NOTE: This is the first non-farming POST on my blog. :-)
INTRODUCTION
Four (“Char”)
holy shrines (“Dham”) located in Uttarakhand State of India form
a pilgrimage circuit (“Yatra”) among devotees from across India
and world over. Following are the four sites:
Yamunotri –
where river Yamuna (a tributary of Ganga) originates from
Gangotri –
close to the place where river Ganga (called Bhagirathi here)
originates from. (Actual origin is another 10kms upstream at Gaumukh
which can be reached through a tough hike)
Kedarnath –
Siva's adobe. One of the 12 jyotirlingas
Badrinath –
Where Lord Vishnu resides as a “Guru”
Typically most of
the devotees visit all the four “Dhams” in a single trip although
each of them can be visited separately as they are all around
200-300kms apart from each other and also from the nearest big cities
like Dehradun or Haridwar/Rishikesh.
PLANNING
For
the pilgrims coming from outside Uttarakhand, the Chardham Yatra
officially starts from Rishikesh as there is registration and
checking process for individuals and vehicles. Rishikesh is in the
plains and easily accessible by Road & Train from other locations
of India, including New Delhi. It is also accessible by Road from
Dehradun, which has Airport. So, Piligrims can fly to Delhi or
Dehradun and then proceed to Rishikesh (via Haridwar where you can
stay overnight if required) by Road travel. Delhi to Haridwar is
around 5-6hrs travel and Rishikesh is another 1-2hrs from there.
The
Yatra route is kind of a circle and most of the people visit the
shrines in the order of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath
and return to Rishikesh. However, reverse order is also fine.
Minimum
time required from Rishikesh to Rishikesh for completing the Chardham
Tour by road is 10 days. Most of the road travel has to be done
during the day itself and it is not safe to travel during the night
time due to landslides and unpredictable mountain climate. It is also
good to keep some buffer time for unforeseen delays during travel and
trek due to changing weather, traffic jams and queues. Just to give
an example, although a distance of 200kms seems doable in 5-6hrs,
most of the times it takes 10-12hrs. Therefore you will have to plan
to stay overnight in hotels/dorms/campsites on transit from one Dham
to other.
If
you book a group tour from a travel agent, many of them offer
road/rail/air travel from major cities of India.
If
you don't want such group tours and would prefer a package for your
own family/group you can still book through a travel agent or do it
yourself.This
is what we did.
There
are also helicopter tours available from Dehradun covering all the
four “Dhams” in 5 days. This blog doesn't cover the helicopter
tour.
PREPARATION
In Hindu
tradition, a “Yatra” is expected to be tough and tiring. Beauty
of any “Yatra” is that the journey itself is a part of “Yatra”
apart from the destination and therefore we should enjoy the entire
journey which nestles through the picturesque Himalayan locales.
There is no dull moment as the lure of the Himalayas is never ending!
Considering the
fact that Chardham are located in the Himalayas at significant
altitude, it definitely is not an easy affair. You have to physically
and mentally prepare yourself for long journey and arduous hikes to
get a “Darshan” of the diety in its adobe and get blessings.
First of all, you should get acclamatized to the high altitude
climate where oxygen is thin, making it difficult to breath and
walking 100meters feels like a kilo meter. Regular physical exercise,
walking, running, work out and breathing exercises/pranayama etc for at least month will help.
Visit to Gangotri
and Badrinath temples doesn't involve much of walk/trek/hike as your
vehicle goes quite close to the temple. However, it could be quite
cold/rainy/snowy etc while you wait in queue for Darshan and you
should be prepared well for such situations.
Visit to Yamunotri
and Kedarnath needs much more preparation as they involve steep and
slippery trek of 7kms and 16kms respectively and you have to return
by the same route either on the same day or next day. Minimum
requirement is to have a backpack, suitable walking/hiking shoes,
hiking sticks, raincoat, warm clothes and some dump bags to carry
your wet/damp/soiled shoes and clothes. (Single use raincoats are
available everywhere, but it is not a good idea to buy them. Better
to carry your own raincoat in order to reduce plastic waste). For
those who cannot walk so much distance, there are options like
palanquins (“doli”), baskets (“kandi”) and pony ride from
different points of the trek. However all these options are
considerably painful and dangerous.
