PILGRIMAGE TO BADRINATH & KEDARNATH

Preparation:

My wife and I had been planning to make a pilgrimage to Badrinath and Kednath for many years. When we finalized our plans to make the trip, our daughter who had just finished her law school also wanted to join us. Hearing her talk about her forthcoming trip, two of her friends, Mike and Jacqueline also wanted to join us. Thus we ended up a group of five.

Three of us were to fly from Los Angeles to New Delhi and Mike and Jac were to join us in New Delhi. I had asked our good friend, Radhakrishnan, a resident of Delhi to help us plan he trip. He had known Panicker’s Travels, a 35 year old travel company in Karol Bagh, New Delhi quite well and thus was able to plan and arrange our trip very efficiently. Our sincere thanks to Radhakrishnan! Panicker’s Travels arranged a newer Toyota Inova, a seven seater van (comparable to Toyota Sienna in US), a very comfortable vehicle. We were also promised that our night stay during the trip would be at some of the best possible hotels along the way

Upon arrival on a Saturday early morning in New Delhi, we rested and did little shopping on Saturday and Sunday and were all eager and ready to start our pilgrimage on Monday morning. Mike and Jac had brought a good supply of Trial Mix, nuts, cookies, crackers, turkey jerky etc. for the travel. And my wife stocked up enough of biscuits and snacks to eat along the way. We also remembered to carry enough bottled water from New Delhi itself.

The trip plan was as under:

Day 1 (Monday) Delhi to Haridwar (210 KMs) Visit Haridwar
Day 2 (Tuesday) Haridwar to Gauri Kund (268 KMs) Visit Rishikesh, Devaprayag
Day 3 (Wednesday) Gauir Kunad to Kedar Nath (18 KMs) Visit Kedar Nath
Day 4 (Thursday) Gauri Kund to Badri Nath (221 KMs) Visit Badri Nath (PM)
Day 5 (Friday) Badri Nath to Sri Nagar (176 KMs) Visit Badri Nath (AM)
Day 6 (Saturday) Sri Nagar to New Delhi (329 KMs)


Day 1:

The plan was to leave Delhi by 6.00 AM and arrive at Haridwar by 1.00 PM. However, we left Delhi only around 7.30 AM. It was a newer Toyota Inova van and there were six of us. The third row of three seats was not quite comfortable. Yet, this was the best vehicle for long travel. We stopped at this nice restaurant called Cheetal outside Meerut City some 100 KMs from Delhi. It is set inside a nursery and garden and was flooded with tourists. The place was clean and the food was good.

We arrived at Haridwar at 1.30 PM and checked into Sharma Palace Hotel which was pre-arranged by the tour company. The pilgrimage season must have already ended since we were the only occupants of the hotel. Since we had a late breakfast, we did not wait for lunch. After a quick wash, we set out to visit the temples in Haridwar.

The driver dropped us on the south banks of the Ganges. The river was in her full ferocious form with muddy, monsoon water almost at the brim. We walked across one of the many foot bridges to the other side. The plan was to visit the Manasa Devi temple up in the hills and then come to the river banks by sunset to watch the Aarthi to Ganga Maa. The temple can be reached only a ropeway car. After a long and strenuous walk, we arrived at the rope way car station only to find that the car services are suspended for three days for maintenance. What a luck!

It was only 3.30 PM then and we did not know what to do till sunset for the Aaarthi. It was hot and humid. We aimlessly walked up and down the winding streets, got tired and finally took an auto rickshaw to the river banks. By this time, everyone in the group tired from the aimless walk and upset. However, when we came to the river banks and stood there watching the mighty Ganges flowing through at an incredible speed, it had a calming effect. We started talking about the coming days when we would be climbing the Himalayas and seeing the nature at its best.

Slowly a sizable crowd was gathering and pilgrims were taking vantage positions to watch the Aarthi at the river banks. We went around a few makeshift, insignificant small temples and were ourselves getting ready for the Aarthi. And then, the ominous black clouds started gathering and occasional drizzles started. By now it was 6.00 PM and everyone was waiting eagerly for the Aarthi. Simply put, Aarthi means praying with lights. At sunset, pilgrims light hundreds of small earthen lamps, pray and float them in Ganges with flowers. Apparently, it would be a great site to watch these hundreds of earthen lamps floating though the river.

And, it was our luck again! Just at the time of lighting the lamps, it started raining. First, it was light and we all braved it hoping that it would be just that. So did the hundreds of pilgrims assembled. But the rains started pouring in short intermittent heavy bursts. And, there were nowhere to take shelter from the rain. We could not believe that it started pouring at the exact moment of Aarthi, yet we hoped that there would be a pause and we will have the Aarthi. But, no luck. It rained for the next 90 minutes heavily. We tried to wait out the rain, gave up and started walking to our car which was parked some half a mile away across the river. Tired, completely wet and miserable, we paddled in large pools of rain water in total darkness to our car.

