MANALI
Sikh and Hindu pilgrimage site with naturally boiling hot springs used to cook langar meals (community kitchen) inside the gurudwara. Cover your head, remove footwear, and expect a modest but genuinely free meal if you join the langar - don't tip, it's against the tradition.
Manikaran is sacred to both Hindus and Sikhs: Hindu legend holds that Parvati's earring (manikaran, or jeweled earring) was lost here and recovered only when Shiva's cosmic dance forced the serpent-deity Shesha to release it through the hot spring, giving the site its name. Sikh tradition holds that Guru Nanak visited with his companion Bhai Mardana in the 16th century and, when food was needed for langar, miraculously produced the hot spring here to cook it, a story still central to the site's Gurdwara Sahib. The springs themselves reach 64-80°C and are used to cook langar meals to this day, alongside their use for ritual and therapeutic bathing by pilgrims of both faiths.
