Pandoh and the Mata Baglamukhi ropeway

What it is

A cable car over the Pandoh reservoir, from the Chandigarh–Manali highway to the Mata Baglamukhi temple at Bakhli on the opposite bank. It opened in December 2024 and it is the newest reason to stop anywhere between Mandi and the Kullu valley. The crossing is about four minutes each way, over open water, with the gorge below.

Why it is worth the stop

Because everything else on that stretch of road is scenery you watch through glass. Pandoh has been a place the traffic slows at — a dam, a gorge, a tunnel, and in the monsoon a slide — and nothing you would plan around. The cable car changes that into a half-hour that gets everybody out of the car.

The temple

Mata Baglamukhi at Bakhli, on the far bank. It is a working temple rather than a monument: dress and behave as you would at any shrine, and photograph the place rather than the people at worship. The far station puts you at it; there is no walk to speak of.

Practicalities

Tickets are bought at the Pandoh station on the highway side, and the fare is set by the operator and changes — ask at the counter rather than planning around a number from anywhere else. The queue is short on a weekday and long on a holiday weekend, which is also when the road below it is at its worst.

Where it fits

This is a stop on the way to somewhere, not a destination. It suits the drive up to Kullu and Bhuntar, and it slots into the front of any Kullu plan — see the one-day and two-day shapes for what to do once you have arrived.

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