A Himalayan travelogue

Himalaya had been a fascination from my childhood days. I did not know anyone in person who had a Himalayan experience to check on the details. So, I have turned to other possible sources such as TV documentaries, travelogues, auto biographies of Yogis’ to understand about the great Himalaya.   As years went by, the pull of Himalaya had become irresistible and finally, in May 2017 I went on a Himalayan pilgrimage.

As recommended by one of my ex-colleagues and a dear friend, Mr Sasidhran, I booked for a two weeks Himalyan pilgrimage package with Vivekananda Travels. I had flown down to Delhi and joined other pilgrims, around 20 Keralites of different age groups, who also were booked for the trip. From there, by road, we started our pilgrimage to the “Devbhumi” (Uttarakhand).

The Bus

Haridwar

Our first destination was Haridwar, the ‘door’ to the upper Himalayas, where Hari (the deity of Badrinath) and Hara (the deity of Kedarnath) are situated. It is here that I first set my eyes on the majestically flowing great river Ganga (Ganges). We had a refreshing dip in the clear and cool Ganga, flowing in full force – it indeed was a very special and memorable experience.

The mighty Ganga

After the Gangasnan, we all sat down at the river bank to see the evening “Ganga aarti”. It is a religious prayer, a ritual of light and sound, that takes place at the Har-ki-Pauri ghat, every day at about 6.30pm.  A group of priests perform prayers with bowls of fire and singing hymns with the accompaniment of ringing temple bells. At the same time, hundreds of pilgrims and tourists from all parts of the world float "diyas" (small lighted lamps) and flowers on the surface of the flowing river, which is said to be blessed by the Goddess Ganga. It was a spectacular sight and indeed, a beautiful evening!

  

Ganga Aarti at haridwar

Rishikesh

The next day we visited the holy city of Rishikesh which has deep cultural and spiritual significance to the Hindus.  It is the world capital of yoga. The city of Rishikesh houses many temples and world-famous ashrams. There, we have visited the Parmarth Niketan , Geeta bhavan , Laxman Jhula etc.

Parmarth Niketan is said to be the largest ashram in Rishiksh , with 1000 rooms and beautiful big gardens, situated in the banks of Ganga. 

Geeta Bhavan is another riverfront ashram offering a temple, devotee housing, retail shops and a large banyan tree. Lakshman Jhula, named after Lakshman, brother and faithful companion of lord Rama, is an iron suspension bridge across the river Ganga.

Laxman Jula

Geeta Bhavan Banyan tree

Though we were in the foothills of Himalya, the day time was sunny and the scorching summer heat was unbearable.  The solace was the Ganga – unbelievably cool and refreshing!  In fact, it is from the next day, during our way to Guptkashi, that we started enjoying the real mystic beauty and the charming scenery of Himalayas.

Breakfast in a roadside dhaba

Vasishta Guha

Guha means cave. This cave is situated on the banks of the ganga ,about 120 feet below from the main road. It is a large natural tunnel which ends in a rather spacious cave. There is a Shivalinga at the farther end of the cave.  It is believed that Swami Purushottamanand (the grand disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa and disciple of Swami Brahmananda) came across this cave in 1928 during his wanderings aroundHimalayas. He passed away on 13^th Feb 1961, a Shivrathri day, at the age of 82. His samadhi stands at the courtyard right in front of the cave. His disciple, an old brahmachari (a Keralite) and couple of his assistants live there now.

Entrance to Vasishata Guha

The Pancha Prayags

They are the five sacred river confluences (junction of two or more rivers) in the Himalayas .Prayag means "place of sacrifice" in Sanskrit. The five prayags which you could visit in between Rishikesh and Badrinath are Vishnuprayag (Alakananda & Dhauli Ganga), Nandaprayag (Nandakini & Alakanand), Karnaprayag (Alakananda & Pindar), Rudraprayag(Mandakini & Alakananda) and Devprayag(Bhagirathi & Alakananda).  It was amazing to watch 2 rivers of different characters and colours to unite and flow as one!

Deva Prayag

Rudra Prayag

Kedarnath

We reached Phata , a small village located about 20kms away from Kedarnath, by early evening. Phata is famous for having a helipad used by pilgrims visiting Kedarnath . We stayed that night in a small hotel close to the helipad.  It was drizzling, contrary to the dazzling heat of downhills, it was shivering cool. And, it’s here that I have first seen the snow toped mountains.

Next day early morning, we travelled by bus to Sonaprayag and from there by jeep to Gaurikund. The tedious 22km (one way) trekking to Kedarnath begins from here. I was told that the old trek route was a nicely built pavement with fences, many shelters, shops and public conveniences in-between and was only a total walking distance of 14 kms. After the disastrous flood in 2013, the old route was completely washed away. From 2016 a new route opened, which is not so safe and comfortable. The construction and maintenance of the new route still continues.

In the bus to Sonaprayag

Gowri Kund To Kedarnath base

Bittu - carry people at the back  

Kedarnath is about 12000 feet above the sea level and is located in the Rudra Himalaya range. The temple is open from May to October only and would be closed during winter due to heavy snowfall.  The temple can be accessed by foot, mule/pony, porters or by helicopters.  I have chosen to go on a pony along with many of my group mates. The owners of the ponies came along (he walks all the way up!) with us and It took about 4-5 hrs to reach the base camp. It was a pleasant day, sunny and bright, the pony ride was comfortable and I was super excited. The great Himalaya is enchantingly beautiful, the scenery is picturesque.