Now it was 7.30 PM and the thought in everyone’s mind was to reach the hotel, change into dry cloths and get something to eat and go to bed. It was a bad day and most importantly, it was a terrible beginning to our seven day trip. But we had more to come. Our hotel was some three kilometers from the Aarthi spot and as soon as we got into the main road, we hit a traffic jam. We came to know the next day that a tree fell on a car resulting in the death of two people. With some clever driving, the driver brought us closer to the hotel, yet we had to walk some half a kilometer in drizzle to the hotel. We went to bed praying and hoping that it would be a better tomorrow next day with no rains.

Day 2:

The second day started with great apprehension. If it continues to rain at Hardwar, the foothills of Himalayas, how will it be on the mountains? Anyway, we started the journey with a quick ‘glass’ of tea at a road side tea-stall. The sky was almost clear with sporadic drizzle.

The next stop was at Rishikesh, the gateway to Char Dham, the four holy places in Himalayas. We have planned to visit only two, Badrinath and Kedarnath . The others are Gangotri and Yamunotri, the origins of Ganga (Ganges) and Yamuna respectively.

Rishikesh is about 25 kilometers from Hardwar where Ganges hits the plains of India. The town is famous for the numerous ashrams, notable among them being Swami Sivananda Ashram, Geeta Ashram, Swami Dayananda Ashram, Yoga Niketan etc. We arrived at the south entrance of Swami Sivananda Ashram and were met by guide, Rampal. It is at the banks of Ganges with a beautiful view of the river. This Ashram is the largest and most famous in Rishikesh. It was established by Swami Sivananda (1887 – 1963) in 1932 and is the headquarters of Divine Life Society. We visited the Sivananda Memorial with his Samadhi and other parts of the Ashram. Prayers and meditation programs are offered regularly. Apparently, you can enjoy one week’s free stay at the Ashram if you pre-register.

Outside the Ashram at the old town, we ate our breakfast at the Chotiwala Restaurant. It was comparatively clean and the food was okay. We ate only hot food – puri, bhatura, choley and tea. W crossed the river over the Ram Jhula, a suspension bridge . It is 600 meters wide and connects Sivananda Ashram one side to the Geeta Ashram on the other. It is a breath-taking view from the bridge of the Ganges with the Himalayan mountain range on the three sides. Across the river, we visited the Geeta Ashram . Our guide gave us a brief lecture on ‘Rudrakhsham’, the holy beads worn as a garland by elders and sadhus. The main purpose was to make us buy the Rudrakhsham from the Divine Life Society store to where he led us next. The salesperson who spoke good English educated us on the different kinds of Rudrakhshams. Apparently, the five-faced one is the most common and the single-faced Rudrakhsahm is rare, expensive and auspicious. We came to know later that Mike and Jac bought us a gift of one-faced Rudrkhsham without our knowledge. Another spot near Ram Jhula one needs to visit (and, we did not) is the Triveni Ghat, the holy bathing ghat at the Ganges.

After a brief 2 kilometers auto-rickshaw ride (cost, Rs. 50 for six of us), we arrived at the Lakhshman Jhula, another suspension bridge. This probably is the most famous tourist attraction in Rishikesh. Myth states that Lakhshman built this bridge from bamboo and grass for him and older brother Ram to cross the Ganges. Of course, the present bridge was built by the British in 1939 of steel and iron ropes. Again, it is a breath-taking view of the Ganges and the Himalayas from the bridge. The river under was ferocious with the recent monsoon water. Before crossing over, we did some shopping, silk saris, shawls supposedly made of Himalayan goat fur, kurtas and other sundry things. We visited the Lakhshman temple, the Bharat temple (said to have been established by Adi Sankara),Siva temple etc.

It was hot and unbearably humid and we were glad to cross the bridge and reach the car. With the air-conditioning in full blast, we resumed our journey from Rishikesh to the next stop, Devprayag which was around 80 KMs from Rishikeah. Devaprayag is where rivers Alakananda and Bhagirathi join to become Ganga. The confluence of the two rivers is a breath-taking view. Aleksandra from the left was ferocious and brown with sediments whereas Bhagirathi from the right was calm and blue. Our driver stopped the car ahead at a village for tea and we could climb down to the river bed of Alakananda and enjoy its beauty.

