The Mountains Waiting to be Discovered

Sanjeev Kumar Sharma

newbegining1234@gmail.com

Imagine starting from Jammu early in the morning for visiting Billawar, and after visiting Bilbeshwar Temple and Hanuman Shila at Billawar Town , then visiting Sukrala Devi Shrine at Sukrala Village , driving ahead then for trekking towards Sachai Devta, continuing journey through Machedi and Badnota, discovering waterfalls and mountain trails, spending an evening in the cool surroundings of Lohai and finally returning through Malhar and the emerging Katli route. The attraction is not luxury. It is not a crowded hill station. It is the journey itself-the peaceful mountains, challenging road rides, picturesque landscapes, village life, local food, temples, waterfalls and the feeling of experiencing something genuinely local and authentic. This is the Machedi-Badnota-Lohai-Malhar belt of Jammu and Kashmir-a region that has the potential to develop into a distinctive mountain tourism circuit while simultaneously emerging as a promising horticulture and rural livelihood zone.

For travellers from Jammu or Kathua, the journey begins along the Jammu-Kathua highway and then towards the Dayalachak-Billawar road. From Challa, the route joins the Dhar road, while travellers from the Udhampur side can also access this route -Dhar Road . The road then passes through Gujroo Nagrota towards Billawar, the sub-divisional headquarters. Billawar itself offers places of religious and historical interest such as Bilbeshwar Temple and Hanuman Shila. Around 9 kilometres ahead lies the revered Sukrala Devi Shrine. From Sukrala, the route continues towards Ghat and then towards Nangla. Before reaching Nangla, a trek leads towards Sachai Devta Temple. After returning to the main road, the journey continues towards Machedi. From Machedi, the landscape gradually opens into the wider belt of Kindli, Badnota and Lohai, with Malhar around five kilometres beyond Lohai. An emerging route through Nelhew, Nalotu, Katli and Kishanpur towards Billawar adds another dimension to connectivity. Seen together, these routes have the potential to become a complete mountain tourism circuit. A visitor could enter through Billawar, experience religious heritage, undertake short treks, explore waterfalls, enjoy mountain rides, stay in a village homestay and return through another route.

Peaceful Mountains, Challenging Rides and Picturesque Landscapes:

Perhaps the biggest tourism opportunity here lies in the character of the journey. For Bullet riders, bikers, backpackers and travelers who enjoy challenging mountain rides, this landscape offers challenging roads, changing elevations, quiet stretches, slopes, village settlements and constantly changing views. For others, the same landscape offers peace. There are stretches where the noise of a conventional tourist destination gives way to the sound of the mountains and the surrounding natural environment. A long mountain ride, a roadside view, a walk through a village, a cup of tea at a small local shop, a trek towards a waterfall or temple, and an evening in the cool mountain air can themselves become memorable tourism experiences. Kindli Waterfall and Badnota Waterfall provide scope for trekking and nature-based tourism. Traditional shortcut routes used by mountain communities could, after proper assessment and mapping, potentially be developed into walking trails. The emphasis should be on responsible adventure tourism, with proper information, local guides and basic safety and visitor facilities.

Faith, Heritage and Adventure Together

Religious tourism can become one of the strongest entry points into this circuit. Bilbeshwar Temple, Hanuman Shila and Sukrala Devi Shrine provide an established religious trail, while the trek towards Sachai Devta adds a more adventurous element. Badnota offers another fascinating heritage experience with its 14 temples. With suitable signage, mapped walking routes, resting points and basic visitor facilities, these locations could potentially form a faith-and-heritage trekking trail. A visitor does not have to choose between pilgrimage and adventure. The two can naturally become part of the same journey.

The Beauty of the Authentic and the Local :- Modern tourism is increasingly moving towards experiences rather than simply sightseeing. Travelers want to know how people live, what they eat, what traditions they follow and what makes one mountain region different from another. The Machedi-Badnota-Lohai-Malhar belt has considerable scope in this area. The Pahadi communities have retained their language, traditions, simplicity and cultural identity. The wider region also reflects social and religious diversity, with mosques and other places of worship existing along the route. The traditional Chinj is one of the strongest examples of this living culture. During summer and the months leading towards winter, villages organize Chinj gatherings where local wrestlers demonstrate their skills and people from surrounding hilly areas participate with enthusiasm. For a visitor, such an event is not merely a wrestling match. It is an authentic community experience.

Home stays and the Taste of the Mountains

One of the biggest opportunities for the region could be the growth of a genuine home stay culture. A tourist who stays in a hotel mainly consumes accommodation. A tourist who stays with a local family can experience the village, local hospitality, traditional surroundings and local cuisine. And food could become a tourism attraction in itself. Instead of offering standardized restaurant menus, homestays can gradually develop around local, desi and traditional cuisines, prepared using locally available ingredients and recipes passed through generations. A visitor could experience a mountain breakfast, traditional local dishes, seasonal produce and simple village food while staying with a local family. The family earns from accommodation and food. Local farmers gain a potential market for their produce. Young people can work as guides or drivers. Local artisans and small businesses can also benefit. Himachal Pradesh's rural tourism experience demonstrates how home stays helped some villages move from being mere transit points to becoming destinations because travellers wanted local food, traditional surroundings and genuine mountain hospitality. The Machedi-Badnota-Lohai-Malhar belt has many of the same basic ingredients. The aim should be of developing a community-led home stay model suited to the local culture and landscape.

