Lohargal, Chirana + Kirodi – The monkey swims and dives with passion

7. January 2026

 

 

The owner of my accommodation has been in tourism for ages and takes you to places that are usually not well known. In the past, he even managed to have them successfully removed from Google Maps; nowadays, people still know about them and write about them in at least two blogs I’ve found. But when I set off, I still fancied myself as being ultra-exclusive.

 

Besides me, there was another guest who had been here before. When the owner’s son was studying in Austria, he had hosted him, and now he had come back as a friend of the family. He is a passionate motorcyclist and had rented an Enfield Himalayan. That day we set off as four: the Austrian with the son (who, by the way, speaks great German with an Austrian accent) riding pillion, and the father on an electric scooter with me on the back.

 

First we rode to the stepwell Chetan Das Ka Baori. Only two elderly women were sitting around there. There was a large beehive or something similar, and in the water there was a statue. When statues break, they are considered no longer effective and can be discarded; this one had been thrown into the water. It lay right at the bottom. During a really strong monsoon, however, the water level rises all the way to the top, which is hard to imagine. The upper part of the stepwell was quite clean, while the lower part was not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next to the stepwell there was a school, which was on winter holidays at the time. A few teachers were still there and welcomed us (see very top). The guesthouse owner promised to donate sweaters for the children. They showed us the seedlings in the school garden.

 

 

Not far from there is the Surya Kund temple in Lohargal. It is interesting because of its connection to Uttarakhand, where the epic Mahabharata is primarily set. The Pandavas fought against their cousins, killed them, and later repented and searched for Shiva. According to the temple legend, they also came here, and when they immersed themselves (together with their weapons) in the holy water, the weapons disappeared — just like that! A sign! They gained hope for forgiveness of their sins.

 

 

 

There is also a second story connected to this place:
The ruler of Khandela, Sujansen, visited Lohargal and mistreated the yogis and holy men who were performing religious rituals there. Enraged, the holy men turned the ruler and the soldiers of his retinue into stone idols. Not something one should do! Only after the soldiers’ wives pleaded earnestly did Lord Maheshwar, that is Shiva, turn them back into humans. He instructed the soldiers to bathe in the Surya Kund. Miraculously, their weapons melted in the water of the pool. Lord Maheshwar then commanded them to give up the life of soldiers from that moment on. These men began to worship Lord Mahesh and became known as the Maheshwaris.

 

Nowadays, no one brings weapons into the pool anymore — they might disappear! Or rather, I thought that was something you wouldn’t do anyway. We passed some goats, and the guesthouse owner strongly warned me to keep my camera down at all times. People were performing intimate sacred rituals there, and taking photos would be a big no-go.

 

 

But so much for “sacred rituals”! In the pool there was whooping and cheering, and everyone was having a great time — it sounded just like a public swimming pool! At least the men were. Only my host didn’t seem to be enjoying it. And I was still quite intimidated by his warnings and didn’t dare take any cheerful photos — just a few general overview shots.

 

 

 

 

So actually, I really liked the place — but we didn’t want to stay for too long.

 

The place is still considered sacred as well: the ashes of the deceased are scattered here by those who cannot make it all the way to Varanasi. Supposedly, the Ganges and the spring here are connected somewhere underground, which makes it a very auspicious place for the ashes.

 

 

 

While driving away I took a pic I like:

 

 

Break at a sweetyman:

 

 

We then continued on to a small place called Chirana, which also has quite a few havelis with wall paintings. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really time for a long wander around, but I still managed to take a few photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I also found something that made me giggle rather childishly:

 

 

Originally, I had expressed a wish to go hiking, because the Aravalli Range was closer than I had thought (only about 30 km away). But I was talked out of it and promised a more rounded tour instead — one where I would still see a lot and be able to walk a bit in between. Unfortunately, the walking part was quite limited: basically just those 300 meters through the village, plus a small teaser — about 50 meters of elevation up over a low ridge and back down the other side. Still, it gave me a sense that hiking is actually a very nice option here and something that could definitely be built into travel itineraries.

 

 

 

 

 

Our destination was Kirodi, which also has a special temple — one with two water tanks: one with cold water and the other with warm water. And then there was a third tank, where a monkey was swimming with great enthusiasm. I had never seen that before! He wasn’t just swimming, he was actually diving as well. I captured that on video.

 

 

 

 

The e-scooter needed to be recharged, so we ended up hanging around for quite a while at the home of a couple who live next to the temple. The woman was in the middle of cooking a special vegetable dish that has to simmer for 24 hours to become creamy and flavorful. I have no idea what it’s called — it looked a bit like spinach, at least in its half-finished state.

 

 

Then dusk slowly set in and we headed back. Even at no more than about 50 km/h, I was really quite cold. Luckily, the ride wasn’t very long.

 

For the next day, I had requested a car, and the guesthouse owner planned to show me additional buildings in four places. These are mentioned everywhere when you read about Shekawati, but hardly anyone actually visits them on a booked tour. I wanted to see whether it would be worth spending more time here.