At Devaprayag the road splits into two. If you take the mountainous road to the west, you will join NH 94 towards Gangotri. We took NH 58 towards Gauri Kund, a distance of 176 KMs. It was almost 4.00 PM and the driver was anxious to get back to the road. The journey took us through Sri Nagar, Rudraprayag, Gupt Kasi and Sonprayag. It was 6.00 PM when we crossed Sri Nagar, the ancient capital of Garhwal State and we drove in dark through Rudraprayag and Sonprayag to arrive at Gauri Kund around 8.45 PM.

Our hotel was pre-arranged, a clean and decent one. Again, it appeared we were the only guests for the night there. The restaurant cooked special dinner for us, chapattis and rice served with two dishes, potato and squash curry and dal on thali (Rs. 60 each). It was hot and reasonably tasty. By the time we finished the dinner, the agents for the mule ride to Kedar Nath temple the next day were waiting for us. We reserved three mules and three decided to hike up to the summit. We went to bed with the sound of river Mandakini flowing through the ravines behind our hotel rooms.

Day 3:

We were supposed to have been ready for the mule ride (and hike) by 5.00 AM. However, our hotel did not honor our wake-up call request. After a quick bath (hot water in a bucket had to be brought in by the hotel staff), we all assembled to take the short car trip to the bottom of the hills. It was 6.30 AM by then. We had to take the 14 KMs climb up and come down before dark. That was the hurry. Climbing the steep steps through the market place, we arrived at the mules ‘launch pad’. It was a mess there. Dozens of mules, uncontrollable, mule guys and the pilgrims yelling, mule droppings with the early morning mist – it was an unexplainable mess. The path we had to take was narrow and chaotic with the dozens of mules, all going up at the same time. There was no way that we could venture to walk. It was decided that all six of us will take the mules. By this time, my wife was gasping for breath after the small steep climb in the early morning chill. We all got onto our mules and the upward journey to Kedar Nath began.

The mountain path was just 6-8 feet wide, irregularly paved with rocks. It was winding with very sharp U-turns and the same path was used for going up, as well as down. The mules were well trained and would walk even with nobody guiding. Two to three mules were handled by one ‘mule guide’ and these guys are young (mostly under 20), short, thin and fit. Overall, the ride was very uncomfortable. The mule guides did not take the time to explain to us how to ride easy and for all of us, it was the first time to ride a mule. And, the saddle did not have enough padding and all our behinds were terribly sore at the end of the day.

We stopped at the half way mark for tea and we ate our breakfast there, two parathas each with pickle which my wife had the hotel prepare and pack. The half way was already at 6,000 MSL elevation and all through the ride, the scenery was fantastic. The Himalayas were imposing and marvelous. It was green everywhere with small waterfalls near and far. The river, Mandakini was with us throughout, sometimes near and then far and deep. Riding a mule amidst the nature at the purest and on a pilgrimage, I could not stop comparing with the mechanical and materialistic life in Los Angeles. The mountains had a humbling effect, yet the experience was soothing.

We arrived at Kedar Nath after a five hour mule ride. The elevation was about 12,000 feet MSL. The sun was bright above the occasional clouds. Though we were warned that it would be very cold there, I found Kedar Nath quite warm, may be 60 degrees Fahrenheit. By this time my wife was not feeling well. She had mild hypertension and by the time we reached the top, she was finding it difficult to breath. The early climb of the steep steps, the uncomfortable mule ride, hypertension and high altitude, all were taking a toll. With sheer will power, she walked up to the temple with many stops and had a dharshan.

The temple itself is not a large one. Walking through two doors, you enter the sanctum sanctorum. It is kind of a large room, may be20- 25 feet square. In the center is large rock, may be six feet by three with hump in the center. Unlike the lingams in other Siva temples, this rock personifies the Lord. The story goes that Pandavas after the Kurukshetra war, tried to reach Lord Siva and get forgiveness and salvation for their sins in killing their cousins and uncles. Siva avoided them in many places and moved to the Himalayas. Pandavas followed him and Siva took the form of a bull and put Himself amidst a herd of cows and bulls. Knowing Siva’s presence there, Bhima spread his legs and let the cattle go under his spread legs. Finally, Siva dug Himself into the ground and Bhima pulled at the tail and stopped Him. Four parts of the bull’s body appeared at four different places in Himalayas and the place where the hump appeared above ground is Kedarnath. The face appeared at Rudraprayag, arms at Tungnath, navel and stomach at Madhyamaheshwar and the locks at Kalpeshwar. And thus, a part of Lord Siva’s body is worshipped in Kedar Nath. The pilgrims apply kumkum, chandan and vibuthi to the rock and worship. Poojas are performed. When we entered the temple, there was not a big crowd, may be around 30 people around the rock. We stayed there and prayed for a brief while. A pundit, who accompanied us from the shop where we bought the pooja materials, performed a short pooja for us at the shrine.

