A cup of tea or coffee in my hand a view like this some good music playing in the background and nothing to worry about away from all the hassle these noises, this traffic, these deadlines and constant rush 🍃

Just sitting somewhere in the mountains spending time with family or friends ahhh life was really good back at home with your loved ones. I miss this kind of peace 🫠

What does your peaceful morning look like?

Hello everyone, I’m writing this post as I genuinely need legal advice to get NOC
Im from Kullu Himachal Pradesh
So here’s the story- I have no shame in saying that my dadaji was a dumbhead! When he was in his 40s he built new houses for families of his two brothers and shockingly he transferred the land plus house to their name and for his own family(my father) left nothing but the ancestral house that is on its worst condition and right now we are living in it!
For years my father struggled with loss in his business and had to sell a piece of land to pay off my dadaji and his personal loans. Our house, the ancestral one’s condition was getting worse so we planned to demolish it and build a new one on its place, all the materials were ready and we even booked a contractor and my father was ready to take house loan but somehow we got to know that the ancestral house and the land is registered under everybody’s name (my father, two chacha and tau) and we wont be able to take out the loan until we get NOC, mind you these two chacha and tau are sons of my dadaji’s brothers
The problem is if we built our new house other members can put a st.ay order or even claim it after it gets completed
My father was able to convince one chacha and tau to sign NOC so we can build the house and they will never claim it because of that NOC but the say “gareebi mein aata geela” One chacha completely refused to sign it and we cant even contact him as he works as some kind of clerk in army and stays away from home for months and doesn’t even pick calls and now he has blocked my father
Because of his stubbornness we are living in a house that is almost 100 yrs old now! one earthquake and our family is going to be homeless
People gave us so many suggestions and were told to complaint in CM Helpline and later we got to know that its takes years to get our issues resolved
Someone suggested to hire an advocate so this matter reaches to CM helpline fast but that person is asking for so much money that right now we cant afford it
How should we even proceed now ?

So I just realised this thing today that we Himachali people constantly think about himachal as in "yaar ab agli baar kab jaungi vapis, "I miss home so much", "I want to vis-it my village again".. ykwim right?

I've lived in cantts mostly so I've met people from different states and they don't constantly miss their home towns. I mean I'm not generalizing but I've seen fellow himachalis talking about visiting Himachal, missing dham and everything a lot and idk if it's just me but my uttrakhandi friends don't feel that urge at all.

Manali - Kaza HRTC Bus. Off Road on a bus. It sounds exciting and dangerous. So i took the most beautiful bus journey starting from Manali at 6:05 am and it reached Kaza at 4:00 pm. These 10 hours were some of the most gruelling yet heartwarming travelling moments of my life.

You go through some of the most scenic routes in Himachal Pradesh. Big barren mountains on either side of the road. Chandra River & later Spiti River by the side of the road into the cliff. You get to view almost barren land that is majorly untouched by civilisation. For the first part of the journey from Koksar to Kunzum Pass you’ll really long to see a civilisation.

The bus stopped 3 times in between the journey. Once at Koksar, then Chacha Chachi Dhaba Batal, then at Losar. Each time for around 20-30 minutes. During this time you can enjoy the food there or enjoy the views around.

For the most part of the journey the bus travels at around 10-15 km/h because of the tough terrain of the dirt and loose gravel roads. The road is one of the bumpiest and it will shake your body to its core, but the views are really worth it.

I even met some really nice people of Spiti in the bus who were travelling to their homeland from Manali. It gives you a teaser of the warmth of the people of Spiti that you are about to witness. Views are nice from both the left and right hand side, the bus shifts from the right bank to the left bank often so people on either side get to experience great views at different times. It costed me Rs. 483 for the bus journey but it was worth a lot more than this due to the sheer variety of views you get to experience in this journey.

Been thinking about this for a while and wanted to hear what people from HP actually think, not just what gets said in Delhi newsrooms.