TRAVEL
As mentioned
earlier, Chardham Yatra officially starts from Rishikesh with
registration and checking of individuals and vehicles. Ideally this
should be done in couple of hours, but on a crowded day it can take
much longer, threatening to derail your entire Yatra itinerary. This
is exactly what happened to us. We were 9 people together including a
6-yr old boy and one 70+ yrs old lady. We flew into Delhi from
Bangalore and we had hired a Tempo Traveller from Delhi to Delhi
roundtrip for 12 days and travelled to Haridwar and stayed there
overnight after visiting Mansa Devi Temple there. Started from
Haridwar at around 7AM on Day2 and reached Rishikesh where our driver
dropped us for sight-seeing and went for the vehicle checkup to get
“Green Pass” and get all of us registered. This is a must as
there are checkpoints on the way for verifying this. We finished
sight-seeing in Rishikesh in a few hours and kept waiting for the
driver to pick us up for the onward travel, wondering whether we
would be forced to drop our Yamunotri plan next day. (That was the
fate of another group which had travelled the day before and the
process of getting Green Pass spilled over to the next day and they
had to drop the Yamunotri plans). We were supposed to reach Barkot on
the same day by 5PM and we were picked up from Rishikesh around that
time! Reached Barokot at midnight passing through traffic jams, etc
and checked into a Hotel. (There are a few accommodations like
lodge/dorm/tents/guest houses on Barkot-Janki Chatti route and also
at Yamunotri. You can book one of those and stay there instead of
staying in Barkot, depending the travel time).
YAMUNOTRI
Start of the trek
toYamunotri is from Janki Chatti which is around 40kms from Barkot,
but takes 4-5hrs to reach. We left Barkot at around 4AM on Day3 and
reached Janki Chatti by 8AM. The trek route to Yamunotri is 7kms long
and quite narrow, where we have to negotiate our path with those who
have hired pony, those who are being carried by four people on
palanquins and those who are being carried in baskets on the back of
porters. The route passes through jungle along the Yamuna river
valley with beautiful streams, waterfalls and viewpoints. It is quite
steep and gets steeper half-way-through (where Bairav Mandir is
located) and it is very slippery due to the horse dung and urine all
the way. Added misery will be the smell of horse dung all around and
on your clothes and occasional rain which makes it more slippery and
cold. (You will have to live with this smell for the rest of your
Yatra!). Many parts of this path don't have any side railings making
it extremely risky to traverse through, particularly when you are
jostling for space with the crowd and the ponies.
Last patch of
downhill trek leads you to the Yamunotri temple. Cross a bridge
across the Yamuna river and climb a few steps to enter the temple.
There is a hot water spring inside the temple (called Surya Kund).
You can take a dip here or cook some rice in it or simply sprinkle
some water from it on yourself before having Darshan of “Yamuna
Maiya”. You can also see “Divya Shila” from where Yamuna river
is believed to originate from.
Start the return
trek soon after to reach your parking lot well in time so that you
don't get stuck in traffic jam on your return journey to Barkot. By
the time we reached our vehicle it was well past 5PM and we reached
our Barkot hotel at 10PM only and therefore we had to ditch our
dinner! Retired to bed with a sense of accomplishment. All the kids
did it too, by walk!
GANGOTRI
Day4 was a bit
relaxed and therefore we started from Barkot post-breakfast and
reached Uttarkashi in the evening although it is just 90kms. As
usual, winding hilly roads are a norm. Visited the beautiful Kashi
Vishwanath Temple at Uttarkashi, which is located in a bowl-like area
surrounded by tall mountains. This temple also houses one of the
oldest religious symbols in India – a huge Trishul made of stone.
Our hotel was slightly outside the Uttarkashi town on way to
Gangotri, right next to the Bhagirathi river, with amazing views all
around. We could walk down to the river but the skies opened up!