After the dharshan, the pundit tock us to the ‘Taptha Kund’, a small pond which legends claimed to contain water from Ganaga and Yamuna and where the Pandavas had performed rituals for the peace of their ancestors’ souls’ before they left this earthly abode. Radhakrishnan and I did the rituals and pooja per the guidance of the pundit. A dakhshina of Rs. 100 made him happy. Like any temple in India, there were pundits greeting you as you get off the mules and asking you ‘where are you from?’. Their rates for taking you around nod performing the pooja ranged from Rs.500 to Rs. 1,000. We politely had turned them all down.

The other important place to visit in Kedar Nath is the Samadhi of Adi Sankaracharya. It is a mandap with the statue of Adi Sankara. I remember reading differently that Adi Sankara went to Samadhi in Kaladi (Kerala) and Kanchipuram (Tamilnadu). No one seems to be sure. However, Adi Sankara’s presence can be felt in the entire Char Dham pilgrimage. He is credited with the establishment of the temples in Kedar Nath and Badri Nath, as well Jyothirmat, one of the four religious centers he established in four corners of the country. Of course, everyone knows his greatness in defending and re-establishing Hinduism in the eighth century and authoring granthas including discourses on Brahma Sutra, Baghwath Gita, Vishnu Sahasranma etc. and other Vedanta texts such as Viveka Chudamani, Tatwa Bodham, Atma bodham etc. And, all that before the age of 32 when he left this human body!

Now it was almost 2.00 PM and when we rejoined the group at the tea shop, everyone was eager to get on the mules for the journey downhill. I found it was harder to go downhill on the mule than uphill. With a brief stop at the half-way point, we arrived at the market place at the bottom in about two and half hours. After paying the mule guides and giving them a good tip, we reached the spot where our driver was to pick us up. One word about the mule guides. Apparently, they work for the owners of the mules and get paid only Rs.200 for the entire 24 KM trip, exploitation at the meanest level.

We reached our hotel rooms by 6.30 PM. After a hot bath and hot meal (again, specially prepared for just six of us), we went to bed. But later in the night, the hotel turned out to be noisy with the arrival of three bus loads of pilgrims. Day 4 was to be just on the road, journey to Badrinath.

Day 4:

A cup of tea and a bucket of hot water, we were again ready for another day in our pilgrimage. It was going to be a mainly a drive - distance of some 220 KMs of winding Himalayan road. The destination was Badri Nath. The only important stop we were to make was at Gupt Kasi which was 29 KMs from Gaurikund.

We left our hotel near Gaurikund around 7.00 PM. At about 12 KMs distance was Son Prayag, the confluence of Soneganga and Madakini. We did not stop there, just had a view from our car and proceeded to Gupt Kasi. The temple I Gupt Kasi is on the slopes of the hill. We had to walk through the market place and some steep steps to reach the temple. The temple is situated within a large compound. The pilgrim collects water from two outlets, believed to be from Ganga and Yamuna for abhishekam. Inside the small temple is the sivalinga and we did abhishekam with water and flowers. Next to the main temple is a small temple where Lord Siva is in the form of Ardha Nariswarar (half woman). Here again, the popular legend states that the Pandavas after the Kurukshetra war wanted forgiveness of their sins in killing their guru, Bhishmacharya and cousins and on the advice of the elders, sought to worship Lord Siva for forgiveness and salvation. However, Siva did not want to give them dharshan and avoided them repeatedly. When the Pandavas finally reached Gupt Kasi, He disappeared from there also ( hence the name Gupt Kasi) and moved to Kedar Nath.

After the dharshan and pooja at Gupt Kasi, we continued our journey to Badri Nath. Our journey took us through Bhatwari, Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag, Nanadaprayag, Jyothirmath and Vishnuprayag. We did not stop at any place. However, we had good views of the confluence of the different rivers at different prayags – Rudraprayag where Alakananda meets with Mandakini (and then flows downhill to meet Bhagirathi at Devprayag), Karnaprayag where Alakananda meets with Pindar river, Nandaprayag, where Alakananada meets with Nandakini and Vishnuprayag, where Alakananda joins with Dhauliganga River.

We arrived at Jyothirmath around 3.00 PM and stopped at the Lord Narasimha temple there. The temple is said to have been constructed in Adi Snakaracharya’s time with the idol installed by him in late eighth century. He established four religious centers or Maths in four corners of India and the north center is located in Jyothirmath. We planned to visit the Math on our way back from Badri Nath. After a short ride, we arrived at Badri Nath around 4.30 PM.

