Uttarakhand Chardham Tour (Part 6)

Day 9  Badrinath to Haridwar

Left  Badrinath early morning at 5.30 ,had a final look at  the beauty of the snow clad mountain peaks before boarding the mini bus.Throughout the journey from Haridwar(from Day 1),we had carried a case of mineral water bottles, some snacks, rice, noodles packets and a stove, so that in case we encounter a landslide during transit we could  help ourselves.  The journey between Badri and  Joshimath was really a scary experience the mountains were so steep and it’s a one way road. Along  the way, loose boulders, cleaned up debris, stand alone or working  bull dozers are a common sight. Our Driver was sportively mumbling “Agar dada girega, baap,par dada aur beta bi girega” i.e  due to loose nature of mountain slopes ,even if a small boulder becomes loose, the entire support system collapses. Vikram Singh is a master of Chardham route, calm and skillful driver. Under his steering skills we did not have a pinch of stalling problem anywhere ,weather was to our side.

Road from Badrinathji to Joshimuth

We had south Indian breakfast on the way (don't remember the place), stopped for lunch at Shrinagar. A long drive of 320km for  10 hours travel, along River Ganga ,her tributaries and confluences stretching over mountains and valleys took us to a different wonderland. We crossed Vishnu prayag that lies at the confluence of Alaknanda River and Dhauliganga River, Karnaprayag which is the confluence of Alaknananda and Pindar rivers and Nandaprayag, the confluence of Alaknananda and Mandakini rivers. Vishnuprayag Hydro Electricity Project owned by Jaypee Industries  around 12 km is located at Hanuman Chatti near Vishnuprayag.

Nandprayag

Karnaprayag

Beauty of moving clouds over mountains

Largely, owing to good roads after Joshimuth and timely water-breaks (as weather gets hotter as we reach plains) our journey went on smoothly till Rishikesh. After Rishikesh ,a long traffic hold-up can cause a unwanted halt for hours for the otherwise half an hour journey to Haridwar. It was Sunday evening, roads were full of jeeps carrying boats on roof with tourists for water rafting. Reached Kashi mutt ,Haridwar at 6.00p.m one cannot do away with A/C accommodation  during May –June due to sultry weather. The premises draws pilgrims  to its   river Ganges Ghat (there is pretty privacy here) and   temple of  Sage Vedvyasji .Soon after settling ,we headed to the Ghat. The Gardens  and vegetation in the Mutt premises is a sight to behold.. In contrast to the heat wave, the flowing water is very cold and the scene is  serene to eyes. After the arti at 8.00pm ,dinner is served ,the specialty  is, it is prepared from the mutt grown organic vegetables and milk from  mutt reared cows..

Shree Vyasa Mandir at Haridwar 

Sree Vyasa Mandir

Day 10  Haridwar 

Ganga Ghat

Next morning, three of our tour members (Baliga couple and Chennakeshav)left to Mangalore ,we 5 members(Prakash Shenoy, Guru and Balanna Gowda ) hired a car to visit the  most talked about  Baba Ramdev’s Pathanjali Vidyapeet . This is about 20 km from Haridwar at Kankhal and about 15 km from Roorkee . Various facilities such as Yoga Classes, Natural health therapies, Ayurvedic treatments, OPD are available in this Yoga institutes.  Patients suffering  for long term disease can undergo treatment in the hospital.Anyone can visit and stay at Patanjali Yog peeth and avail these facilities in a very hygienic, clean and well maintained environment. Food is expensive and the service at the food counters is very slow.  Waited long to  grab our order of  rose petal drink and  dosas. There are 2 campuses I and II.
Way back, visited Daksha Mahadev temple a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, located in the town of Kankhal, about 4 km from Haridwar. The temple has been tastefully and beautifully decorated and view from outside and inside is very excellent  According to mythological story Sati, Lord Shiva 's first wife, burnt herself in the yagya kund. On the way back to mutt purchased litchis and plums .

Crowd  at Har-ki-Pauri to watch Ganga arti

Shree Ganga Mandir at Har-ki-Paudi

Diya for Ganga Maa at Har ki pauri

The evening was spent absorbing the sight and sounds of Har-Ki-Pauri and participating in the Ganga aarti. Small baskets with flowers with a diya  to light can be bought from vendors (priest ), he chanted mantra  and asked us  to place it into the Ganges . The sight of the flickering diyas on the water is beautiful. Crowd gathering is too much here and no vehicles except cycle rickshaws are allowed to the site. Night at the mutt, we met other members of our troupe Mrs Saraswathi Kamat her parents and Haryani friend , they had visited Mansadevi and Chandidevi temples.

