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.
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| 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.
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| Nandprayag |
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| Karnaprayag |
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| 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..
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| Shree Vyasa Mandir at Haridwar |
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| Sree Vyasa Mandir |
Day 10 Haridwar
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| 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 .
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| Crowd at Har-ki-Pauri to watch Ganga arti |
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| Shree Ganga Mandir at Har-ki-Paudi |
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| 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.
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