Parvati Valley
Pine forests, hot springs, and a valley that refuses to grow up.

Named after goddess Parvati, who is said to have meditated at Manikaran while Shiva slept for eleven thousand years. The hot springs at Manikaran are among India's most sacred to both Hindus and Sikhs — the gurdwara here feeds thousands daily on langar cooked in the boiling springs.

Malana is the valley's cultural anomaly — a village that claims descent from Alexander's soldiers, speaks its own language (Kanashi), and until recently didn't let outsiders touch its walls. Respect signs, don't photograph people, and never touch the temples.

The Parvati is a tributary of the Beas, running east-to-west through a deep glacial gorge. The valley climbs from 1,600 m at Bhuntar to 4,700 m at Pin-Parvati Pass, the trans-Himalayan crossing into Spiti.

Only Indian valley where you can walk from a café in Kasol to a hot spring in Kheerganga in 4 hours, then keep going for 7 more days into Spiti on the Pin-Parvati trek.

Everyone stops at Tosh and Kheerganga. Push further to Kalga (car-free), Pulga (apple orchards), Kutla (shepherd meadow), and the abandoned German colony above Rasol.