About Malana
Malana is an unusual village guarded by the pines; away from the mainstream. While writing this piece, I came across news stating that Malana has been banned for public visit. Because the ‘hash’ glorification of the village has left their deity Jamlu enraged! Yes, it’s the village council and Jamlu who rules the village; strange but true! There’s a lot more about the village.
Malana Village doesn’t follow Indian judicial system.
The primary source of income for Malanese is Hashish. Malana is known for the production of finest quality of Hashish in the World.
Photography and videography are strictly prohibited in most of the places in the village area. You can’t even touch the houses there without their consent.
The village has a population of close to 500 with basic school and dispensary. Villagers mostly bring their daily household needs from Zari or Bhuntar.
Malanese are believed to be the descendants of Alexander and have features like the Greeks. Leave alone the strength, I saw a villager walking upslope while carrying an iron almirah, twice his size, on his back.
By road: There are multiple options to reach Malana by road. An overnight bus from Delhi drops you at Bhuntar. From there on, you can either take a government bus to Zari that operates mostly on the hourly basis. It takes around 1 hour to reach Zari from Bhuntar. Book a prepaid cab from Zari, which will take you around INR 800 and drop you at Malana taxi stand. Also, you can take a bus or a cab to Zari/Malana if you are coming from Kasol/Manikaran. Kasol is 21 km far from Malana Village Trek starting point, which shouldn’t take more than 1 hour to cover.
