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| Baba Kedarnath Temple, Kedarnath, Uttarakhand |
Continued from last blog Gangotri Dham, Uttarakhand in Himalayas !
Next morning at "Dhauntri" we got fresh, took our bath and had breakfast at 8 AM and started for Kedarnath dham. Since the route was long and we would have reach at our destination by the evening, so "Darshan"/worship was not possible that day. That is why we took our breakfast, otherwise we would have remained empty stomach for worship as had done in "Gangotri Trip".
Back Waters of Tehri reservoir,
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Though we had the route map given by "Hotel-wala" at Hotel Vijayraj, Uttarkashi even then we asked and inquired about the safe and good route to "Kedarnath Dham" from local people and got ahead. Next came Lambgaon where we stopped for a while to have some good tea. We were now accustomed to hilly roads and mountains and enjoying the journey. Our road was parallel to the river that was behind the guesthouse we had stayed last night. We crossed this river once. The stepped farming sight on the hilly slope was new for us. After many hours drive at afternoon we reached "Rudra Prayag". In fact it is the place where two important rivers "Mandakini" and "Alaknanda" join together and go ahead by the name of "Alaknanda" . Near the sources of these two rivers are two important pilgrimage site "Kedarnath Dham" and "Badrinath Dham". Since the sources of rivers happen to be near peaks of hills so are these two places which we had to visit. The aerial distance between these two places are about 60 km only but due to location on two different peaks the road route is many times more. "Rudra Prayag" is the place from where one may take the route alongside the Mandakini river to reach Kedarnath Dham or take the route alongside "Alaknanda" river to reach Badrinath Dham.
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| The bridge we crossed en-route Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand |
It was late afternoon and we were feeling hungry. We could not find a good place for lunch at "Rudra Prayag". So we drove ahead on road alongside the "Mandakini" river. Few kilometers ahead we found a good roadside "Dhaba" where we took lunch and then for 20 minutes saw the river, hills surroundings to ease out the tiredness of sitting continuously in moving vehicle. Between the "Rudra Prayag" and here we saw a place on the road which was repaired after the damage by landslide. We saw such sights at other places too. In this road we passed at a few places where rock projections from one side of the hill was just a few feet above us while on the other side it was open down the slope to river. The slopes of Himalayan hills are prone to landslides because the rocks are mostly fractured and fissured. In geological term the Himalayas are the young mountains and are in the process of stabilization by erosion and landslides. At many places they seem to be mixture of stones, boulders and rocks which in the rainy season get weak and can cause landslides. Fortunately we were traveling in the month of May when such risks were minimum.
Mandakini and the road between two
mountains
mountains
For me the most attractive and memorable thing in the journey between "Rudra Prayag" to Gouri Kund was the water and flow of holy river Mandakini. The crystal clear water was so inviting that I hardly stopped myself from going down to touch and drink it.
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| Hills, Mandakini river and step farming en-route Gaurikund Kedarnath, Uttarakhand |
Next we passed through a village named "Agastmuni". "Agastmuni" is a place from where helicopter service for Kedarnath Dham is available. We saw a chopper at the helipad. Here I saw buildings, on the roof of which car was parked. How ? Because the roof itself was at the ground level (Road level). These buildings were between road and the river. Its two or three floors (The whole building) were below the road level. In fact at a glance one may miss completely that there was a building.
Helicopter at helipad near Agastmuni, Uttarakhand
And then we crossed famous Ukhimath that is winter seat of Baba Kedarnath. In winter when snow covers Kedarnath Temple, the doors of temple are closed and movable idol is brought to a temple in Ukhimath where He is worshiped throughout the winter.
As we were driving ahead gaining elevation, the hilly roads got more and more winding. Near Kalimath we came to a road that was around a valley that made the road in the shape of big V. We entered one tip of the V-road and saw vehicles moving on the other tip of V-road, the aerial distance within 500 m but we were to reach there by covering a distance of about three kilometers. Weather ahead was changing as we gained elevation. The light was getting dim as sun had ready set. The forest on the hills were getting dense too. Near Sonprayag and ahead we saw water seeping from the hills and flowing over road at many places.