Started Day5 at
6AM. Drive to Gangotri was around 100kms and it took 4hrs. Not much
walk from the parking although your vehicle may have to be parked
slightly away due to heavy rush. We had to walk around 1km. Ganga
river is called Bhagirathi here, as it was King Bhagirath who made
Ganga descend on earth from here to save mortals. First look at Ganga
gushing through the gorges here can make you emotional. The water is
melted from the glaciers and therefore freezing cold and the current
is quite powerful. Therefore it is not easy to take a dip here
although you would love to do it.
Wait for couple of
hours for Darshan of Ganga Maiya in the temple, gazing at the
snowclad mountain peaks and a sense of insignificance of ourselves
prevails. Of course the river itself originates from another 10kms
upstream at Gaumukh, which can be approached through a tough hike,
which we couldn't attempt.
Return journey
after this to our hotel near Uttarkashi was more or less eventless
except for some traffic jams on the way. We reached before dark with
some time to stroll through the riverbank behind the hotel.
Unfortunately we couldn't spend much time there as it started
raining.
KEDARNATH
Day6 was a long
travel day and we started a bit late losing time in gathering some
cash. We got stuck in traffic jam for more than an hour in front of
our hotel itself. After more than 13 hours travel, a few traffic jams
and a landslide on the way, we reached our hotel at Sitapur at
midnight. There are many other places like Guptkashi, etc where you
can stay instead of going all the way till Sitapur or Sonprayag for
stay.
Sonprayag is the
starting point for Kedarnath Yatra. Our hotel at Sitapur was around
1.5kms away from Sonprayag and we had to walk up this distance as
there was already a traffic jam at 3AM. (Of course this means that we
could hardly sleep for an hour or so!). This was Day7.
From Sonprayag,
you have the option to take a taxi to Gaurikund or walk up once
again, which is 5kms away. Knowing very well that the trek from
Gaurikund is another 16kms, we didn't want to exhaust ourselves in
the beginning itself and therefore decided to wait for the taxi. And
how long? Almost 4 hours! Felt that walking would have been more
prudent. Finally reached Gaurikund, from where the actual trek is
counted. Therefore whenever and whereever you read that trek to
Kedarnath is 16kms, don't believe it blindly. Invariably it turns out
to be not less than 18kms in the best case and can go upto 23kms.
This route is not as steep as the route to Yamunotri, and a little
wider, but the distance is three times that. Some of us wanted to
hire Dolis (palanquins) and realized that there were very less number
of Dolis to Kedarnath and all of them were booked the day before
itself. So only options left were pony, basket or walk. Some of us
hired basket whereas most of us decided to walk. (It actually feels
quite sad to hire the basket where the porter has to lift our entire
weight and walk all the way). For hiring a pony, we had to walk
another km. All the porters started walking and a few of us wanted to
keep pace with them. Soon a host of realizations started setting in.
First of all, it is too tough terrain and it is very difficult to
keep pace with seasoned porters. Secondly, we were all completely
dispersed and we didn't have any contact information of the porters
who were carrying our elderly and children. A little later we also
realized that the only option to be able to catch up with those who
went ahead was to hire pony. Although we never met them on the way
most probably due to the large crowd that was proceeding towards
Kedarnath, we managed to reach the top much earlier than the rest of
the people, eagerly waiting for those who were being carried, while
not being sure whether they had already reached. Much to our relief,
the kids arrived first and that was by walk, along with the porters
who were supposed to be carrying them in their baskets. The porters
found it difficult to climb the steep route and asked the children to
walk. We still had to wait for the elderly and those who were walking
up to reach. Finally all of them arrived, while there was a heavy
downpour amidst shivering cold. The elderly person was also made to
get down from the basket and made to ride a pony. There is a further
walk to 2.5kms from this point till the temple.
Accommodation at
Kedarnath is very limited and mostly dormitory, Dharmashala or tents.
All of these should be prebooked, or else you have to be prepared to
walk back soon after Darshan at the temple. Our room was right next
to the temple, offering a wonderful view of the temple brightly lit
in pink colour from our balcony. We could see the evening “Arti”
from here, and soak into the divine vibrations. Of course the biting
cold was a spoiler and therefore most of us retired to bed soon
after an exhausting day, to be able to get up at 3AM again for
Darshan.
