Poo, Himachal Pradesh



Poo, or Pooh, also known as Spuwa (altitude 2,662 metres or 8,736 ft), is a small town in Kinnaur district, Himachal Pradesh, India. The approximate population given within a 7 km radius of the town is 1,192.

Poo is 58 km from Powari village along National Highway 22. It is known for its natural environment, green fields, apricot orchards, vineyards and almond trees. Inscriptions suggest that Poo was an important trading center in the early 11th century.

When A. H. Francke arrived in Poo from the south in July, 1910, it was the first village he found where the language was "entirely Tibetan".

There is an ancient temple, the Lotsaba-bai-lha-khang, dedicated to Shakyamuni or Buddha and attributed to the translator (or Lotsaba), Rinchen Zangpo (958–1055). The shrine has wooden columns supporting a high ceiling. It has murals and a painted door from the period of Rinchen Zangpo (10th to 11th century), though they are in a poor state of preservation.

There is a local pre-Buddhist deity, Dablā, who has no dwelling or altar in Poo (although he has a devata temple devoted to him at Kanum). His only manifestation is a pole with a small idol set on its upper portion and adorned with yak tail hair and long pieces of coloured cloth.