This lake was the shooting location for the Bollywood movie 'Hero' released in 2015 and directed by Salman Khan.

The lake is elevated to about 2730 m above msl,and is formed at the top of a mountain with a sufficient depression to hold the lake water so high. The rain water and the ice is said to be the source of the water. Snowfall occurs in the winter, but melts soon, and therefore road remains open.

You can reach Mandi via Bus. Nearest airports are Shimla, Bhunter and Gaggal in Kangra. Bhunter is the nearest. Joginder Nagar Railway station is just at 50 kilomteres distance from Mandi. Located near to the Mandi town in Himachal Pradesh, this place is connected via road or a 10 kilometres wild uphill trek that starts from the village named Baagi.

Here I present to you the experience that I gained with this trek and lake.

We were Deepak, Anoop, Vipul, Nitin, Sai and I all batchmates from NIT Hamirpur, and seventh was Deepak's friend. After a short halt at IIT Mandi campus, we reached Baagi at 4:30 PM. Trek starts along a mountain brook, which had been widened up due to a cloud burst few years back. In the picture below, you see a local shepherd woman with her herd.

Trek from Baagi to Parashar Lake

The trek is not defined, and a new person can not judge the path, so please don't go alone, or take a local guide with you. We had our own tents and sleeping bags, so along with the steepness, the weight made it a tough one. Look below in the picture.

There is no signal amidst those dense jungle steepy slopes, so prior to start of the trek, take a snapshot of the Google map, so that it can serve you a little direction.
Being the October month, it got dark at around 7:00 PM, and we were at about two kilometers down the government rest house close to the Prashar. We spotted this Gaddi(shephard) shelter. There were three to four people inside the hut, seated in half circle. Four walls and corners shimmered with the feeble light of the fire flames.

After gaining the required info of the remaining height, we started in the dark. We had the torches in our hand. Tall deodar trees are the only ones to be found in the jungle, but in the dark the snow leopard is the most dreaded encounter that one can have. So we climbed fast.

Camping at Parashar Lake

One can stay in the sarayas(rooms for free) for free, but charges are applied for the blankets, with rupees 20-40 per blanket. Half of us pitched our tents close to the lake bank, and others stayed inside the sayas. Sky was cloudy, so less stars were visible.

Morning at the Lake

I got up early in the morning, but contrary to my hope, the clouds still stick to the sky. Fortunately in subsequent few hours, they made a passage for the sun. Here is the 5:30 AM view of the lake.

Public toilets are available at small distance from lake, and after getting refreshed, I climbed up the ridge to have a bird's eye view of the lake. And the result was the photograph, that I posted at the top.

I tried to interpret the directions and places as a map in my mind. One mountain ridge went down almost southeast, perhaps to meet Pandoh, this prediction was based on the Google map and my knowledge of place. Other went almost north and another toward south west. Carry a compass or map with yourself to have better understanding of the topology of the place. Signal was not available, so Google map won't help. Amidst all these thoughts, finally happened the Sun rise. Take a look.

And here is a photo of myself. Shades are courtesy of Sarang - my friend.

I tried to meditate on that top of the mountain ridge, inhaled the most divine air and tried to capture the beauty with camera. The meditation helped to have a permanent impression of that beauty on my mind. Sun rose slowly, sometimes with a feeble light and sometimes with a bright light, when clouds did not hinder the way of light. After about half an hour, we descended back. Here is a click of our tents at Parashar temple, just before we would pack them up.

Everyone might have felt the proudness to have hiked that steep jungle path; the happiness would last for lifetime. A smile from deep inside our hearts must have erupted that would last till our last breath, when we would become the particles of the soil, trees and air, once again.

Read my last post in Wild Himalayan Trek, -9 km Uphill Trek surrounded by Deodar Trees- Visiting Tunga Mata Temple
For details and other similar stories from Wild Himalayas, please visit my personal blog - Ghoomna
Thank You!