On Day8, we waited
in the queue for more than 4 hours to get Darshan at 7AM. The
mesmerizing view of the sunrise behind the temple with mountain peaks
covered in the snow forming the background is a surreal experience.
You won't realize how long you have waited in the queue. If you
manage to enter the temple before 6AM, you get to participate in
“Abhishek” of Baba Kedarnath, which we missed. Nevertheless, the
divine presence can be felt all around. (You also have option to book
some Puja or Abhishek online on the previous evening so that you get
direct access inside the temple at around 1AM itself. We missed this
opportunity too).
After the Darshan,
it is a must to go behind the temple where you get to see a miracle
which took place in 2013 during the flash floods. A huge stone,
exactly the width of the temple, had rolled down from the mountain
peak and stopped at around 20mts distance from the temple, blocking
the water flow and splitting it into two streams. It feels like
someone lifted the stone from somewhere and brought it and placed it
in the right place to save the temple. Even if the stone had rolled
forward a little more, it could have damaged the temple. The entire
sight increases our belief multifold.
It is also worth
visiting the Adi Shankara memorial behind the temple which is still
under construction. The big black stone statue which was carved in
Mysore has a calming effect on our minds.
On our way back
from Kedarnath to Gaurikund, many of us decided to ride pony in order
to avoid distress due to the disparsal of our family members. This
was a good decision and we came down much faster, passing through a
few scary moments and some traffic jams (yes! Traffic jams of people,
pony, etc although there is no “wheeled” traffic) on the way. At
this moment, we realized that there is a hot-water-spring at
Gaurikund, where we could have taken a bath before climbing up to
Kedarnath. Due to all the confusion while going up, we had not
noticed the views and scenery on the way and we enjoyed it on the way
back. There are several streams and waterfalls and thick forest all
around, apart from the River Alakananda next to you in the deep
valley.
As usual, there
was a queue for taxi from Gaurikund to Sonprayag, but much smaller
this time. We got a taxi within half an hour and walked 1.5kms from
Sonprayag to our hotel in Sitapur. The others in the group who were
completly trekking down reached later in the evening. As soon as we
reached Sonprayag, we heard the news that Kedarnath Yatra has been
suspended due to bad weather!
BADRINATH
Day9 once again
involved a long travel of 12+ hrs and we started at around 9AM after
breakfast. We continue our travel next to Alakananda river and take a
turn to go along Mandakini later. There are a few confluences/Sangams
on the way, some of which we visited on the way back from Badrinath.
Despite skipping these places while going, we ended up reaching
Badrinath at midnight due to multiple traffic jams. Luckily it was
not as cold as in Kedarnath.
Badrinath temple
was around half a km away from our hotel and we went there at 3AM on
Day10. The sight of this colourful ancient temple is imposing. Took a
customary (and mandatory) dip in the hot water spring called Tapt
Kund, which is considerably neatly maintained. This dip really
soothed our tired nerves. After that stood in the queue for 2 hours
for Darshan of Lord Badri Vishal. There are many other small shrines
inside the compound. Towering Nar and Narayan peaks signifying the
connection between the human and the divine provide a magnificient
background to the temple, with several snow-fed streams and
waterfalls.
After the Darshan
went back to the hotel for little rest, after which we set off to
Mana village, the so called “India's last village”. China border
is another 16kms from here, beyond the Mana Pass on top of yet
another Himalayan peak. On the way we noticed that the queue for
Darshan at Badrinath temple had grown upto 3kms!
Mana Village has
some important sites to visit and we managed to visit a few of them
as all of us were very tired. We paid obeisance to Lord Ganesha and
Sage Vedavyasa, who joined together to write the Mahabharata and
other Puranas sitting in Ganesh Gufa and Vyas Gufa at Mana Village.
This is the only place where you get to see the mystical Saraswati
river after which it disappers under the Bhimpul, a huge rock across
the river which was supposed to be placed by Bhima for Draupadi to
cross the river. Saraswati seems to join river Mandakini here,
although the belief is that it flows undreground from here and
re-emerges at Triveni Sangam near Prayagraj. There is a Saraswati
Mandir at this place next to the Bhimpul and offers amazing
360-degree view of the landscape.
