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Day-8: Shirsa helipad to Pipalkoti. Our bus took less frequented but more picturesque route from Shirsa to Pipalkoti – via Chopta. (Photo: 00). Chopta is described as mini-Switzerland of India where during winter, skiing and other sports take place. Surely, the scenery was good, but it was summer and not winter!
Hotel Uday Palace at Pipalkoti was good. However, if you go up to Chamoli, a bigger place, Badrinath is nearer.
Day-9: Badrinath: Badri=Berries
Pipalkoti to Badrinath is about three hours via Joshi-Math. It is the most beautiful and also the most treacherous road in Uttarakhand Char Dham Yatra. The route closes frequently due to landslides and rain. Sometimes the 30-40 km patch from Joshimath to Badrinath is converted to one-way leading to waiting time of over two hours. Border Roads Organization (BRO) works round the clock to keep the road open. We were lucky that the road was two-way on that day.
About 17-18 km from Joshimath, there is a place called ‘Auli’, famous for winter sports and 4 km long rope-way. It was not included in our itinerary (Auli is a tourist
spot and ours was Yatra, you see! No entertainment please!!). Our co-travelers were so overwhelmed with the concept of Yatra that when we were having our morning Prayers and Bhajans in the bus, our tour manager was prevented from announcing where we were going or what we were passing through!
On the way, we stopped at Hanuman Chatti - where Hanuman had laid its 'punchh' - tail, which Bhim could not move. (01).
We reached Badrinath at around 10.30 and were taken straight to Village Mana, 3 kilometers further from Badrinath. It is the last inhabited place before International border with China, about 20-25 km further. Surprisingly, presence of military was scarce and security checks non-existent!
Mana (Manibhadra) is located at 10,300 ft height in picturesque surroundings. It has many historical places connected with Mahabharat. From parking area, it is a 2-3 km trek which is not very difficult. ‘Pithu’ are available, as the trek involves some climbing. We didn’t require one. As you can see in photographs 13-16, we crossed a stream which was flowing underneath the ground. After crossing, we came to know that the ground was made up of soil and ICE! It would
probably melt by end of the day! Several such glaciers could be seen close by.
At Mana the places to visit include:
(i) Ganesh Gufa – a Cave where Lord Ganesh wrote the epic ‘Mahabharat’.
(ii) Vyas gufa – a Cave from where Ved Vyas dictated the ‘Mahabharat’ to Lord Ganesh – by telepathy!
(iii) River Saraswati: a river that is flowing rapidly from a height with lot of noise – actually it is more like a fall than a river, and as the story goes, the noise disturbed Ganesha who cursed her to go underground. That is how River Saraswati disappears after a short distance.
(iv) Across the river Saraswati, there is Bhim-pul: a bridge created by Bhim for crossing the river and,
(v) Bhim-shila. Pandvadas had passed through this place on way to Swargarohan (journey to Heaven).
Further up and incidentally close to Kedarnath (one can see Kedar mountain from Mana) is ‘Satopanth’ (20 km further and not easily accessible) from where Pandavas went for heavenly abode.
Then there is a boulder called ‘Shesh-netra’ – eye of serpent God ‘Shesh-Nag’ which has natural engravings resembling an eye.
Hotel ‘Narayan
Palace’ is a property of RadheShyam and is good.
In the afternoon we had Darshan at Badrinath (also known as ‘Badri-Vishal’) temple. Queue system here is quite organized. So also is the ‘pooja’ system: Rs. 5000 for pooja using golden platter, 3000 for silver, 1100 for stainless steel and 700 for disposable cane platter. RadheShyam has a Pundit ready at every place! Our fellow devotees felt cheated when ‘pooja’ was performed outside the temple and they were told to stand in queue for Darshan! We were not cheated as we hadn’t opted for pooja!
While we were shopping for Prasad, a beggar came to the shop keeper with a bundle of 10 rupee notes to exchange for higher denomination – charging a commission of course! It was business time for all!
River Alaknanda flows through Badrinath town. The town is well developed with good hotels and market place and is the most frequented of all four Dhams.
Bavishya-Badri (literally "Badri of the future"): There are two mountains: Nar and Narayana on either side of Badrinath. According to the legend when evil transcends the world, the mountains of Nar and Narayana will move towards each other and
block the route to Badrinath and the sacred shrine would become inaccessible. The present world will be destroyed and a new one established. Then, Badrinath will appear at the Bhavishya Badri temple and be worshipped here, instead of the Badrinath shrine. Right now there is no road connectivity with Bavishya-Badri. Shall we inform BRO?!
Click on any photo to start full size slide show. Description of photographs is embedded.
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Venkant Bhavsar
non-member comment
Great place for pilgrimage
Thanks for sharing the valuable information about this Chardham Yatra. Very few lucky ones get a chance to visit these. It is very helpful information about the Chardham Yatra.