Glimpses of Bir surrounding

Glimpses of Bir surrounding Bir consist of many villages like Bir proper,Chougan,Gunear,Kotli and as well as Billing,Ghornala,Bhattu,Keori,Gunher and many others. But in this big village we will talk about some interesting villages only.

BIR (THE MAIN VILLAGE) 

The main area or larger area of Bir is located at the top of the snow covered peaks of northern edge. It is simply an Indian village having most of the building located on the main Bir-Billing road. In this village there is another village known as Bir proper and in its centre there is a big bazaar having a few dozen outlets. At the end of this bazaar there is a bus stand and also a large tea processing manufacturing plant. People from other villages like Chougan and Tibetan colony had a misunderstanding that they refer Bir Proper as upper bir but according to the people of bir proper it consist of two parts upper bir and lower bir. They refer bir bazaar as a central point as above the bazaar everything belongs to upper bir and everything below the bazaar is known as the lower bir. There for if you want to know about bir proper then you have to specify the parts (upper or lower) if you do not specify this to taxi driver then he will assume that you want to visit the bir Tibetan colony as it is tourist centre of the bir area.

CHOUGAN 

This village is located at the south of lower bir. It was settled before bir proper and contains different flavour. It is the residence of many farmers and government staff and it will remain the residence for them until the present generation got new ideas. It is known for its Tibetan Colony. This area of this village is quieter and cleaner.

TIBETAN COLONY

 It is located at the western extreme of Chowgan village and southwest of Bir Proper. But Tibetan Colony is known as the most ancient Tibetan refugee settlements in India. It was established in 1962 by the refugees from Kham region of eastern Tibet. It consist of many Buddhist monasteries an temple and also a large stupa. The main attraction point of this colony is the Deer Park Institute as it hosts a variety of quality lectures, courses and also follows programmes related to wisdom traditions and many more. It is the most interesting place for the visitors as it is the centre of Bir area.

GHORNALA 

The most stunning eco-campus of the Dharmalaya Institute is located on Dhanaari Hill within the village of Ghornala and it lays midway between Bir proper and Sansaal. Ghornala is known as the residence of tiny hamlet of Dhanaari and it also consists of farming families. We can reach Ghornala by taking the bir – sansaal road only from anywhere in Bir.

BHATU

 Upper Bhaatu is located at some few kilometersfrom west of Bir. In this village there is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery and retreat complex and it is widely known by the name of its landmark Sherab Ling. Sherab Ling is one of the revenge of the karmapa and also the karma kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. There is also available accommodation at the Sherab Ling Guest House except at peak times.

BILLING 

Bir Billing is also consisting of the second best paragliding launch site: Billing. It is located at some number of kilometers higher than Bir. Many pilots from across the world visit this place to para glide over the mountains and tea plantation area and also the Dhauladhar range of the Himalayas. They usually visit during the spring and autumn season.