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 13th 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 8th 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.
Ph: 0495-2727100, 2727800, 2722350 ,9846098080
E-mail: calicut@vivekanandatravelspltd
