Places to Visit in Mount Abu

 Nakki or nakkhi lake is among the most loved places to visit in mount abu where the tourist spent most of their time doing boat ride, taking a promenade around and eating the famous softy's in the lake market. 

The name of this famous tourist attraction 'nakkhi' came from the myth in which the sage 'rasiya balam' dug this lake with the nail of his pinky. geology says that this lake is an volcanic crater ... from where the lava erupted 3.8 years back. the lake claims to be the highest artificial lake in entire middle india with an altitude of 1200 meters. maximum depth is 39 feet and the circumference is around 3 kilometer. 

Perfect time for boat ride is the late evening to enjoy the scenery, sunset and sparkling lights. while walking around the lake you can benefit visiting raghunath temple, toad rock, crocodile garden and mother india temple. 

Gurushikhar is the highest mountain peak in mount abu also the highest in entire middle india (1727 meters altitude). There is an small cave at the top naturally in which there are the footprints of the first teacher in hinduism ‘guru dattatrey’ … its believed that he is the one who started the system of ‘teacher & deciple’.

The guru (teacher) spent time on the mountain peak penancing for years, therefore the the mountain peak is named after him ‘gurushikhar – peak of teacher’. Its 17 km (10.5 miles) from the center (nakki lake,polo ground,main market). The way going up is everyone’s favorite specially for bikers. 

Amazing view of arawali’s mountain range, lush green valleys and clear blue sky decorated with pearly clouds.

The Temple : the mythology says that the the mountain of abu (mt. abu) was not stable so lord shiva made it so by pressing it by his foot and during the process his feets thumb penetrated till the center of the earth (पाताल). From then onwards the place became the pilgrimage and was named achaleshwar. 

This is the only shiva temple in the world where the his thumb is worshipped instead of the lingam. 

There is an older Vishnu temple in the complex with granite suppose to be built in 9thcentury A.D.

The fort : after the name of the temple the king of mewad(Udaipur) ‘maharana kumbha’ built a fort here in 15th century A.D. which remained the hideout for the royal family for years. 

There are two lakes inside the fort named after the months of rain ‘sawan & bhadow’. 

Fort also comprises few jain temples but are not as elegant as dilwara. At present the fort is almost ruined completely due to negligence beside at the top there is a cave and temple where the big statue of ‘mahakali goddess’ is just divine …. Looks like the goddess is standing in front of you …. Looks soooo alive.

The hindu mythology tells that the burned body of ‘sati’ was cut by vishnu’s chakra and the pieces fell on the earth (46 in india, 4 in Nepal, 2 in Pakistan) . among which the ‘lips’ (अधर) fell in mount abu hills so the the pilgrimages is named ‘adhar or arbuda devi temple’. The temple is in a huge cave with an little entrance, you have to crouch to get in. around 100 people can come in the cave. Its an must visit tourist attraction in mount abu.

To reach the temple there are 300+ steps. After reaching at the top the view is awesome. The way passing through the rocky tunnel is impressive. You have to submit your camera & phones at the gate as photography is strictly prohibited inside. Temple is open from early morning to dark. Its 2 km from the center.

The old way to mt. abu was from the west via the village ‘anadara’ 10 km on the plain …. So its called ‘anadara point’ , also 400 elephants with tons of marble on their back came climbing from here to build the ‘dilwara jain temples’ in 11th and 13thcentury. Britishers also explored mount abu from this route, later they made the modern road from which the world visits this hill station.

Being in rajasthan at the border of Gujarat mount abu attracts honeymoon couples , and with the increasing love for ‘anadara point’ this spot also got famous as ‘honeymoon point’. One can easily spot the love birds sitting in peace & isolation enjoying the beautiful nature sceneries and the first honemoon’s sunset. Its 2 km from the center you can see sunset from here if you don’t want to go to the busy ‘sunset point’ (its not important). You can see sunset from ‘gurushikhar’ & ‘ beyley’s point ’ around the lake.

Among the places to visit in mount abu this is normally ignored by the tourists as it requires the maximum time and stamina visiting. There are 700 steep steps descending for the temple through dense forest. Down at the temple there is an cow face in marble, originally it was of granite stone which is replaced. From the mouth of the cow water springs throughout the year.

Its said that lord raam,his younger brother laxman and wife sita visited this place during the exile. Here they assisted sage vashishtha in generating 4 warrior clans from the holy fire to protect sages from demons. nearby, there is a devine temple with the statue’s of raam,sita,laxman and sage vashishtha.

Ancient script tells that the king of ayodhya visited this place and served cow kaamdhenu for a month, which resulted him in the boon of having raam as son in his 4th generation.

Estimated time to visit the temple is 2 – 3 hours. Going in late evening may result in danger from wild animals and tribes. Its 2 km from the center.

 Sunset Point is around 15 mins drive from Nakki Lake, which gives you a delightful viewpoint of the setting sun. A few people come to this area during the evening amidst a festive atmosphere. We cant take our vehicles beyond certain point from where either we can walk or take a horse-ride or come via Pram. There are few vendors selling snacks and cool drinks. 

The excellent inclines, the soothing serene view, and the enchanting environment makes it a most cherished spot of the travelers. Even in the middle of Summer, this place was not hot and had magical breeze wavering over us wanting us to be there forever.