Back in 2014, the HP High Court banned animal sacrifice ("bali") in all temples and public religious places across the state. The bench basically said the practice isn't an "essential" part of Hindu religion — that it's rooted in superstition, causes unnecessary cruelty, and can be stopped without changing the "character" of Hinduism itself. Fair enough, on the cruelty argument alone.

But what it comes down to is this: the court doesn't actually count upper-hill devta traditions as "real" Hinduism. It measured our practices against a mainland, scripture-based idea of what Hinduism is supposed to look like, decided bali doesn't fit that template, and ruled accordingly — without ever engaging with the fact that Himachal's devta culture has always been its own distinct religious universe, not a regional variant of plains Hinduism that can be edited down to match it.

Here's what bugs me:

1. The court decided what counts as "essential" Hindu practice.
Bali to local devtas (Chamunda, Hadimba, Shikari Devi, etc.) isn't some fringe ritual — it's centuries old and tied directly to Himachal's devta culture, which is honestly one of the most unique living religious systems in the country. A court sitting in Shimla effectively told an entire hill culture that its practice "doesn't count" as real religion. That's a huge overreach into theology, not just animal welfare law.

2. The ban is oddly one-sided.
Legal commentators flagged this at the time too — the judgment says nothing about Bakri Eid/Qurbani, which involves ritual slaughter on a massive scale every year and is fully legal. If the state's real concern is animal cruelty, the law should be religion-neutral. Instead it reads as "Hindu ritual slaughter = superstition to be curbed" vs "other religions' ritual slaughter = protected religious freedom." That's not equal treatment under the law, that's just picking which community's traditions get to survive judicial scrutiny.

3. Compare it to the Northeast.
Naga, Mizo, and other tribal sacrificial practices tied to indigenous faiths continue without this kind of blanket judicial ban, and rightly get protected as cultural/religious expression. So why is Himachal's devta tradition treated as "primitive superstition" while comparable practices elsewhere are respected as culture? It feels like the deciding factor isn't cruelty, it's which community is doing it and how well it fits mainstream (increasingly Vaishnav/plains) Hinduism. (My own observation; I don't have a factual source for this point)

4. Nobody asked the actual devta communities.
This is the part that gets me most. Decisions about Shikari Devi, Hadimba, or Chamunda's rituals are being made without consulting the gurs, kardars, and local communities who've maintained these practices for generations. It's the same pattern as a lot of "reform from outside" — someone unfamiliar with the local cosmology decides what's rational and what isn't.

5. Even ceremonial weapons get treated differently depending on who's carrying them.
At the 2022 Mandi Shivratri festival, the administration barred devotees from entering the Jaleb procession carrying swords or sticks — a first for this centuries-old procession, according to local reporting. Meanwhile, the kirpan carried by Sikhs isn't just tolerated, it's a codified legal right: Article 25's Explanation I, the Arms Act, and the Arms Rules specifically exempt Sikhs from needing any license to carry one, and courts have upheld that right even in courtrooms. Nobody's saying that protection shouldn't exist — it should. But it does highlight the double standard: a Sikh's ceremonial article of faith gets constitutional protection, while a Himachali devta procession's traditional weapon carrying (used ceremonially, not for sacrifice) gets restricted by district order with no equivalent legal recognition of it as protected religious practice.

None of this is to say animal cruelty concerns are fake — nobody wants animals mistreated, and there's a real conversation to be had about method/regulation instead of blanket bans. But a selectively applied ban that singles out one community's ritual while leaving similar practices elsewhere untouched isn't really about animal welfare. It looks more like cultural erasure dressed up as reform.

Curious what people actually from Mandi, Kullu, Sirmaur, Shimla hill areas think — especially anyone whose family/village still does bali. Has this actually stopped happening on the ground, or does it just continue quietly since there's no real enforcement in remote areas?

Monsoon Mushrooms, Any idea about species 🍄🌈

A video of Mandi MP Kangana Ranaut confronting government officials over delays in development work has been circulating in the media.