Badri Nath is at an altitude of 9,000 ft MSL and we felt colder here than in Kedar Nath. Our hotel was close to the temple. After a quick wash, we decided to go to the temple. It was Friday and the auspicious Krishna Jayanthi. Our friend, Radhakrishnan happened to know the Rawal (head priest) of the temple and we all went to his residence next to the temple. The Rawal’s assistant arranged is to be escorted inside the temple. There was a reasonably large crowd inside and the sahasranama parayanam was just over. We could be there for the Aarthi and had a good dharshan of the Lord on that auspicious day of His birth.

My wife was again had breathing difficulty because of the high altitude. The local people suggested smelling of the camphor and it worked. I escorted her back to the hotel and returned to the market place for food. There were a couple of decent restaurants. Radhakrishnan and I ate some South Indian food and packed some for my wife and daughter. The hotel room did not have any heater and we managed the night with the blankets .

Day 5:

Mike did not feel good since yesterday afternoon. He had some stomach issues. My guess was that the soft drinks he had been consuming (and no solid food) were responsible. In any case, we decided to return to Delhi that day itself, one day earlier. We were planning to stay in Badri Nath today also and return tomorrow.

We walked to the temple around 8.30 AM. The morning was pleasantly crispy cold. The sun was up and bright. We could see the twin peaks of Nar and Narayanan behind the temple. We crossed the bridge over the ferocious Alakananda to the temple. There was a sizable crowd on the steps leading to the temple. We went to the Tapt Kund, hot water spring inside a bath house. The temperature round the year is around $5 degrees and the pilgrims take a dip there before going to the temple for worship. We wetted our feet and proceeded to the temple. Once again, the assistant of the Rawal was kind enough to take us into the temple which was closed for the morning Sahasranama Archana by devotees. After the Archana, we were able to have a good dharshan. On our way back, we had an audience with the Rawal.

Though there were a few other spots to visit in Badri Nath (Vyas Gufa etc.), we decided to skip them and proceed towards Delhi mainly because of the indisposition of Mike. The traffic is regulated between Badri Nath and Jyothirmath with gates at either end allowing traffic one way every two hours. We passed the gate at 11.00 AM and arrived at Jyothirmath around 12.30 PM. The important place to visit in Jyothirmath was the Sankara Math, one of the four religious centers established by Adi Sakaracharya in early ninth century. The e Math is a small hill top. We had a tour of the Math and the Devi temple, the spot where Sankara was blessed by Devi.

Our next stop was Srinagar, the city once the capital of the Garhwal kingdom. The distance from Badri Nath to Srinagar was 186KMs and we arrived in Srinagar around 5.30 PM, experiencing slight rain. We were fortunate that we did not have any rain during the entire trip in the Himalayas (except for the first day in Haridwar). We checked into a hotel overlooking the new dam being constructed over Alakananda. After a quick dinner, we went to bed early.

Day 6:

Today is the final day of our pilgrimage. The plan was to cover the e distance of 329 KMs from Srinagar to Delhi. Being very eager to get back to Delhi, everyone woke up early and was ready by 6.30 AM . It was again a beautiful morning and the overnight rain clouds were gone. Our hotel was just on the banks of river Alakananda and the dam and it was a beautiful view from our hotel balcony.

We stopped at a roadside restaurant on the banks of Alakananda for a hot breakfast of puris and parathas and the rest of the journey was quite and uneventful. We passed through Rishikesh and Haridwar. Though we were planning to stop at Haridwar to visit the Manasadevi temple (which we could not visit on the first day because of the rains), the rain prevented us again. Because of the national holiday (Independence Day), there was a substantial crowd in Haridwar. It took some time for us to get through Haridwar. Outside Meerut city, we stopped again at the Cheetal Gardens restaurant. Then fighting through the outer Delhi traffic, we reached Delhi at 6.30 PM.

Overall, it was a remarkable trip. Apart from being very blessed to pray at Badri Nath and Kedar Nath rumples, our mere presence in the Himalayas was a unique experience. The imposing mountain range in all its majesty was a humbling experience. I felt a mere six day trip was not enough. One can spend much more time in many places we just sped through. For example, Rishikesh where we should have spent at least two nights to explore the ashrams, a dip in the Ganges at one of the holy Ghats and simply enjoy the nature. We did not spend much time in Badri Nath and places around. Nor at Gauri Kund and the Prayags. And, there was Jim Corbett National Park for a couple of nights’ stay. May be, another time. With this experience, we can plan it better.