Kothi Village

Kothi is one of those places most people drive through on the way to somewhere bigger. It sits on the Manali to Rohtang highway, roughly 12 to 15 km past Manali, and unless you know to stop, you will barely notice the village before the road climbs on towards Gulaba and the pass beyond.

That would be a shame, because Kothi has something the rest of the Rohtang road does not: a genuine village with its own character. It is small, quiet, and sits at a point where the Beas River drops into a deep, narrow gorge, roughly 30 metres straight down between rocky cliffs. The gorge is the real draw here. You can hear the water below from the road, and if you walk to the edge of the viewpoint, the sight of the river forcing itself through that tight canyon is more dramatic than most people expect from a spot this close to Manali.

The village itself is also known as Koshtampi. There is a temple dedicated to Goddess Shuwang Chandika, a local deity held in deep reverence by the villagers. The temple is small and simple, but it is a living part of village life, not a tourist attraction, and visiting it gives you a sense of how rooted the place is compared to the tourist bustle of Mall Road Manali.

On a ridge above the village sits a PWD rest house. It is old, basic by hotel standards, and not always available for booking, but its location is genuinely special. The views from the ridge look out across the valley towards snow covered peaks, and in the early morning, before the highway traffic picks up, the silence here is something you do not get at more popular stops on this road.

Historically, Kothi was a base camp for people climbing to Rohtang on foot or pony, before the road was built. Trekkers would rest here and continue to Marhi the next day. That era is mostly gone, but the camping tradition remains. A few operators still run overnight camps in the area, and for travellers who want a night outside Manali without committing to a full trek, Kothi is a practical and genuinely peaceful option.

In winter, the village gets snow, though less reliably than Gulaba further up the road. The big advantage of Kothi over Gulaba in winter is the crowd difference. Most tourists heading for snow drive right past Kothi to the snow point above. Kothi stays quiet, and if there is fresh snow on the ground, the village and gorge look especially good without the noise of snow scooters and rental stalls.

One honest note: Kothi is a stop, not a day trip. You will spend 30 minutes to an hour here, maybe longer if you sit at the rest house ridge or explore the temple. But it works well as one part of a Manali to Gulaba or Manali to Rohtang Pass day drive, and it adds a kind of depth to the trip that the more popular stops do not.