Vacation - Summer of 2010 - Part 5 : The Mandakini - She who flows calmly

April 21st, 2010

Woken up by the sounds of myriad birds in the morning. Another visit to the river, which looks even more beautiful in the morning light. Today, we would be following the course of the Mandakini as we visit the temples of Guptkashi and Ukhimath, followed by the Chopta valley, before our nightstop at Joshimath. Another place of interest nearby for those who are fascinated by these tales is the Triyuginarayan temple, which is apparently the site of Lord Shiva and Parvati's marriage. The eternal flame around which the marriage was solemnized, still burns here, it is said. As this was off our planned route, I reluctantly agreed to skip this temple, but made a mental note to visit at some point in the not too distant future.

So, we set out after a hearty breakfast, to Guptkashi (1319 mtrs), set against the scenic backdrop of the Chaukambha peak.  The story goes that the Pandavas, seeking salvation for the fratricidal crime of killing their cousins - the Kauravas, went in search of Lord Shiva, who not wanting to oblige, went into hiding at this very spot, and hence the name - "gupt" meaning hidden. The Pandavas are said to have used their arrows to pierce the land here, resulting in the Ganga and Yamuna emerging at this spot and the place is now called the Manikarnika Kund. Today, there is a tank with two spouts - one with a bull head and the other with a elephant head, from which the streams of the Yamuna and the Ganga are said to be flowing into the tank.

Guptkashi's main temple is the Vishwanath (Lord of the Universe) temple  - another legend has it that when the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb demolished the Kashi temple at Varanasi in the 17th century, the idol of Shiva was shifted to Guptkashi for safe keeping and has remained here ever since. 

There is also an Ardhanareeshwar (half man-half woman) temple next to the Vishwanath temple- this is said to be the form in which Lord Shiva finally appeared to the Pandavas, after much persuasion by his consort - Parvathi.

For the above reasons, Guptkashi is considered next to only Varanasi in terms of religious significance for Hindus. The architectural style of the temple is typical of the temples in these parts and akin to the Kedarnath temple. In winter, when the Kedarnath temple is closed because of inaccessibility, the priests of the Kedarnath temple migrate to Guptkashi and stay there until the temple opens again in the month of May.

We crossed the Mandakini to go over to the other side where the winter seat of Kedarnath is located - Ukhimath.

Vacation - Summer of 2010 - Part 4 : Bhagirathi & Alaknanda - The rivers that become the Ganga

April 20th, 2010

Early morning (3 am) arrival in Haridwar by train from Delhi. Our driver - Sarvesh (what an appropriate name for this man, who turned out to be an all-in-one package - driver, guide, raconteur, advisor, friend), who was to be our companion for the next 12 days, was waiting at the station to drive us to our first destination - a camp by the side of the Ganga. The Kumbh Mela, celebrated once in 12 years at Haridwar, was drawing to a close, but we could, even at 3 am in the morning, glimpse the elaborate arrangements that had been made for a event of such magnitude. As we drove away from the station and through the town, we caught our first glimpse of the Ganga or Ganges - sacred river of the Hindus. In fact, this town was called Gangadwar in ancient times, as this is where the Ganga makes its entry into the plains. An hour later, we were passing through the holy town of Rishikesh enroute to the camp at Brahmapuri.

Apart from the many religious reasons to visit it and the fact that it is now known as the Yoga Capital of the world, Rishikesh is becoming a popular spot for white water rafting enthusiasts, both from India and abroad, as it offers medium to rough rapids in the course of river Ganges, with rapids rated class 3 and class 4. And that is what we were headed to do on Day 1 of our Uttarakhand tour...

It was still dark as we reached the campsite and descended in near darkness from the road down towards the river. What a place to stay - right next to the river, with the soothing sound of water being a constant reminder of its proximity. We had two tents to ourselves and the kids jumped into bed to catch some more shuteye, while I, mesmerized by the scene around me, started shooting pictures, as the dawn broke. Sandhya and I also explored a small cave near the camp, which turned out to be the meditation spot of a holyman.