The highlight of
Badrinath, apart from the divinity was the availability of true South
Indian food for all of us who were tired of rotis and dals. Most of
the big “Mutts” from across India have a branch in Badrinath and
they serve food to the devotees (and also offer simple
accommodation). We managed to go to one of these Mutts and had a
heartful South Indian meal. Any small contribution from the
beneficiaries is appreciated here.
We set off on our
return journey on Day10 from Badrinath post-lunch heading to
Pipalkoti, passing through Vishnu Prayag (confluence of Dhauliganga
and Alakananda).
The day being
Narasimha Jayanti, we thought it appropriate to stop near the Narsing
Temple at Joshimath and have Darshan of Lord Narasimha. A steep climb
down from the place where we parked the vehicle led us to this
ancient temple, which is also famous as the place where Adi Shankara
attained enlightenment. Joshimath is also the place where one of the
four Shankaracharya Peethas is located. Joshimath is also close to
the famous Valley of Flowers and the sacred Sikh shrine of Hemkund
Sahib.
We managed to
reach our hotel at Pipalkoti just before dark. This is more of a stop
over to break long journeys. Nevertheless it offers beautiful views
of the river valley and mountain peaks and worth staying overnight.
On Day11 we left
Pipalkoti and travelled towards Haridwar on yet another long journey.
We passed through Karan Prayag (confluence of Pinder and Alakananda,
and Nand Prayag (confluence of Nandakini and Alakananda - Yes it's Nandakini, about which I had never heard before!) and Rudra
Prayag (confluence of Mandakini and Alakananda).We can notice the
dominance of River Alakananda everywhere.
Huge pile up of
vehicles near Rishikesh ensured that we once again reached our hotel
close to midnight only. The highlight on this route was Dev Prayag
which is the confluence of Mandakini and Alakananda. From here, it is
called the Ganga. A dip in this place is a must for all those who
want “Ganga Snana”. You can notice the difference in color
between Mandakini and Alakananda clearly and how Alakananda
overpowers the other.
We had planned to
attend Ganga Arti at Haridwar, which got drowned in traffic jams. We
didn't even get proper dinner just like most of the other days during
this Yatra.
With this, the
Chardham Yatra came to a happy ending, with lots of memories,
satisfied mind, grateful heart and feeling lucky for having
successfully visited all the four Dhams as planned.
We left for Delhi
next morning on Day12 and flew back to Bangalore from there.
NOTES
A “Yatra”
is NOT a fun trip or sight-seeling trip or visit to a tourist place.
It is much different from any of these and comes with lots of
hardships. We should take them on our stride and have the right
mindset to enjoy all these.
The safety
aspects during the entire Chardham Yatra, particulaly during the
trek to Yamunotri and Kedarnath are really scanty and need a lot of
improvement. On crowded days, you should feel lucky to return safely
from the trek.
Among your
family/group if you plan to use different modes of travel
(walk/pony/palanquin/basket) for different people/luggage, please
don't assume that you can all go together. It is almost impossible
to keep up the pace with all and most of the porters don't abide by
the rules set by you. It is also dangerous to change your pace
forcefully just to catch up with others. Therefore it is most likely
that you will all be dispersed after a while and mobile signal is
not always available. This can lead to panic situation. Wise thing
is to take the mobile number of the porter and also take a picture
of him along with his id card at the time of hiring him. (One of our
groupmates lost her backpack which she had sent with a Porter and he
couldn't be traced at the destination).
Ideally hire
the porters/pony etc from the prepaid counters setup by the govt.
They are there at multiple places along the route and it is better
to walk that extra mile to locate them as you will not be fleeced by
them and tracking is much easier in case of any eventuality.
Don't send
your minor kids or elderly people separately on pony/palki etc while
you continue to walk as separation from them can result in different
kind of problems. It is better to go together through similar means
in such case.
