Exploring Mana Essay

Exploring Mana - The Last Indian Village

Situated at the banks of gushing Saraswati River, Mana is the last Indian village located near the Indo-China border, in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. This tranquil village, surrounded by high Himalayan hills, is situated at an altitude of 3219 m above sea level. It is located at a distance of 3 km from Badrinath, which is a famous place of pilgrimage.

The surreal beauty of this tiny village draws a lot of visitors each year, which is why, Mana has been designated as a ‘Tourism Village’ by the Uttarakhand Government. Apart from being stunningly beautiful, it is also famous for its hand crafted, woollen shawls and blankets, local herbs, etc.

The village and its landscapes are believed to be

Travelers mostly arrive at and hire taxis from Haridwar or Rishikesh as these are well connected to major cities like Delhi and Dehradun. Mana is at a distance of 3 km from Badrinath and 48 km from Joshimath. The nearest railway station is at Haridwar, which is at a distance of 275 km. The nearest airport at Jolly Grant, Dehradun is 319 km from Mana.

Best Time To Visit

Summer is an ideal period to visit this Himalayan village. This is also the time when the pilgrim tour of Char Dham Yatra at Badrinath begins. Monsoons get pretty hostile and is avoided by tourists. Tourists, travelers, trekkers, and devotees visiting Badrinath temple flock Mana once again post monsoon untill October – November. The entire region recieves heavy snowfall in the winter months and the villagers migrate to lower altitudes during the winter months.

Places To Visit In Mana

Last Tea Shop

A couple of tea and coffee shops in the region boast to be the last shops of India near the Indo-Tibet border. While some of these are genuinely the oldest shops around the area, others are modern and recently established. Nevertheless it is an amazing feeling to sip tea and enjoy piping hot Maggie with a stunning view of mountains at the last tea shop of

This ancient cave is more than 5000 years old. The top portion of the cave is often considered to resemble the pages of the Holy books of this wise sage.

Saraswati River and Temple

The Saraswati river is known as a sacred and mystical river among the Hindu population in our country. This mystical river originates at the high mountains near Mana. A small temple dedicated to the Saraswati river is situated next to the place where she cascades from high rocks before steadily flowing down into a stream.

Bheem Pul

With strong roots in Hindu mythology, it isn’t surprising to see traces of mythology, stories and legends in most landscapes of the Mana village. A popular story around a bridge over the Saraswati river says, it was a huge boulder thrown by Bheem (the mightiest of the Pandava brothers) to help his family cross the roaring Saraswati river when they were passing through Mana village in their journey to heaven.

Vasudhara