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

Vacation - Summer of 2010 - Part 3 : The trail of three rivers

For us, the Uttarakhand trip turned out to be a trail of three of the longest rivers in the state (Bhagirathi, Mandakini and Alaknanda), following them almost to their source. In the process, we nearly covered the whole state, or atleast the Garhwal part of it, traveling atleast 1500 kms by road over 12 days - but then, this State has so many natural riches, anything less would have been injustice.

Uttarakhand was carved out of the Himalayan districts of the Uttar Pradesh state and came into existence on Nov 9, 2000, becoming the 27th state of the Republic of India. The state was referred to as Uttaranchal for a period of about 6 years before a bill was passed by Parliament in 2006.

Called 'Devbhumi' for its many religious (Hindu) sites, Uttarakhand is a place of plenty as it has :

a) Panch Prayags (5 confluences)
b) Panch Badri (5 holy shrines dedicated to Lord Vishnu)
c) Panch Kedar (5 holy shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva, supposedly built by the Pandavas)
d) Char Dham (4 holy Hindu Yatra destinations - Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath & Badrinath - the order being important)
e) Multiple Hill Stations (Nainital, Almora, Mussorie, Ranikhet, etc.)
f) Multiple rivers (Ganga [Bhagirathi], Yamuna, Alaknanda, Mandakini, Pindar, Dhauliganga, etc.)
g) Multiple National Parks (Jim Corbett, Nanda Devi, Valley of Flowers, Rajaji,  Gangotri, etc.)


Apart from the religious visitors, Uttarakhand also attracts the adventure sports enthusiast and the casual holiday seeker - taking a summer break in one of the many hill stations in the state.

To be continued : Part 4: Bhagirathi & Alaknanda - The rivers that become the Ganga

Vacation - Summer of 2010 - Part 1

The topic of a destination for our annual holiday came up once more a couple of months ago. Sandhya and Dhrithi wanted wildlife and snow respectively; Akash was keen on places of historical significance and I wanted a combination of experiences. On the shortlist were Jim Corbett National Park, Rajasthan and Ladakh. After enquiry with people who had been there, Ladakh was ruled out because of the requirement of acclimatisation. We also thought Rajasthan would be too hot and hence settled for the Jim Corbett National Park. I promptly started my research on travel and stay options, which is when the broader picture of Uttarakhand as the destination emerged. We decided to take a longer holiday than we had attempted before - 2 weeks. A trip to the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam office in Bangalore settled the issue. We could combine adventure, monuments, nature and with a bit of luck, snow too. Based on this list of requirements, Anurag of GMVN drew up a tentative itinerary, and issued a warning - this one is specifically for nature lovers and not for the couch potato type. Places I hadn't heard of before figured in his itinerary - Khirsu, Harsil, Dhanaulti, etc. I googled them up and was pleasantly surprised. Anurag showed me pictures from his trip to these places and I was hooked. Although, the list contained mainly places in the Garhwal region and ignored the Kumaon region (understandably, as Anurag represented Garhwal), we okayed the itinerary and firmed up the dates. The only place in the list that was not 'off the beaten track' was Mussoorie. Even this was planned as a day visit with night halt at Dhanaulti. GMVN had rest houses / hotels in all the places we were to visit and Anurag was able to confirm bookings the same day.

And so, the vacation plan for the summer of 2010 was drawn up - we would fly to Delhi from Bangalore on April 17th (Saturday), spend a couple of days in Delhi and visit the tourist spots, and devote one day to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. We would then catch a train to Haridwar where our 12 day exploration of the state described as the "Abode of Gods" would begin. On May 1st (Saturday again), we would fly back to Bangalore from Jolly Grant airport near Dehra Dun via Delhi. This would give us one day on Sunday to recover and plunge back into mundane city life.

Some more time spent on the Net and the flight and train reservations were done. The Outlook Traveller Uttarakhand Guide came in handy as a source of vital information. A list of 'must see' places at each of our stopovers and on the route was compiled with the help of this Guide and the Internet. Had a hard time remembering some of the legends associated with each place, because this state has so many stories associated with it - like they say in these parts - "Jitne Patthar, Utne Shankar"

To be continued : Part 2 : Tryst with History