Khajjiar is a high, saucer-shaped meadow ringed by deodar forests with a small lake at its centre, often called the “Mini Switzerland of India” for its pastoral beauty and views of the Dhauladhar range. Horses graze, tourists ride ponies, children roll down grassy slopes and photographers capture the mix of open grassland, water and dark conifers. At one edge stands the wooden Khajji Nag Temple, dedicated to the serpent god Khajji Nag, with carved pillars and a slightly dark, atmospheric interior filled with ancient wooden images and snake motifs. Together, the meadow and temple create a space where nature and old folk religion are tightly intertwined.
About this place
History & highlights
Khajjiar’s name itself comes from Khajji Nag, the serpent deity enshrined here. The Khajji Nag Temple dates back to around the 12th century CE, making it one of the older surviving shrines in the region. Built in wood and stone with influences of both local and early Hindu temple architecture, it contains images linked to the Nag cult as well as carvings that tradition associates with the Pandavas. During the medieval period Khajjiar lay within the Chamba kingdom; its meadow served both as pasture and as a sacred clearing linked to the serpent god and seasonal rituals. In modern times, tourism campaigns highlighted the landscape’s resemblance to Switzerland, making Khajjiar famous as a leisure spot, but the temple remains a functioning local shrine. Thus, what many visitors see mainly as a scenic picnic ground is, for residents, also a centuries-old tirtha where Nag Devta continues to be honoured.
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