Day 11 Haridwar-Dehradun- Mangalore

Wonderful moments on the lap of Himalayas had drawn to close. Early morning packed with bags, fruits, memories we bid good –bye to our friends to Dehradun airport. Our last breakfast at UK turned to be Onion paratha with dollops of butter, sans butter the paratha appears dry, we had both.  Stuffed parathas actually make for a very filling meal. Back home at Mangalore we were in the midst of rainy season , as we flew through dark monsoon clouds,we prayed for safe landing .Previous day Mangalore inbound flights were diverted due to bad weather and lack of visibility. Safely  landed  at 7.30 p.m,  Dr. Krishna Prabhu, Dilip and Aparna picked us ,had a sumptuous dinner prepared by Sujatha that night.

 It took total 9 nights and 10 days to cover the chardham circuit from Haridwar. We did not encounter any rain throughout the tour and the climate was pleasant, except  Haridwar ‘s  sweltering hot day .

Now back at our routine we impatiently await our next magical holiday.

Uttarakhand Chardham Tour (Part 5)

Kedarnath to Badrinath (Day 7)

After returning from the mystical and magical Kedarnath mountains, shrine of Babha Kedarnathji , we were all feeling blessed and  happy.The point that we could make it without helicopter ride enthralled the confidence in ourselves,the tough,long and tiring down-trek was worth the bliss.Now we were set for another journey day towards Badrinath.

Early morning we headed towards Triyuginarayan Temple  situated  14 km from Sonprayag, known as the  place where Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati Devi married under the mediation of  Lord Vishnu. Akhand Agni kund is still there, we  put one piece of wood from our side. Knowledgeable Purohits will attend you and explain the details of  Hindu methodology.Place is surrounded by ice capped Himalayas and is very peaceful location, having zero pollution and almost zero commercial activities place. 

Triyuginarayan Temple (See the fumes from the Akhand Agni kund)

Akhand Agni kund 

Another pleasant and picturesque hill town, 41 km from Rudraprayag is Ukhimuth, also a piligrim centre where the Utsav murthy of Kedarnathji is brought down on the 2nd day of Deepawali and worshipped for 6 months during winter when Kedarnath becomes snow capped .In the Omkareshwar temple complex there are other  artistic ancient temples dedicated to  Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati, Aniruddha ,Usha and Mandhata. Ukhimath is mainly inhabited by the Rawals from Karnataka  who are the head priests (pundits) of Kedarnath. Boards in kannada can be spotted here. Snow capped peaks of the splendid Himalayan range are distinctly visible from Ukhimath. From Ukhimath on a clear day one can see the beautiful view of Kedarnath peak, Chaukhamba & other green beautiful valley.

Ukhimuth Temple-Utsav murthy of Baba Kedarnathji is worshipped during winter

Inside the Ukhimuth temple premises

Enroute to Badri on the Ukhimut -Gopeshwar highway  is an  unspoiled natural destination , Chopta  popular as Mini Switzerland ,the ultimate destination for trekkers ,slowly attracting attention of travellers as a hill station. Our lunch was a bowl of Maggie Noodles and a bottle of Amul buttermilk( very recent batch). I was surprised not to find Pathanjali products anywhere even in remote corners of Uttarkhand.

The challenge is manoeuvring the roads to get to Badrinath as the journey passes through lofty terrain  curves, cliff and waterfalls , landslides seem to be common in this area.Traces of loose boulders on the ground, pulverized rocks ,viscous stones, parked as well as working bull dozers say lot about the frequently occurring hill disturbances and efforts taken to clear the debris for passing of vehicles . Thanks to the maintenance work by Border Roads Organisation , roads were clear, and  divine blessings, luckily  no  natural interruptions , we reached Badri at about 6.00p.m.

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 Accommodation was arranged at Kashi mutt very close to Badrinathji temple. After  sipping tea, we  made a quick visit to Badri Vishal Temple .The temple complex sports very colorful look with enchanting Alaknanda River flowing in front of the temple. That night platter of dal, subji, chapathi was arranged at Kashi Mutt. Night was very cold

Sree Badrinarayan Temple on the Banks of River Alakananda

Badrinath –Mana  Day 8
 The early morning at 5.10 am was a visual treat to witness the golden hue blazing Neelkant Parvath when the first rays of sun flashed on the mountain for  10 minutes.

Neelkanth parvath during sunrise

 After quick grabbing of south Indian breakfast  we proceeded to Mana. An additional attraction for Chardham pilgrims is this  tiny hamlet on the Indo-Tibetian border (24km from Badrinath) that  has connection with Mahabharatha legends.

