Thu Nov 13, 2008 2:28 pm India - Kedarnath and Tungnath 9/27-9/29/08
This is the third of five reports describing some hikes I made during a month-long trip to the Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand state in northern India:
Over the next three days we visited three Hindu temples associated with Shiva: Tungnath, Kedarnath, and Trijugi Narayan.
It was a beautiful, clear morning in Joshimath. We left at 7:30 and passed a lot of "risky points" along the road during the 2-hour drive south to Chamoli, where we turned off towards Gaurikund and Kedarnath to the west. The road climbed and traversed long hillsides far above deep green valleys with terraced rice fields. It deteriorated to a one-lane poorly-paved track and zigzagged endlessly up through Kedarnath Musk Deer Sanctuary. We saw several langur monkeys and water buffalo but no deer. The trees were alive with very loud cicadas.
We arrived in the tiny village of Chopta (2700m/8860ft) at 12:30. The well-paved path to Tungnath temple climbs about 600m/2000ft in 3.5 kilometers (2 miles). Again, it seemed more like four miles. Where some upper parts of the trail were under construction we simply walked up open green meadows. We reached the ancient temple at Tungnath after an hour of steady climbing. At 3680m/12,073ft Tungnath is the highest of the Panch Kedar, five temples devoted to Shiva. We paid a Rs 100 entrance fee, cleverly disguised as a "donation", and, after removing our shoes, had a look around and inside the temple. It is said to be where Shiva's arms appeared sometime in the distant past. We did not have enough time to hike up to the viewpoint at Chandasila (4090m/13,280ft) as planned, so we headed down and got back to the car at 2:30 to find our driver asleep inside. (Note: My GPS put Chopta at 2880m/9460ft and Tungnath at 3475m/11,400ft.)
After traversing more steep hillsides, with beautiful views of terraced fields, we arrived in Rampur at 5 p.m., several miles short of Gaurikund, where we had originally planned to spend the night. We stayed in Rampur at the recommendation of our driver, who said it would be much quieter here, and he was right! There were no honking cars nor barking dogs, just the peaceful sound of the river.
9/28/08 – Kedarnath
It was a short drive to Gaurikund (1981m/6500ft), where our driver dropped us off at 7 a.m. for the climb to Kedarnath, our second temple of the Char Dham pilgrimage. I nicknamed Gaurikund "The Town of Thousand Horses" since there were so many of them for hire. "Hello, sir. Horse?" got pretty tiresome after the hundredth time as we walked through town at the start of the 14-kilometer (9-mile) hike. The trail climbs about 1600m/5200ft and is paved the whole way. Many pilgrims were being carried up and down on dandys carried on the shoulders of four hardy souls. We stopped at a dhaba (tea shop) in the small village of Rambara at the half-way mark. After a hearty breakfast of tea, cookies and orange Fanta, we continued trudging upwards and reached Kedarnath (3584m/11,760ft) at 11 a.m., four hours from Gaurikund. We got a double room at the government-run GMVN hotel for Rs 800 ($16), which seemed a bit steep.
Kedarnath is only 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Badrinath as the crow flies. However, we had to drive and hike six times that distance to get there. The intervening mountains are impassible to the casual hiker. It took Tilman and Shipton two weeks to traverse the direct route in 1934.
After lunch, Kim and I walked up the narrow shop-lined main street to the temple. We got waylaid by a priest, who painted tikkas on our foreheads and took us inside. He helped us to perform a puja (prayer and offering) at the large black rock poking out of the floor of the inner sanctum. The stone represents the hump of Shiva, who transformed himself into a bull and hid underground to escape from the Pandava brothers who were seeking his forgiveness. (It's a complicated story.) It was a very odd scene amongst the throngs of chanting worshippers inside the temple. We touched our heads to the sacred stone, paid a small "donation", and left somewhat bewildered. We went back to the hotel to relax. Later, after a hailstorm rolled through, we wandered around town for some nice sunset views of the Kedarnath peaks rising high above. It was a very cold night.
9/29/08 – Trijugi Narayan
Next morning, a rat made a commotion in the corner of the room near my pack and then ran under the bed. That got us up in a hurry. We walked up to a viewpoint above Kedarnath for a bird's-eye view of the town. There is a small shrine to Shiva here, with lots of bells and flags.
We set off at 6:45 for the 14-kilometer downward trek to Gaurikund. We stopped for a snack in Rambara and arrived at the bottom at 10. It was pretty easy going, with far fewer horses than yesterday – they must have been on strike or something.
Sameer took us on an unplanned detour up a very bad, winding road to Trijugi Narayan temple, just southwest of Gaurikund. It took about two hours to drive 13 kilometers (8 miles). He said our journey would not be "complete" without visiting Trijugi Narayan, where the wedding of Shiva and Parvati took place countless centuries ago. The fire that was lit for that occasion still burns inside the temple. Ash taken from the fire is said to guarantee marital bliss. As an unmarried non-Hindu, I was not likely to benefit, but it was an interesting place nonetheless. The temple bears a striking resemblance to those at Tungnath and Kedarnath. Like all pilgrims to this temple, we placed a log on the fire and were given parcels of ash, in return for a small "donation" of course. The temple was especially unusual for being the only one where we were allowed to take photographs inside.
We were on the road again at 1:30 and followed the Mandakini (accent on the second syllable) River southwards to its confluence with the Alaknanda River at Rudraprayag. We sat in wicker chairs on the verandah of our hotel and drank beer until well after dark. The next day (9/30), we continued south to Rishikesh for a three-day break. Amongst other delights, we visited Haridwar and watched the Ganga aarti (river worship ceremony) which takes place every evening.
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