Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Kartik Swami- An untouched & hidden GEM


Kartik Swami Temple is a highly revered shrine set amidst serene environs, at an altitude of 3048 m above the sea level, in Rudraprayag District of Uttarakhand

There is a legend that once Lord Shiva told their sons Lord Kartik and Lord Ganesha that,one of them will get the privilege to worship first who take round of the universe and comes first.Kartik started taking round but Lord Ganesha shows his intelligence and take round of the Lord Shiva by saying that whole universe is in him.Lord Shiva impressed by his intelligence and gave the privilege to worshipe first. By this Lord Kartik got angry and give his flesh to mother Parvati and bones to his father Lord Shiva.

The temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva's son Kartikeya, In this temples the bones of the kartik shown in the idol. It can be reached by a 3 km trek from Kanak Chauri village, which is located on the Rudraprayag-Pokhri route, 38 km from Rudraprayag.

The splendor of the magnificent views of the snow-clad Himalayas from the temple fills the heart with awe and delight


A distance view of the rock where the temple is built


View of Choukhamba Peak on the background of the temple


Sunrise behind the Nanda Devi Peak


Beautiful rhododendron gungle on the way to Karthik Swami Temple


Valley on the other side of the temple complex
































Pandit Ji performing prayers in the ashram


How to reach there
By Air- The nearest airport is at Dehradun.
By Rail- Haridwar is well connected with rest of India.
By Bus- Buses route had good connectivity from Haridwar/ Rishikesh as well as shared jeeps are also available till Rudraprayag, Kanak Chouri is 36 km from here & a 4 km trek in the dense forest till temple
Accommodation- Local hotels are in Rudraprayag as well as in Kanak Chouri.


Ashram is also provided basic facilities which is ½ km before temple

The Adobe of GOD- Kedarnath

My Kedarnath yatra

                When HR announced Diwali holidays my first and only thought was to take advantage of the five day break and head to the mountains. I had two options: either to go to Devaria Tal (to capture the reflection of the Chaukhamba Peak in the blue waters of the lake), Ukhimath, Kalimath and Kedarnath or to go to Gwaldam.
As usual, I called Guruji (Tribuwan Sing Chauhan) in Rishikesh who told me he was going for the door closing ceremony at Kedarnath temple on 11th November. The temple remains closed during winter due to heavy snowfall.
My decision was made. We decided to meet at Kedarnath the previous day, November 10.
I took a 10.30 pm bus from Delhi to Rudraprayag. (God only knows how I got a seat!)
It was freezing cold and very cloudy and windy when I reached Sari in the afternoon. It had snowed in Kedarnath. I had dinner with Rajendra who I had made friends with on my last visit in April 2007.

 


I woke up at 5.30 the next morning and headed to Devaria Tal.
More than anything else, I was shocked to see the reflection of the Chaukhamba peak in the lake! It was beyond what I had expected. I got busy capturing the beauty of the place from different angles.
In Devaria I met two women who had come all the way from Pune. It was their first visit to Uttarakhand. They were very excited as they had just returned from Tungnath where they had gone to see snowfall.
A group of elderly people from Gujarat asked me, "Devaria ja ke paise vasool honge ki nahi?"(Is it worth going to Devaria Tal?)




While I was relaxing at a tea stall, I saw a person with a big rucksack coming towards me. He looked familiar. It turned out to be Shubhag Rathuri, who was in Devaria for paragliding with four friends from Bombay.
I decided to join them and up we went flying over Sari feasting our eyes on the beauty around us.
By the time we returned it was dark. I forgot to carry a torch and we had to trek down in the dark.
We attended the Diwali celebrations at Sari where there was a lot of singing and dancing




On November 10, I started my trek to Kedarnath. It was very cold and windy and turning out to be a tough trek.
Reaching Son Prayag was a fight. By 3.30 pm it seemed like I wouldn't be able to make it to Kedarnath. The locals warned me it was not safe to go any further due to the bad weather.
Thankfully, at Gaurikund I met a Garhwal Regiment group who were on their way to Kedarnath. I joined them.




