Kalpa is situated at an altitude of 2759 m from the sea level, on the old Hindustan Tibet Road at a distance of 260 km from Shimla. Earlier it was the District Headquarter of Kinnaur. It is 14 kms. and half an hour’s drive from District Headquarter Reckong Peo. It has all the characteristics of a heritage village.
Kalpa came into prominence in the wake of British Governor General Lord Dalhousie’s visit in th 19th century. The Narayan-Nagani temple is an exemplary of local craftmanship. There are couple of Buddhist monasteries at Kalpa including the Hu-Bu-Ian-Car Gompa, said to be founded it by Rinchensang-Po (950-1055AD).
Kalpa is dramatically located close to the foot of 6050 meter high Kinner Kailash. This is the legendary winter home of Shiva. This is a spectacular sight early in the morning as the rising sun touches the snowy peaks with crimson and gold light.
There are numerous places all over Himachal that are blessed with mesmerizing natural beauty. Some of these places are quite famous like Shimla and Manali; but then there are a few others that are not so well known , but no less in beauty still.
In fact considering the kind of crowd that Shimla and Manali receive, visiting some of these unknown and offbeat destinations can prove to be a much better trip. One such place that I recently went on a trip to and would like to talk about in this article is Kalpa; a small town located in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh.
The name Kalpa would probably be known only to people who have traveled around a lot in the hills; or who have been on the Spiti circuit at least once. Kalpa and the nearby town of Reckong Peo is mostly used as the center point of the journey from Shimla to Kaza.
It is not completely an unknown destination because tourism is a major part of the livelihood of the people around here. You will definitely find tourists here during summer and the place is also very well connected. It however is still not known to many people and it never gets crowded around here.
So if you were planning a trip in near future; wanted to travel to a less crowded place that offers peace and tranquility as well as stunning vistas all around; then Kalpa could prove to be an ideal destination.
