There is more to hot springs than boiling water bubbling out of the earth: much more...

Traditionally, the depths of the earth have always been viewed as the nether regions, places of heat and darkness populated by all sorts of unsavory creatures: ugly as sin, vicious and quite literally, devilish. Consequently, anything that emerged from there, particularly if it was hot and smelly must have super natural properties. And anything that is super natural can be made to have a super effect: like curing otherwise incurable diseases.

Scientists, however, tend to be wet-blankets at times; they often rob us of our most hopeful dream. In this case they threw cold water on our conventional reverence for hot springs. While the Brits and the Europeans flocked in droves to the spas, where mineral waters gushed out of the earth, in the 18th and early 19th centuries, the Encyclopedia Britannica views the mystique attached to them with skepticism. It says:

Many authorities now believe that most of the beneficial effects of spa therapy are indirect, resulting from relaxation of the patient facilitated by the environment of the spa.

But while science might try to rob hot springs of their magical powers, we can assure you from our personal experience in Himachal, Haryana and Orissa that if the hot water has sulphur content, if it has the odour of a flaring match, then it does work on the skin. It left our skins dry and smooth and gave us a great feeling of well-being. We certainly recommend bathing in such hot springs if you find the infrastructure acceptable.

Two kings of ancient India didn't bother much about infrastructure but they were concerned about their disfiguring skin diseases. Wise men in their courts advised them to take a dip in specific ponds in their kingdoms. The northern Indian king was told to bathe in Suraj Kund; the eastern Indian monarch was told to immerse himself in the pond at Konark. Legend says that both were cured of their embarrassing afflictions but we don't know if the waters of these ponds were, at that time, either hot or sulphurous or both. The pond at Konark no longer exists and though Suraj Kund still has its kund, or pond, the water is neither hot nor musty. Interestingly, both Konark in Orissa and Suraj Kund in Haryana have associations with the Sun God, Surya, whose rays often have a good effect on human skins.

We do, however, also have a river-water spa. In Hogenakkal, in Tamil Nadu, the waters of the Cauvery (Kaveri) River have been diverted to sluice down into separate rows of bathing cubicles for men and women. After bathing in these cascades, visitors place themselves in the hands of traditional masseurs and masseuses who lay them on slabs of stone and knead, pummel and twist them into shape. People who have had the experience assure us that it's very invigorating and leaves them `firing on all cylinders' for days to come!

Hogenakkal, however, has the only cold healing waters we know of in India. All the others are hot springs, many of them with a distinct aroma of sulphur. Since most of them are in or near the Himalayas, we'll deal, first, with the lone exception: Taptapani in Orissa.

Here, up in the wooded hills of the district of Gangam, hot water bubbles into a natural basin. The spring is revered with offerings of flowers as the manifestation of divinity. Devotees bathe in these waters and, generally, there is only the faintest odour of mineral salts. Others opt for the Panthanivas, one of the chain of hotels run by the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation. The bathroom attached to our room had a sunken bath in which we immersed ourselves up to our necks and felt a bit like ancient Roman citizens who were addicted to such luxuries. We understand that every room has piped hot sulphur water so this would be your best bet if you want to soak in healing water shielded from the ogles of onlookers.

If you're in Delhi, however, you can drive out to Haryana's Sohna. There is a hot spring some distance below the Tourist Bungalow and they pump up enough water to serve one of their bathrooms. It's pleasantly warm when it reaches you and the acrid aroma seems to wax and wane in strength depending on the tectonic forces beyond the control of Haryana Tourism!

Much of Haryana is on or near the Shiwaliks: a range of mountains that runs parallel to the Himalayas. The Himalayas are young mountains, still rising, still creating a line of tremendous pressure under the earth. At points along this line, as might be expected, there are bubbling, steaming, hot springs.

In Manali, in the Himalayas of Himachal, they have tapped these hot springs and created the Vashisth Baths. Here you can hire private bats for couples or, bigger ones, for a family. After soaking in this hot, sulphurous, water we wash off the reek in fresh water. Not everyone does. a Swiss backpacker we met in Manali told us that all his friends believed that the water was antiseptic and that it should be allowed to dry on the body. That way, he said, the salts cure insect bites and heal wounds and abrasions. "My friends," he continued, "have great faith in the healing powers of the Vashisth Baths".

Faith, undoubtedly, does play a major part in the religious hot springs which are associated with at least three Himalayan shrines: another one in Himachal and two in the Garhwal Himalayas.