At kedarnath base camp

Helipad on top of the mountain near Kedarnath temple

It was about 3pm that we reached the base camp and there is a 1 km walk from there to the temple. It is that walk which gave us the real Himalayan feel, freezingly cool, low oxygen level, hard to walk due to breathlessness…. with great difficulty inch by inch we walked towards the temple. There was a big que in front of the temple and we too joined. All on a sudden the climate changed, it started with a soft drizzle, which eventually grown into a heavy snow fall. Not the kind of soft cotton white snow which you have seen in movies and pictures, it was like big sugar crystals and was very painful when it falls own your body.

The tents before snow fall

after snow fall

I have started shivering uncontrollably and decided to go to the tents booked for the night. Fortunately, the tent had dormitory with bunker beds and thick quilts and they also provided attached toilets with hot water, a super luxury on top of a Himalayan mountain! None of us had solid food ever since we started the trekking. Some of us had mountain sickness like headaches, nausea etc. Whole night it rained and when we came out about 4am in the morning for temple darshan, whole area was thickly covered with ice.

the temple

The temple is believed to be built by Adi Sankaracharya and is made of massive stone slabs on a large rectangular platform. The walls of the inner sanctum, where the Shiv Linga is placed, are adorned with figures of various deities and scenes of Hindu mythology. A huge stone placed behind the temple by nature itself during the massive flood in 2013, believed to have protected the temple. Its intact, a wonder!

Behind the temple

The stone which miraculously saved the temple

After a hot tea and aloo parotta from a small shop we started our return journey, by foot. It was the toughest thing I have ever done in my life till date, it took me a gruelling 8 hours to reach Gowrikund. I was dead tired and the whole body was aching. From there we went to the hotel in Phata and had hot meal and slept like a log.

Snow walk

Next day, by about noon, we started our journey to Badrinath.  The mountain roads are very narrow and dangerous.  Himalayan mountain ranges are not the kind of hard rocks you imagine, they are pretty loose and there is the danger of flying rocks and land slides to be expected anytime.  Fortunately, we never had to face any such incidents during our trip. However, the continuous travel through the unfamiliar terrain and the strenuous Kedarnath trekking made me tired, mentally and physically.

under a deavadaru tree

Badrinath

It was in the late evening we reached Badrinath. And after checking in and refreshing ourselves, we went to meet the Ravalji, the chief priest of Badrinarayanan.  The Ravaljis are Namboodiri brahmins from north Kerala. I was told that this was as stipulated by the great Sankaracharya, who re-established the temple after freeing from Budhism. The Ravalji is a pleasant and courteous man and he spoke to us in Malayalam.

Badrivishal

balitarpan

The Sadhus

The ravalji

Next day early morning had a bath in the hot Thapta Kund (a natural hot spring) water and set out for the temple visit. The sight of the Nara Narayana Mountains, the snow covered Neelkant and the clear cool water of gushing  Alakananda, had a tranquilizing effect  on  my mental and physical tiredness. After the darsan , went to perform the Bali Tharpan, at Brhma Kapal ghat at the banks of Alakanda close to the temple.

Jothir Mat or Joshi Mat

Next day we started our journey to Joshi Mat, a monastery established by Adi Sankaracharya in the 8^th century. We visited the math, temple and the Kalpavriksh (the wish fulfilling tree) which is believed to be one of the oldest trees (over 1000yrs) in India. It is an old mulberry tree which has a lot of historical and religious importance in India. The tree is preserved and protected by wired mesh now.

The Shiva temple and kalpa vrikha

The Kalpa Vrikha

That was the last leg of a memorable Himalay pilgrimage. From there we started our return journey to Delhi via Garwal Srinagar and Haridwar. The contact details of the travel agent is given below.

VIVEKANANDA TRAVELS (www.vivekanandatravelspltd.com)

 Ph: 0495-2727100, 2727800,  2722350 ,9846098080

 E-mail: calicut@vivekanandatravelspltd   

Autobiography of a Yogi – Sri Paramahansa Yogananda

Autobiography of a Yogi –  Sri Paramahansa Yogananda : have seen this book, repeatedly, in almost all Indian book stores and book fares I have gone into. Never felt like reading it. It’s not that I have an aversion towards spiritual leaders or books. In fact, I did read few Osho books, Swami Rama’s “Walking with a Himalayan Master” etc. in the past. Somehow I missed this one. Of late, while I was reading some other books /articles, this yogi’s name popped up several times and that is how I decided to buy and read his autobiography.

On the whole, I liked the book. It was like reading an interesting story, a mix of facts and fictions. Certain incidents/narrations are hard to believe, like ‘deathless saints’ and the resurrection of yogis etc, for a 21^st century layman like myself. Could be, my ignorance or may be, because, I’m too much of a realistic person that makes me feel this way.

This book takes you through the mystic world of Indian saints and Yogis. It gives a clear account on their sacrifices, dedication, knowledge on various subjects and simple way of living. I was amazed to notice that most of the Yogis were well-educated and could handle multiple Indian and foreign languages fluently.    The efforts taken by Sri Yogananda in spreading the goodness of  Kriya Yoga across the globe indeed is remarkable and admirable.

The personality impressed me the most in this book is Sri Yukteshwar Giri, the spiritual guru of Sri Yogananda. He sounds so real, liked his philosophy, especially this one “Good manners without sincerity is like a beautiful dead lady. Straightforwardness without civility is like a surgeon’s knife, effective but unpleasant. Candour with courtesy is helpful and admirable.” And the strength and power of ancient Indian “Guru (teacher) Sishya( disciple) “ relationship is remarkable.  

Reading this book was a different experience. It kindled a desire in me to search further in to the world of Indian Yogis and saints for a better understanding of the spiritual world.