This small town is a miniature version of Benaras.The people of Mandi proudly boast that while Kashi (Benaras) has only 80 temples, Mandi has 81! J.C. French supported their assertion when he described the town as a miniature Benaras with innumerable temples, old houses, long flights of steps, the streets steep and winding and the market place with an aura of medieval picturesque ness.
Excursion
Sati pillars called barselas in the local dialect are erected on the left bank of the Suketi Bridge. These six to seven feet high stone pillar are erected in the memory of the deceased rulers of Mandi. When one died it was required by custom to put up such a pillar to perpetuate his memory. His likeness was chiseled on the pillar with his name, date of death along with the names of his wives, concubines and slave girls who perished on his funeral pyre to provide him company in distant world.
The eye-cathing monument of this town is the palace of the Raja of Mandi. It stands in the southern part of the town and represents a number of tall white building looking like the Chinese pagoda.
At a distance of 25 km from Mandi town and 6000 feet above sea level, on the crest of Sikandhar Dhar is the Rewalsar Lake, a place of Pilgrimage. The lake is dotted with seven huge masses of reeds, which give the appearance of small floating islands when the breeze is strong. There are three shrines by the lake, a Buddhist monastery, a temple and a gurudwara (Sikh temple).
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