Tourism for the New-Age Traveler

The region also has considerable potential for photographers, Instagrammers, vloggers and social-media content creators. Mountain roads, waterfalls, temple trails, village homes, traditional events, green slopes, changing weather, local food and everyday mountain life provide natural visual content. The landscape itself is the backdrop. With properly identified viewpoints, trekking information, digital maps, local guides, sanitation and safe stopping places, the region could become much more visible to the younger generation of travelers. A photograph of a little-known waterfall, a motorcycle ride through the mountains, a village meal or a Chinj gathering can introduce an unfamiliar destination to thousands of people.

Nature Tourism and Lesser-Known Attractions:

Some attractions may not become major destinations individually, but can add value to the overall circuit. From Nangla, a link road leads towards Dull Bajohie Panchayat. The area, earlier part of Machedi Panchayat, has a small local water body known as Dull Lake, also referred to by some as Nangla Lake. Machedi itself can become an important gateway. It offers food and refreshment facilities and has a small level stretch amid the surrounding slopes. The historic Machedi Dangal Ground adds another local attraction. The traditional bowlies found along the route also form part of the landscape and local heritage.

Rasont: From Natural Resource to Local Value Addition

The region's natural resources also deserve attention. Rasont (also known as Daru Haldi) which naturally occurs in the area and has traditional and medicinal significance, could potentially become more than a naturally occurring resource. With proper scientific identification, sustainable harvesting or cultivation, quality control and technical support, there is scope to explore local-level extraction, processing and production facilities. Instead of transporting raw material outside the region, a future value chain could potentially include collection, primary processing, extraction, packaging and suitable finished products closer to the source.

Horticulture: A Second Economic Engine:

Tourism is only one side of the opportunity. The other could be horticulture. The higher and cooler pockets of the Lohai-Malhar belt offer scope to explore high-density apple orchards, quality walnut production, almond cultivation and lavender cultivation, subject to scientific assessment of soil, elevation, water availability and micro-climate. The most encouraging example is already visible in the wider Bani subdivision, where hardworking farmers have demonstrated the potential of high-density apple orchards. This should be seen not merely as another crop. High-density orcharding can potentially transform the way mountain farmers use limited land by focusing on productivity, quality and commercial returns. With proper planting material, technical guidance, irrigation support where feasible, orchard management, grading, storage, packaging and market linkages, apple cultivation could become a major component of the area's future horticulture economy. Walnut is another crop with strong potential in suitable colder pockets. The focus should increasingly move from simply producing walnuts to producing quality walnuts with better post-harvest management, grading, packaging and branding. A locally recognised quality product can have much greater economic value than an unprocessed commodity. The same principle can apply to other horticultural produce. Government initiatives such as the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) are already providing an important framework for farmers interested in modernising and diversifying horticulture.

Lavender and the Purple Revolution Lavender presents another interesting possibility. The sloping terrain and climatic conditions of suitable higher-altitude pockets in Lohai-Malhar could be examined through scientific trials and demonstration plots. Jammu and Kashmir's experience with the Purple Revolution and Mission Aroma, particularly in Doda, provides a useful local example. Himachal Pradesh offers another important lesson: its higher and colder mountain belts have successfully developed horticultural economies suited to their geography. The sensible approach is to begin with scientific suitability studies, demonstration plots, technical guidance and economic assessment If successful, lavender can eventually connect horticulture with tourism through seasonal flowering, farm visits and local products.

The Machedi Badnota Lohai Malhar stretch has all the ingredients for a unique some travel experience Government ,Public Representatives and administration are making hard , sincere and untiring efforts towards improving connectivity and infrastructure to fully unlock this potential. The developing Billawar-Kishanpur-Katli-Nalotu-Nelhew-Malhar route adds another dimension to accessibility. Tourist huts are also being constructed to tap the area's tourism potential. The next step should be to connect this infrastructure with a clear tourism vision-mapped circuits, signboards, trekking information, viewpoints, sanitation, waste management, local guides, homestays and digital visibility.

The Machedi-Badnota-Lohai-Malhar belt does not need to become another crowded hill station. Its real opportunity lies in becoming something different. A place where a traveller can enjoy a challenging mountain ride in the morning, trek to a waterfall or temple, have an authentic local meal, interact with villagers, spend a peaceful evening in a homestay and wake up to mountain views the next day. At the same time, the same landscape can support high-density apple orchards, quality walnut production, lavender cultivation and potentially local Rasont processing. It is a model of tourism, horticulture and local enterprise growing together.

There are places that have been famous for decades. And then there are places that become known because somebody finally recognizes their possibilities. Machedi-Badnota-Lohai-Malhar may well be one of those places. This belt can offer Jammu and Kashmir much more than another tourist spot. It can become a distinctive mountain tourism circuit, a centre for authentic rural experiences and a promising horticulture and local-enterprise zone. Perhaps Jammu does not always need to look outside J&K for its next weekend destination.