With our team mates 

Approach to Ganesha gufa

Last Indian shop -tea stall

 Saraswati river gushes in all her glory in between rocks flows through the village. In fact, Maana is supposed to be the only place in India where this river flows above ground level (the other being a small village in Nepal). It is on the banks of this river, in a cave “ Vyas gufa “sage Vyasa recited the Mahabharatha and Lord Ganesha penned it.  There is Ganesh Gufa, Bheem pool, Swargarahona where Pandavas left to heaven. We sipped basil tea at the last Indian shop ,it tasted more of herbs. Once again visited Badri Vishal temple, collected the oil used in lighting diya ,did some shopping for souvenirs and sweaters. At mutt we met other fellow piligrims from Udupi. Had our dinner and hopped on to our bed for a sound sleep in the shivering cold.

Uttarakhand Chardham Tour (Part 4)

Trek to Sri Kedarnathji Temple  (Day 6)

Sonprayag-Gaurikund-Kedarnath 

The Kedarnath shrine, one of the 12 jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva, is a divine scenic spot situated, against the backdrop of the majestic Kedarnath range. According to legend, the Pandavas after having won over the Kaurava in the Kurukshetra war, felt guilty of having killed their own brothers and sought the blessings of Lord Shiva for redemption. He eluded them repeatedly and while fleeing took refuge at Kedarnath in the form of a bull. On being followed he dived into the ground, leaving his hump on the surface. There is also a close connection between Adi Guru Shankaracharya and Kedarnath Dham.

Kedarnath can be accessed by Helicopter(available from Agastyamuni or Phata) foot , mule , palki or kandi. Those who visit Kedarnath by Helicopter are on the mercy of  several causes like –bad weather conditions , technical reasons, VVIPS visits etc.If the flight is cancelled / rescheduled the passenger is required to travel on his own .Further you stand to miss the natural beauty of the valley and the trekking or may have to wait till backlogs are cleared. Gaurikund is the base for trek to Kedarnath & serves as a roadhead, the village has hot springs & a temple dedicated to Gauri. Gaurikund is at an elevation of 1,982 meters and Kedarnath is at about 3,582 meters. The elevation of nearly 1,600 meters is to be accomplished in  19 km or an average of nearly 8,5 % gradient. These statistics would discourage most persons but not the many pilgrims (including us) who have waited for this day for a long time!

Sri Kedarnathji Temple at 3582 metres above MSL

At about 6.00 a.m,we left to Gaurikund( 5 km) in our Traveller. As soon as we reached  the office of booking mules and dolis. there were plenty of people on the side ways asking for a mule. All of us wanted to be together, one of our member Mr. Chennakeshav being overweight, we  were forced to wait  till a strong mule was provided. We visited Maa Gauri temple to seek blessings.

Sree Gauri mayi Temple at Gaurikund

 

Concrete road from Gaurikund (Trek route)

Once you start from Gaurikund, there is a concrete road to walk on there is a small shop for every 200 meters  till first 3Kms ,where one can get some tea, chocolates, biscuits, maggi noodles etc. After 3kms we were passing through the awesome scenic beauty of hills , waterfalls / glaciers and breath taking landscapes. As higher we went we found the scenic beauty mind blowing and heavenly. We stopped after 5km had tea and  biscuits ,did not feel like having any noodles due to anxiety. Do not expect express standards of service or hygiene, meanwhile  mules also had their breakfast of Jaggery balls and water.

After the June 2013 flashfloods tragedy when everything was devastated, the Govt handed over the charge of redevelopment of the Kedarnath new route 2015 to NIM ( Nehru Institute of Mountaineering) and the NIM has done a remarkable job in this area. The trekking route is around 8 ft to 10 ft wide and it has an iron railing on the edge. They have made proper shelters for tourists to take rest after every 400-500 meters .There are medical facilities, Bio-friendly toilets available at every halting place. They have also built emergency helipads at Gaurikund, JangalChatti (4kms), Bheembali (06kms), Lencholi (11 kms), Kedarnath base Camp and 02 more helipads at Kedarnath ji. At  Bhimbali, and Linchuli ,refreshments , fiber cottages , overnight halting facilities are available.

Bheembhali  from here views of Kedarnath mountain range 

Ponies are parked here ,2 kms Walk from here to Sree Kedarnathji temple

At 10.15 a.m we reached the Kedarnath horse camp place ,from there one has to walk 2 Kms to reach the temple. The view of snow clad mountains, River Mandakini flowing nearby, full circle of mountains, some of them covered with moving clouds was a mesmerizing sight. 

