Just a moment..............

I had completely missed posting the year etc. of this trip.

The year was 2006. Month of May. It was still cold in the USA. This was our first trip traveling together to India. We made many trips back and forth separately, but never together in three decades!!! There is always a first time for everything, right?

Our agenda was not just the Chardham trip. On our list we had Tirupathi (Sri Venkateswara), Tiruchanur (Alamelu Manga), Puttaparthi (our dearest Sathya Sai), Varanasi, Haridwar, Swami Sivananda asharam, Allahabad, Triveni sangamam, Gaya and Calcutta (family and temples).

We covered all of them. I will go through the list later on in detail.

About the package tour, ours was during the peak season. So, more expensive. The rates are slightly higher for non-Indian nationals. Discounts are available for senior citizens. The same goes for domestic flights and train travel in India.
If any of you are interested in making these trips, shop around very carefully.

It is almost three years and no photographs yet? Many have asked me this. The places I have mentioned so far were traveled by bus and I did not get a good opportunity to take photos. I do have some and I will post them in March.

Kedarnath - continued!!!!

Kedarnath Temple is about 1000 years old. When you see the majesty of it (from the outside), you wonder how with no modern technology they built such an exquisite building !! It is amazing how the heavy gray slabs were brought to that location.

There are two temples. The story goes that the older one was built by the Pandavas. (I know we can't prove this). Like any other sthala puranas of the country, you decide whether to believe it or not. Personally, I believe about Adishankara's time. The story about the Pandavas and Lord Shiva goes like this. He was running away from them (eluding) and took refuge in Kedarnath in the form of a bull. There is a huge sculpture of a bull in the front. The actual lingam inside the shrine is in a conical form, very different from the traditional lingam forms in other temples of Shiva.

When I was doing pradakshinam of the temple, I stopped at Adishankara's picture to do namaskaram. I felt a surge of energy in my body. (In 1998 in one of my dreams, I saw His Holiness Adishankara. Actually I saw Swami Vivekananda, Adishankara, Sathyasaibaba and some more Holymen entering a conference hall. Perhaps just to tell me that all lead to the same goal. I did not feel like moving even one step from there. But I had to. As I went a few more feet and turned right, I saw Hanuman statue on my left. Again, the same feeling. There I stood longer and prayed for my friend's husband who was extremely sick. Inside the Temple, the carvings of deities were beautiful.

In the meantime, someone from the group helped (?) my husband hire a guide (cum priest) for us to perform the pooja inside the shrine. We bought the tickets and waited in line. Then I noticed that that family was much ahead of us in line and the guide was with them. Later on, when I probed, I found out that they did not even buy a ticket. They promised him that they would bring more customers to him and so on....... Wow!! Can you believe that. Anyway, once we entered the inside shrine, we were on our own, Mind you, we had a receipt for the payment and on the outside of the deal, nothing looked illegal or unlawful. So, just as a precaution, feel the 'small print' before you hire someone. Now I am relieved that he did not claim to be an astrologer because my belief in astrology.

The lingam was very small and we could stand in front of it for a few minutes (unlike the SV Temple in Tirupathi). The crowd was big here also. Lot of chanting was going on and it was spiritually uplifting.

We came out and it was terribly cold again. One must visit this temple in their life time at least once. I don't mind going again. The family that recommended that priest for us mentioned that they had visited a few times before.

We were told that Shankaracharya took samadhi at this location at the young age of 32.

By the way, did I mention Gaurikund? We took bath in the thermal springs before we headed for the trekking. The water was hot, but it was very slippery inside. So, I held on to the chains provided for holding on. I mused when young women half my age wanted to hold on to my shoulder for support. It was a good experience. The men had a private springs of their own.

We did not have a cell phone with us. Some carried one or two. I have no idea how the reception was. I am not sure whether it is a good idea to carry one.

Kedarnath - location !!

Kedarnath temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is one of the twelve Jyothirlingas, the holiest Hindu shrines of Lord Shiva. The temple, I was told to have been built by Adi Sankaracharya.
It is situated in the Uttarakashi district in the state of Uttaranchal. River Ganga takes the name Mandakini at this location.

I will write more about the inside of the Temple etc. later.

It was very cold even for me, even in May. In the winters with the ground being covered with snow, it is open only from May through November. I did not find out what the locals did. Perhaps they are prepared for the weather or they move to a different location at a lower altitude. We saw some snow caps on far away peaks.
We were told that the rain fall was about 150 cm during the Monsoons. From where we stayed, we could see the beautiful Mandakini river. We were given cabins for accommodation. The rooms were not heated. The mattresses were like ice blocks. Nirmala wore my hooded sweat shirt and a jacket over her sari and covered herself with a blanket and still was shivering. I should have taken my heavier jackets and sweat pants or thermal wear. While we were traveling on the bus, on the way the local dwellers sold some shawls, caps made of pure wool. Glad we bought two of them. Rao and I were able to use those. The water was very cold, no hot water in the taps. To bathe, hot water was supplied in buckets for a fee. Thank God!!!

We finally enjoyed the hot Tea!!!!!!

Kedarnath is at an altitude of 358 meters above sea level.
It is about 230 kms from Rishikesh and 250kms from Dehradun.
The best time to visit Kedarnath is between May (end of April) and October (perhaps early November).

We went by bus to almost Gaurikund and then it was trekking for 14 kms. Like I mentioned in my earlier posts, Rao did the trekiking with the group and Nirmala and I were carried in the dolis. This time, it was a different set of four young men.

To be continued!!!

Uttarakasi - Gangothri

I felt that I should write more about Uttarakasi.

Uttaarkashi is at an elevation of about 1150 meters. It is situated on the bank of Bhagirathi river.

On January 14th, the Makara Sankramanam day devotees take a dip in the holy river. The event is called Magh Mela. Some bring the image of their village (family) deity and hold it in their hand while taking the holy dip.

We did not participate in this. Well, we were there in May. Come to think of it, the temperatures would have been in sub-zeros. A dip in that cold water??

This is the most sacred portion of the river Ganga. According to mythology, Goddess Ganga manifested in the form of a river due to Bhagirath’s severe penance of many hundreds of years. Lord Shiva received her into his matted locks to minimize the impact of her fall. Hence the name Bhagirathi. The shrine of Gangothri is dedicated to the Goddess. It is situated along the right bank. Every year, millions of devotees visit this sacred temple between May and October. The area is covered with snow from November onwards. The local Sthala purana says that the Goddess retreats to her winter abode Mukhba in winter.

Uphill, when you go about 18 kms along the glacier of Gangothri, is the source of the holy river at Gaumukh. Those pilgrims interested in trekking upto the source to offer prayers go either on foot or on ponies. The forests and peaks offer excellent trekking and mountaineering opportunities. Those interested in Mountaineering may visit or contact NIM (Nehru Institute of Mountaineering).