The first of the rafts attempting the rapids, floated past the camp and we cheered the team on the raft, as they paddled their way past us. After a hearty breakfast, it was time to drive to the startpoint of the white water rafting adventure - Shivpuri. As the stretch from Shivpuri to Brahmapuri had some difficult rapids which were not suitable for children of Dhrithi's age, she had to reluctantly stay back with Sandhya to keep her company while Akash and I boarded the car that took us to Shivpuri. And so, we buckled up the life-jackets, grabbed an oar each and listened intently to our guide as he gave us a Rafting 101 lesson. Soon, the raft was inflated, we had taken our positions (you have sit on the edge of the raft instead of in it !) and we were off. Considering it was the first time that Akash and I had rafted, I think we did very well as we passed through rapids called, rather ominously, "Return to Sender" and "Roller Coaster". On a hot day, it was quite pleasant to have the ice cold water splash over your body. An hour after we had started, we had reached the Brahmapuri camp - we stopped there for lunch and it was time for Sandhya and Dhrithi to board the raft for the less dangerous part of the 16 km ride to Ram Jhula in Rishikesh. More rapids followed - Double Trouble, Terminator - and Dhrithi sitting at the front end of the raft got a real splashing. Brave girl - she not only didn't flinch, but also happily jumped into the river whenever our guide told us it was okay to do so.

We floated under the Laxman Jhula and caught a glimpse of all the ashrams on the banks of the river. Our ride came to an end at Ram Jhula, and we changed into dry clothes at the office of the Camp Organiser, and set out to explore the town. Mention must be made of the fabulous restaurant adjacent to the Krishna temple, where we had snacks. Rishikesh is a vegetarian city - a fact that made Dhrithi very happy. Alcohol is also banned in the city.


And then we hung around until it was time to view the evening Ganga Arathi, an evening ritual at Rishikesh.  We plonked ourselves on stone steps on the opposite side of the river to the Parmarth Niketan Ashram where a crowd gathers every evening to perform the Arathi. Diyas are released into the river as part of the event and the sight of floating diyas on the serene river as the sun goes down makes for an excellent photo opportunity. We then headed back to Brahmapuri camp to spend the night, lulled to sleep by the sounds of the river.

April 21st, 2010

We set out after breakfast, moving upstream along the Ganga to Shivpuri and then onto Devprayag. This is the place where the emerald Bhagirathi meets the muddy brown Alaknanda to become the Ganga. We stopped on the highway (NH58) to take what is now a standard photo of Devprayag and then moved on. From this point on, we were tracing the route of the Alaknanda, as we passed the town of Srinagar (Elevation : 560 mtrs) - once the capital of the Garhwal kingdom - also the nightstop on the routes to Gangotri and Yamunotri.We were soon at Rudraprayag (Elevation : 895 mtrs), where the Alaknanda is met by the Mandakini. It is said that the Sage Narada meditated here and that he was taught the mysteries of music by Lord Shiva himself, a fact that thrilled Akash. Sarvesh also told us the story of the Agastyamuni temple near Rudraprayag and we decided to stop and visit the temple. Sage Agastya is said to have meditated at this spot for a year - there is a strong belief amongst the locals that whenever there is a drought, all they have to do is pray to Sage Agastya and it begins to rain. Dhrithi immediately latched onto this and put it to the test - but, more about that later. Apart from the idol of the Sage, there is also a Shiva temple here. After spending some time with the priest in this serene environment, we headed for Syalsaur, which was to be our nightstop.

Syalsaur can be best described as a small, sleepy, picturesque village, with a backdrop of the mountains and the Mandakini flowing staidly nearby. Our nightstop - the GMVN resthouse at Syalsaur, had lovely bamboo cottages and was right on the banks of the lovely Mandakini. Needless to say, we spent most of the evening by the riverside.


To be continued : Part 5 : The Mandakini - She who flows calmly