a person to guide and he appeared sensible so we believed him. He told that there are two routes and the second one is less in distance. We chose the second route and had a real nightmare. 3-4 kms were gud and then there was no road...it was all broken or under construction or whatever you can define it as. It was no doubt breath taking beautiful sight but only if your head is turned to left or right and not straight!!! pity mohit for driving there.

Funny Incident: While struggling to find the right route, we stopped in between to take guidance from people on "how to reach Renuka Lake". We had asked not less then 20 people. After last 15 kms there were no milestones and some of them were misleading. So we saw an old lady crossing the road. We stopped the car and i lowered the window and asked her "Where is Renuka?" She stared and asked "Why"? I thought she could not understand my question so repeated and she looked at me suspiciouly and said "I am Renuka...tell me". I was blank for a minute...was it a kind of PJ! I was brought back from my thoughts when she repeated her answer...she gave looks as if we were there to abduct her...i was numb...for a minute i actually believed that there was no lake and somebody had played a bad joke. Mohit drove the car before i could reply back to the old lady....niks and mohit burst into laughter on my state...their laughter brought me back to sense.

Somehow we managed to reach Renuka Lake. We took 4 hrs to reach..

About Renuka Lake:
Legend has it that when the evil Sahasarjuna killed the sage Jamadagini and tried to abduct his wife Renuka. She flung herself into the water. The gods restored her to life and this lake is regarded to be her embodiment. There is a row of temples along its banks, and a track encircles the water. Boats are available on hire next to the hotel. This placid stretch of water is fed by underground springs and the surrounding hills are padded by lush forests that support a large variety of plant and animal life.

Btw if you plan to visit Renukaji, please take some food for 1 foot long fishes of the pond. Also, Say my hi to Renuka Aunty.

Overall, i would say the trip was wonderful. We came back the very same day. Dehradun was closeby but we dropped the idea of visiting it.