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| Journey on Horse back to Kedarnath, Uttarakhand |
The road up to Gaurikund was well motorable then because we had visited there many years before the 2013 cloud burst and flash flood tragedy. It war the terminal place for motorable road. Ahead was about 13-14 km path on which only pedestrian or horses could move. Gaurikund was packed with visitors and their vehicles. There were some shops and some guest houses but all full. We too did not want to stay here because next morning we had to worship at Kedarnath and this long movement on the hill would take time and would be tiresome. So we decided to move on. On foot journey was not possible for us, so we decided to go there riding on horses. The horse owners were along the path up to some distance. We were advised to buy a raincoat each because on the hills above it could rain anytime. Though we could not believe them then, purchased raincoats for each of us that were just enough for once or twice use. At a place beside a shop a clean tank of water about 20' x 15' was there and priest there was saying that it was the Gaurikund and you may take a bath. It was going to late so we did not stayed there and went ahead. After the shops there were many horse owners asking to get a ride. We talked to them and took four horses, one for each of us.
Snow capped peaks near Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
This journey on the horse back was going to be memorable one for each of us. For one thing that none of us ever had rode over horse backs, I had once but that too in my childhood. Second thing was that our first horse riding was going to be on such a hilly path not on plains. Winding and steep slope of five feet wide path which was with steps at some places looked dangerous. Mandakini river was now a thin river with much less water than we had seen at Rudraprayag and was flowing on a congested path between two very close hill sides that were nearly vertical. It was flowing on the right side of the path many feet below while on the left was the vertical side of the hill. The horses were tending to walk very close to hill that was dangerous for us because our legs might get hurt between the horse and rocks. We were careful and time to time asked horse-owners (घोड़ेवाला) to keep them on the middle.
The scenes of thin line of waterfalls at many places were awesome on the hills. At a place we felt the falling drops of water on ourselves. Me and my daughter were enjoying the horse ride but not my mother and wife. They were a bit scared and mother's horse got bent one side on walking. After about half the journey we came to a place known as Rambara. Here the horse-owners (घोड़ेवाला) took the horses for feeding because they were tired. We too needed some refreshment, so had coffees and snacks. After half an hour rest we again moved ahead on horses. And now came the use of our raincoats because it started to rain. It drizzled for about 15 minutes.
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| Path and shops in front of Kedarnath Temple, and lovely snow capped peaks in the background |
By the time we reached Kedarnath it was about 9:30 PM and full dark. The horse-owners (घोड़ेवाला) stopped about 200 feet before a small culvert at the entrance to Kedarnath village. My mother's legs got weak due to less blood circulation during three hours horse ride. She was getting unable to stand on her feet herself after getting down the horse back. I held her by shoulders and walked with our baggage to a building called "Maharashtra Mandal" asked about a priest named 'Pt Manoj jee'. These names were suggested by our relative who had visited here last year. People there asked us to wait for few minutes. Though it was first half of may when in plains of India heat is at its peak but at such height it was so cold, We saw stalks of snow on the building sides. These were cleared a few days ago.
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| Nandi and entrance to Kedarnath Temple, Uttarakhand |
He came after 15 minutes. He was not happy because we had reached here so late. It was 10:00 PM, but then he arranged for food and our stay in a nearby building. My mother was extremely tired. For her "Pundit jee" arranged a glass of hot milk. I pressed her legs to give her some relief. There were extra blankets in the room. We each covered ourselves with two blankets to keep us warm. Soon we fell asleep.
Next morning "Pundit jee" arranged two buckets of hot water for bath. Soon we got ready and reached the Kedarnath Temple with "Pundit jee". There was a long queue of devotees. After more than one and half hour wait in queue, we could enter the temple. The temple built by heavy stone blocks is impressive. The entrance in the temple is in a hall in which statues of Pandavas are there on the walls. There were some "Sadhus" and "Yogis" here. We saw a "Hathyogi" here who had not sat for the last 10 years. Inside in the sanctum we saw and worshiped the "Jyotirlinga of Kedarnath". The linga here is quite different in shape. It is in the shape of back of a bull with hump. The story says that angry Shiva in the form of a bull hid here. One of the Pandava brother Bheem came in his search here and dismembered its limbs and head and threw in different directions. The body of the bull remained here. Finally Shiva came in his own form, then could only Bheema knew that the bull was Shiva himself. Repenting Bheema fell in Shiva's feet asking for His forgiveness. Finally Shiva forgave Bheema and established Shivalinga at all the five places where the limbs of the bull had fallen. These are known as "Panch Mahadev". The Shiva linga in the shape of body of the bull was established as "Kedarnath Jyotirlinga". Near "Chopata" where the tail of the bull had fallen it is called "Tungnath Mahadev". Near Kathmandu the head of the bull had fallen, it is known as "Pashupatinath Mahadev". There are other two Mahadevas at different places.
