Life@IIT Mandi

One among the new IITs, IIT Mandi is remotely located as well as uniquely situated in the lap of the Himalayas, about 20 km away from Mandi town. The engineering marvel left me awestruck by the way it had been constructed after carving out the mighty rocks and the mountains. Spread across two campuses, the North is situated 5-6 km further from the South and connected through the institute buses plying at frequent intervals. Interestingly, it reminds me of Delhi University.

How to reach:

HRTC buses act as a lifeline here that can be booked through its website. Chandigarh is the nearest and most convenient rly station if you want to avoid long bus trips. It takes approx 6 hrs to Mandi town from the Chandigarh 43 Bus Stand (10 km away from the city’s rly station). Alternatively, one can also board buses from Delhi ISBT Kashmere Gate which takes around 10- 12 hrs. Private buses such as Laxmi Holidays or Redbus can also be checked. Even after reaching Mandi, you’re still 20 Km away from IIT Mandi which is basically in a place known as Kamad. To transverse this distance, you can hire a cab/taxi at the price of Rs. 900, (you can find them on the road adjacent to the Bus stand), board local buses (till 7 pm) or wait for the institute buses (It’s free and the last one leaves at 9 pm). Do confirm with the institute for changes, if any.

Famous Attractions: Hockey Ground, Peepul’ Point, Dev Ghanpathan Rishi Markandeya Temple, View Point. Also explore Parashar Lake (50-60 km), Kasol (90 km), Manali (110 km), and Shimla (130 km).

Best time to visit: Avoid monsoon seasons (June- July) as the road gets blocked due to landslides. Winters to confront snow.

Key Points:

1. All the distances have been calculated from Mandi Bus Stand.

2. For Kasol, take a bus to Bhuntar first. Take buses/taxis to reach your destination from there.

3. There is no Ola/Uber service provider. Rely on taxis/cabs run by locals.

4. Don’t forget to carry an umbrella or raincoat whenever you plan your visit.

5. Keep proper medicines/toffees if you’ve mountain sickness.

Remember, when on the mountain, the distance appears double the original and the cost increases up to 3 times. Also, the Google map link to the attractions in Mandi has been hyperlinked but do enquire with the locals for the exact path.

Campus:

As of now, we know that IIT Mandi is spread across two campuses but there is no internal connectivity between the two. One has to take the common road that connects several villages to Mandi. While coming from Mandi, the South campus comes first. North Campus is a bit disadvantaged as the road connecting them often gets blocked by mudslides after the rain. However, construction work is in progress to connect both the campus through the road.

I got the chance to visit IIT Mandi at their Annual research fair, Anusandhan. All the proceedings of the conference were in North Campus. I couldn’t visit South Campus due to both road blockage and scarcity of time. Hence, this blog post will majorly deal with the North. Nonetheless, I’ll try to provide whatever information I could gather about South Campus too.

There isn’t much difference as such except that the South Campus has mostly PG courses whereas UG courses mostly commence in the north. South Campus has a well-maintained cricket ground too. Imagine playing amidst mountains!! Reminds me of Dharamshala cricket ground.

The left side of this road has all the academic buildings including the library whereas all the hostels (girls and boys), staff quarters, and hostel mess are on the right side. There is a place known as ‘Village Square’ where the institute auditorium, Guest house and health care centre are located. A beautiful park is there in the centre where you can walk, read, sit and relax. Each campus has a central library comprising multiple floors and divided into reading rooms and discussion rooms. For local market, people use to visit Kamad market which is at some distance from the South Campus.

Hostels:

Two kinds of hostels mainly found on the IIT Mandi campus are the G (Granite) series and the B (Bricks) series. Each of the hostels has three floors with both single as well as double-seater rooms and the window open toward the mountain. The former kind of hostels can be seen only on the south campus. Below is the structure of some of the hostel buildings.

Since there is no terrace in this ‘canopy-like’ structure, an area is extended on each floor where a swing is kept to relish the scenic beauty. A common area is there with a TV which is seldom used near the entrance of the ground floor of each hostel where students can interact with each other.

Mess and Canteen:

Two Mess (common for boys and girls) are there having the name ‘Pine’ and ‘Oak’ (on the name of trees in hilly areas). The food quality is okayish, as usual in hostels. What I liked the most about the infrastructure is that it is designed in such a way that there is always scenic beauty in front of you.

Apart from this, there are two private canteens as well serving food from 9 in the morning to 12 at night. There is one canteen on the South campus too, serving parathas mostly with the name Cafe Alimantaire. You can also find a couple of eateries and dhabas outside the campus.

Places to explore around the campus:

1. Hockey Ground

It’s located near the main gate of the hostel. It isn’t exactly a hockey ground but a fenced area occupied with grass and other plants, used by children for their sports. However, the view from here is quite aesthetic.

2. View Point

One can travel on the road running alongside the campus to have an aerial view of the place. As you’ll go up, the elevation increases, thus magnifying the beauty to manifold. A shortcut is also there at the point the main concrete road ends.

3. Dev Ghadpathan Rishi Markandeya temple

To reach this point, you can either choose to trek (around 3 km) or take an institute bus and disembark at the IIT Mandi bus stop in between. From there, a narrow path runs uphill which will take you to this place.

The temple opens only on certain days so don’t get disheartened. I too couldn’t pay homage to the deity but certainly, the trek was worth the destination.

4. Peepul’s Point

Unfortunately, I couldn’t visit here as it is located in proximity to the south campus. One may check out the Google Map link that I’ve provided above while visiting.

Note: The best way to explore the exquisite places in the mountains is to involve the local people. You can get in conversation with them to explore more such points. The only condition is to return before the darkness approaches. Also, if you’re in Mandi/IIT Mandi, you can check out this service provider to explore places nearby.

Life in the mountains isn’t as easy or beautiful as we think. It’s true that people live amidst nature, and breathe fresh air but then, connectivity to the mainland in times of need is the main problem. Most of the places didn’t have transportation after evening, the healthcare facility isn’t good, and the chances of natural calamity and insect attacks is more. Being an IIT, though the campus is a better place with all the necessary facilities even amidst mountains but since I lived in plain whole my life, I feel that it alienates us from the mainstream. On the contrary, I feel that every IIT has its own world on the campus itself which you adapt slowly.

Doesn’t every place have its pros and cons?

Special thanks to Nitin, Saptarisi and Prarna for enriching my knowledge about the place whenever required which helped me plan my trip in a better way followed by writing this blog.

– Shashank

All the images are subject to copyright.

Maker: Canon 1300d aka Pragmatica