Elderly lady carried in a Khandi from the mule-stop point  2km from temple

Reaching towards Sree Kedarnathji temple

The Shikahara of temple can be conspicuously spotted from this place. It was a sunny morning, I started walking almost forcibly taking long breaths. (There are no trees here, is this Oxygen shortage ?) After a short break, resumed walking,had I not opened my umbrella, it would have been tiresome. There is a big commercial helipad, helicopters which operate from Guptkashi and Phata land here. One Panditji approached us offering his facilitation to perform Abhishekam at Kedarnathji temple. Instantly we agreed ,he directed us to wash our feet , bow to Nandi and get inside the Mandir.
There were lots of people (about 30 or so), as per the custom in many North Indian Temples, everyone can go inside Garbha Griha, touch the huge Shivalinga, apply ghee (we had carried  Nandini Ghee all the way from Sullia)one can also prostrate with head touching the deity etc

After the Pooja rituals 

Bheem shila,-Huge boulder from the debris that saved the temple during 2013 June floods

You get transformed to another world when the pandits begin the chanting of mantras. It feels  like an unearthly experience, as though Lord Shiva Himself is present inside the Sanctum of the Temple. It is an experience that one must celebrate at least once in their life time. After that successful worship, Panditji took us outside to perform the closing ritual .He offered us Silver coin, Trishul and Prasadam. We did pradhakshina around the temple, spotted the Bheem Shila that protected the temple from devastation during 2013 tragedy .

By then our group members started arriving, we reciprocated our experiences, clicked some pics, paid the dakshina to Panditji . It was 12.00p.m ,never in my life  worked so much with only 1 cup tea, 3 biscuits and 4 dates , unbelievable to me .After relishing the day’s lunch Parota and Chana masala, we headed towards Helicopter waiting centre to check whether return tickets are available. After an  optimistic “please wait “response, 10 minutes later the counter was closed citing  flights are cancelled. Meanwhile the horse riders were with us, Pradeepji declined to ride the horse, I rode for a short distance of 4km,after a while  joined him committing that trek would include more stops at all pits.

 We had refreshments to overcome restlessness, and not tiredness, chatted with other pilgrims.We felt as though distance of one Km was too much here,gazing at the perspective view of never ending  curves , descents and the scenary.  Kedarnath gave us  the immense pleasure both spirituality and adventure-wise .Reached Gaurikund at 5.00p.m ,had a cup of hot tea , boarded a  Jeep to Sonprayag, reached our hotel before 6.00 PM. 

Uttarakhand Chardham Tour (Part 3)

Uttarkashi to  Sonprayag    ( Day 5)
Travel day

Early morning, amidst light drizzle, we left for Sonaprayag ,a distance of  240Kms to be covered in  8-9 hours. Had  breakfast  of Aloo- parota  at  Lumbgaon, purchased  woolen  shawls ,by then we got the news that Honourable President of India Pranob Mukherjee would be visiting Kedarnath that day.

Throughout the journey ,we had  view of  Garhwal Himalayan peaks and bugyals located on the mountain tops. A Bugyal is high altitude grassland that makes for an excellent grazing ground. These Bugyals remain covered with snow in the winter months but come to life with colors at the advent of summer season. Terraced fields on the mountain slopes occasionally traversed by moving clouds  offered a  picture postcard view.

Scenic splendour on the route towards Sonprayag 

We stopped at Tilwada Road, Rudraprayag for lunch, the hotel owner allowed us to prepare boiled rice ,although it was time consuming. Hotel owner's wife -a sweet lady  freely chatted with us,she recalled her days at Trivandrum when her husband was working there.

Terraced paddy fields on the way to Sonprayag

 After passing through the towns of August Muni and  Chandrapuri  we reached  Guptkashi .This small town at an elevation of 1319 meters, is famous for ancient Shiva temple. Mythology states that Shiva proposed to Parvati at Guptakashi before they got married in the small Triyuginarayan village  (nearby Sonprayag).The 200 steps leading to temple  from Main road  had high risers ,rendering  it a steep  climb , sportively we took it  as a prelude to next day’s  Kedar trek. We also got our   Bio-metric/Photo metric  registration and verification  done at  GMVN office Guptakashi,

Lord Vishwanath temple (Ardhanareeshwar Temple on left) at Guptakashi

Finally at 5.00 p.m,we reached a transit point  known as Sonprayag in Rudraprayag District where we halted in anticipation of visiting Kedarnath the next morning which would take the entire day . Our efforts to book Helicopter tickets were in vain ,as there were many backlogs of booked pilgrims due to suspension of  flying services in light of  bad weather .  TV channels were carrying the news that Honorable President of India Pranob Mukherjee  could not visit Kedarnath that day for the same reason. Taking inputs of  internet weather forecasts at Kedarnath  from Dilip (our son) over phone we spent night  speculating about next day’s weather conditions.Again food served at the hotel was refreshing, spot -prepared  phulka, bhaji, rice, dal and milk.