The Yatra can
be stopped by the authorities at any point of time due to weather
conditions. In that case be prepared to drop the plan for one Dham
and proceed with the other as it can cause problems with your hotel
bookings, etc. Many people who go with the plans to visit all the
four Dhams return after visiting only 2-3 Dhams for various reasons
like fatigue, sickness, bad weather, landslide, etc.
Entire
trekking path to Yamunotri and Kedarnath is lined with eateries and
places to rest and hydrate yourself. Therefore it is not required to
carry much food and water.
Eat light but
nutritious food through the Yatra, or else it can adversely impact
your itinerary. Take care of your health throughout.
Govt has done
a commendable job by setting up makeshift toilets at regular
intervals along the trek route. And they are quite neat and clean.
There are
basic medical facilities and first aid available throughout the trek
route, as the Uttarakhand Govt has setup these centres for the
convenience of the pilgrims. There are also free medical facilities
setup by charitable organizations which are doing yeomen service to
the public.
As normal in
most of the North Indian temples, the priests or Pandas keep
harassing you and try to fleece you in the name of worship, food
distribution, etc. There could be some genuine ones, but it is
difficult to differentiate and therefore it is advisable to go with
some references only. In any case, it is completely left to
individuals belief and discretion.
Since the
travel time and weather are unpredictable, it is better to talk,
sleep, eat and relieve yourself whenever there is an opportunity to
do so. Don't wait for the right time and/or for you to reach your
hotel room for any of these.
Expect only
basic facilities in all the places, hotels, restaurants etc in this
difficult terrain. In some places it is a luxury even to get hot
water for bath in freezing temperatures!
Expenses : The
transport, food and hotel cost (for a somewhat decent hotel,
slightly better than a budget hotel/dorm/Dharmashala) Delhi to Delhi
will come well within Rs. 40,000/- per adult. This cost varies
slightly based on the capacity of the vehicle hired and number of
pax in it. Apart from this, if you take pony/doli/kandi etc in the
trek route, the cost adds up. Particularly doli and kandi are quite
expensive.
There
are public transport options available between cities/towns, which
can reduce the cost significantly, but it will take more time.
Carry lots of
cash (at least 30-40k) as it is not easy to withdraw cash there in
the mountains as many times the ATMs will not be functional or they
will be out of cash. Online payments are not widely accepted yet,
although it is picking up slowly.
Jio and BSNL
signal is available in most of the places although goes dead in a
few patches. So it is wiser to have one of these connections
POSTSCRIPT
All the pain and
agony and frustration gets dissolved as soon as you get a glimpse of
the shrine and later stand in front of the deity for Darshan in all
his/her glory. The energy around the temple, combined with the serene
atmosphere makes these Dhams what they are now. It is entirely an
experience which can uplift you spiritually. You will feel that all
the effort taken by you to reach there was worth every Paisa! It is a
memorable experience to be cherished for the entire lifetime.
Having said that,
there are a lot of things which can be fixed and improved:
Safety and
security remains a major concern. Minimum required thing is to fix
the side railing all along the trek route. Different/fixed paths for
pedestrians and ponies, etc should be considered in the long term.
Garbage
remains a serious problem as there are piles of it in this sensitive
Himalayan ecosystem. Lack of civic sense among the pilgrims is
palpable and I have no clue how this can be improved. Govt is
putting efforts to clean it up and but it literally is a Himalayan
Task and Govt alone cannot handle this. People should own it up.
These
lifeline rivers like Yamuna and other tributaries of Ganga are
garbage-ridden. Yamuna river in Yamunotri is an eyesore despite
being surrounded by beautiful snow-clad mountains due to the saris
and other clothes thrown into the river in the name of offerings to
Yamuna.
Water
bottles, packaged food, juice, Maggi, single-use raincoats, etc are
all over. Although it is good as it reduces the amount of weight we
need to carry on our backs, they are all adding to the garbage
problem. Some alternatives should be thought about.
One last point to
ponder about...
Will I go back for
another Chardham Yatra if it is so beautiful, memorable, uplifting,
etc?
The answer is a
practical one.
Chardham Yatra is
considered to be a once-in-lifetime activity.
There are many
more places to visit in India including different Yatras, pilgrimage
sites, apart from tourist places. So I will consider going back only
after visiting other places!