Lovely scene at Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
Since the bull had got injured, so here application of "Ghee" (Clarified butter) on the Linga has got main importance to give relief on the wound of the bull. People offer Bael leaf (बिल्व पत्र) made of silver to the Linga.
After worship we felt our feet dumb with cold. We were barefooted for two hours in this cold. The campus too was pitched with stone slabs that had got very cold. Some Sadhus had made fire with woods to keep them warm just beside the temple. We could not stop ourselves to go there to get some warmth of fire. Took some pics near Nandi Idol outside temple.
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| "Samadhi sthal" of "Aadishankaracharya" behind, Kedarnath, Temple, Uttarakhand |
Next we went to see the "Samadhi Sthal" of "Aadi_Shankaracharya" that was behind the temple. There was one other place named "Temple of Bhairav Nath" where some people visit. But our Pundit jee did not encourage us and we too were tired. So returned back seeing the snow capped mountains all around. He took us to a small hut where on the ground in a six inch dia hole water was full to the edges. He said that it is called "Amrit Kund" and it never gets dried. We all had a few drops of "Amrit Kund" water and Pundit jee gave us a small bottle filled with it to take home.
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| Small Bridge just outside Kedarnath Temple village |
Worship was over and we felt satisfied and blessed. Pundit jee took us in a nearby hotel where we ate ''Parantha - Sabji". Now it was the time to take permission to leave. So I wanted to give him "Dakshina". But he said that he is building a guest house here for his "Yajmaans" from Bihar and Jharkhand area, so he needed more money and he would come to our residence next year. I agreed but he got it written from me in a copy. I saw some other people's commitment written in it too. He noted down my address and phone number. Even then I gave him some "Dakshina" and left the village with our baggage. In fact it is the tradition that when doors of temples of "Kedarnath" and "Badrinathdhams" close at the dawn of winter (October and November), these priests return to their respective villages in Uttarakhand after a long stay at these holy places. After the "Makar Sankranti" in next January they go to the residences of their "Yajmaans" in different part of the India and collect the committed donations. After two months of their visits they come back to their villages.
'Om' and 'Samadhi sthal' written on the rock just upstream
the bridge at Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
the bridge at Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
We crossed the Mandakini river on foot that was like a hilly nala here through a small iron culvert. Near on the upstream we saw a rock on which written was "ॐ" and "साधना स्थल".Ahead was a piece of land that was more or less plain and a number of horse-owners (घोड़ेवाला) with their horses were waiting for customers. At this very place we had reached last night riding horses. Again we took horses and started our journey back to "Gaurikund". Downward journey on horses seem more scaring. At noon we reached "Gaurikund" and got to know that main Kund was nearby. We saw it and sprinkled handful of water over ourselves. My mother insisted to take a dip in the Kund and she did so.
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| Crowd of Horses at Kedarnath, Uttarakhand |
After some shopping we came to our vehicle and started our next journey to "Baba Badrinath Dham". We took lunch at a place and continued journey with the help of map and information from locals. The journey through Himalayas is so enjoying.
A helicopter flying over the Mandakini
river valley at Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
By the evening we reached in zone that had more dense forest and less population. About 7 PM we reached "Chopta" village and decided to night halt here. In a small lodge on the road we stayed. There was no power here and people said that this area is not only protected but environmentally sensitive too. So generators are not allowed. There was a solar lamp in the room that soon got down. So we lighted a candle and went to bed after dinner in the cold night.
Gaurikund, Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
river valley at Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
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