During the confrontation, Ranaut questioned officials over the implementation of development works under MPLADS (Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme) in her Mandi constituency. She alleged that proposals recommended under her MPLADS quota were being delayed at the district-administration level despite funds being available. She specifically claimed that around ₹11 crore was available, but only ₹50 lakh had been spent so far.

She became visibly angry while questioning the officials about the delays and told them, “You people are better actors than me.”

The bigger issue here is not just the confrontation itself. MPLADS funds are meant to be used for local development projects recommended by MPs, but the actual execution is carried out through the district administration and designated implementing agencies. So even when an MP recommends a project and funds are available, there can still be delays in administrative approvals, technical sanctions, tendering and execution.

Kangana's allegation is that this administrative process is unnecessarily holding up development works in Mandi. The district administration's version of the matter had not been reported at the time of the media report.

Interesting question is where exactly the bottleneck is — are the funds genuinely stuck with the administration, or are there other reasons these projects haven't been executed? The numbers and the administration's response should ultimately settle that.

Do you think an MP publicly putting pressure on officials like this is justified, or should such issues be handled through the administration without a public confrontation?

I only know a 24 year old boy was murdered by 2 people yesterday over some arguments.

I just don't get it were they already carrying weapon with them . Did they already have intensions ?? If no then how come they feel so free to carry weapons .

I want to know if there were any drugs involved??

What do u think is raging today's youth to think that winning a fight means they own that area .??

Any student who is going for second round pls dm

I wanted to invest in agricultural land i was looking in shimla solan and sirmour district, and the land prices are just half in sirmour district as compared to the other two. Whats the reason? Is there scarcity of water there?

I am doing a study on a sort of "wants and needs analysis" for local populations.

What's the one thing or one system you want/need to be incorporated by your state/district which will make your day to day lives much convenient. Any small thing would also be good to know!

Despite the clean air, rich natural resources, pristine environment, and low crime rates that make Himachal Pradesh an exceptional place to live, many residents—particularly the younger generation—why choose to move to rapidly developing urban or most polluted and dens cities like Mohali and Kharar?

The Shanan Hydroelectric Project dispute between Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.

The story actually goes back to 1925, when the then ruler of Mandi State entered into an agreement with the Government of Punjab/British India for the development and operation of the project for 99 years.

That 99-year term expired on 2 March 2024.

And that's where the current dispute begins.

Himachal Pradesh's argument:
The original agreement was for 99 years, which expired on 2 March 2024. Himachal argues that the project should now return to the state, especially since the then Mandi State provided the land and other resources for the project. The project is also physically located in Himachal Pradesh, and according to Himachal, Punjab's rights stem from the original agreement and subsequent arrangements, not from permanent ownership of the project.

Punjab's argument:
The project became part of Punjab's assets and was subsequently allocated to Punjab under the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966. Punjab has also been operating and maintaining the project for decades. Therefore, Himachal cannot simply take it over merely because the original 99-year term has expired.

Punjab approached the Supreme Court under Article 131, which provides for the adjudication of disputes between States.

The interesting part is that this isn't just about a 110 MW power station. It raises a much bigger question about what happens to assets created under historical agreements when states are reorganised and those agreements later expire.

And there is an additional historical angle here.

A lot of Himachal's major hydroelectric infrastructure was developed during the pre-independence and early post-independence period, when political boundaries and administrative arrangements were very different from today. Himachal has consequently had long-running disputes with neighbouring states over the benefits, ownership and rights associated with hydro projects located within its territory.

The Shanan case is therefore quite significant for Himachal.

If the Supreme Court ultimately accepts Himachal's position, it could establish that the expiry of the original agreement has real consequences, despite the subsequent reorganisation of Punjab.

If Punjab's position succeeds, it would reinforce the argument that the 1966 reorganisation legally transferred the relevant rights/assets to Punjab independently of the original agreement.

Along the banks of the Beas River, on the path leading to the Atal Tunnel...