On the way we met a devotee from Rudraprayag who attends the opening and closing ceremony of Kedarnath temple every year.
As it had snowed in the valley, the wind was chilly. I put on my raincoat as well to safeguard against the chill.
We reached Garurchatti, about 10 km from Gaurikund, around 9 pm where we had dinner and visited a yogi who has been staying there for the last 35 years


We left Garurchatti at 10.30 pm. There were no street lights and we had no torch.
The entire valley was covered with snow. The only light we saw was of Kedarnath is the distance.
It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. All my tiredness vanished at the sight of the beautiful valley!




We reached the Kedarnath temple at 11.30. The first thing I did was to thank God for giving me the opportunity to be there.
Then I went looking for the army group. They had my tripod and I was not getting a place for the night. Unable to locate them, I finally went and sat next to a sadhu who was sitting by a fire place within the temple premises.
The temple was to open for darshan between 2 am and 5 am. Between 5 am and 6 am was the Samadhi pooja and from 6 am to 7 am was the Samadhi darshan.
At 1.30 am a kind soul offered me a place to sleep. I napped for a bit and at 2.30 am went to the temple where I met Guruji.




We stayed on at the temple after darshan and watched the first rays of the rising sun fall on Kedar Peak. Meanwhile I met the army personal and got my tripod. We also went to the Bhairon temple.
At 8 am the doli started its journey to Ukhimath. Everyone was dancing while the Garhwal regiment band played. We reached Gaurikund at 1 pm.
Since I couldn't get conveyance to Rishikesh I stayed the night at the guest house of the Ukhimath temple.


 


I woke up early next morning and went to the temple. There I met a person (Mr Mishra) who offered to give me a lift to Delhi. Mr Mishra had come alone from Delhi with 30 kg of flowers to decorate the Kedarnath temple!

On the way we stopped at Kalimath, famous for its temple dedicated to Goddess Kali. We reached Rishikesh at 6.30 pm and Delhi at 1.30 the following morning.




How to get there
The nearest airport is at Dehradun.
The closest railway station is at Haridwar, 221 km.
Kedarnath is a 14 km trek from Gaurikund, where the motorable road ends. Gaurikund is well-connected by road from Rishikesh, Dehradun, Haridwar and Kothdwar.

 

Friday, November 11, 2011

Kangdali Festival- Dharchula- 2011

Kangdali Festival is a festival held by the rung tribe of the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand state in India. This festival coincides with the blooming of the Kandali plant, which flowers once every twelve years. It is held in the Chaudas Valley between August and October. It celebrates the defeat of Zorawar Singh's army, which attacked this area from Ladakh in 1841. There also goes a regional Folklore related to this festival

The Ritual
The women go out in procession in their traditional attire to destroy the Kangdali plants, where the soldiers were hidden. The demoralised army returned along the Kali River, looting the villages on the way. The women resisted them and this is re-enacted to this day. Another version, comes a folklore, which tells of a boy who died upon applying the paste of the root from a shrub known as Kang-Dali on his wound. Enraged, his mother cursed the shrub and ordered the Shauka women to pull up the root of the Kang-Dali plant off its ground upon reaching its full bloom, which happens once in twelve years.
Since then, a victory dance is performed every twelve years upon the decimation this shrub in its blooming period. The women with lead the procession, each armed with a ril, a tool which was used in compacting carpet on the loom. The children and men armed with swords and shields would follow closely behind. As they sing and dance, their music echoes in the valley, and upon approaching the blooms, warlike tunes are played and war cries are uttered. The women, fierce as they were, attacked the bushes with their rils. The menfolk will follow up and the bushes are hacked with swords, who will uproot the bushes and take them back, as the spoils of the war. In turn, victory cries are raised and rice grains are again cast towards the sky to honour the deities with the prayer that the people of Chaundas Valley may be ever victorious over enemies. After the victory dance and the extermination of the shrub, the festival is concluded with a feast. Kandali last bloomed in October 1999 and next festival will be held in October 2011.



The Invitatoin which was a great help in the planning the trip







Rung villagers on the way for Kangdali