Visit to Gangotri, Lakhamandala and Hanol

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This is my 4th journey in the Himalayas. Himalayas have always enchanted me. Nature reveals itself in its full bounty here. With diverse topography and variety of distinct flora and fauna, from Dun valleys to towering mountains, from sub tropical forests to alpine meadows, numerous streams, brooks and rivers to snow clad mountains and glaciers , nature decorates itself in varied abundance. The Himalayan mountains extend up to 3500 km passing through 8 countries influencing the culture and livelihoods of millions of people. Apart from the polar regions, Himalayas are the largest reservoir of renewable fresh water in form of snow and glaciers. They are the source of 10 of the largest rivers of Asia and provide for the irrigation, energy and livelihoods of nearly 1.3 billion people downstream.

The rich alluvial soils deposited by Himalayan rivers makes the Gangetic delta one of the most fertile regions of the world. No wonder it is home to the oldest surviving civilisation. Apart from being an ecological treasure trove, it is home to the world’s greatest mystics since time immemorial (the tradition continuing even today). The rich spiritual tradition attracts seekers from all over the world. ‘The beetles’, Steve Jobs and so many others transformed their lives by seeking refuge in the Himalayan gurus. Almost every stream/ mountain and every village has a memory of some great sage (or even god ) performing penance there. All this puts the Himalayas on a very different plane of experience.

Here is a brief outline of our travel

We started our journey from Bangalore. Taking a Direct flight to Deharadun We landed at 3.30 pm . We had booked a car for further travel . Barring little traffic at Rishikesh, the road was good . We stopped for tea at Krishna Pratyush around 5.30pm on the opposite side of Kunjadevi Mata Mandir. We reached Uttarkashi by 9pm and checked into Birla Dharamshala. Birla Dharamshala is right in the city centre. There are lots of hotels serving meals, paratha , puris etc adjacent to the Dharamshala. Food is basic and hygiene is also very basic. We ate roti, paneer curry and rice and called it a day.

Next day we checked out by 8 am and visited the Kashi Vishwanath temple which is just 5 min from Birla Dharamshala. This is one of the oldest and the most important temple in the region. Situated on the banks of river Bhagirathi, it provides a picturesque sight of the mountains. Just like Varanasi in Uttarpradesh , Uttarkashi is also situated between two rivers viz Syalamgad (also called Varuna) and Kaligad (also called Asi) . (Kashi situated between the rivers Varuna and Asi). It is believed that when Kashi will get submerged in waters in later part of Kaliyug then Lord Vishwanath will be be brought here in this temple of Uttarkashi.

Pilgrims and sages heading toward Gangotri generally halt at Uttarkashi and take blessings of Lord Shiva. The temple was originally built by Sage Parshuram. It was reconstructed by the queen of Tehri, Rani Khaneti Devi. The Shivaling is 56 cm tall. The inner sanctum sanctorum also has idols of Devi Parvati and lord Ganesh. Opposite the Kashi Vishwanath temple but within the temple boundaries is the temple of ma Shakti. The main attraction here is the magnificent Trishul 6m in height and 90cm at the base. It is the same Trishul which had been used by Bhagawati to kill demons. The uniqueness of this Trishul is that it cannot be lifted by our full strength but when you press it with your finger it vibrates. The Trishul is believed to be more than 1500 years old. It has Tibetan inscriptions on it. Another Trishul is found in front of the main shiva temple . It is more than 26 ft in height and has inscriptions of the Naga dynasty . After spending some time in the temple premises (chanting Devi Kavach) we started our journey further. Within few kms we had to stop for registering ourselves at Hena. The government makes entry of all travelers going for char Dham. They take your contact details and biometrics. There is no fee for registration and it can also be done online and at few other places like Rishikesh.

Our next stop was at Gangnani . It’s a small town 46 km from Uttarkashi famous for its hot water springs called Rishikund. It’s customary to take a dip in this before proceeding further to Gangotri. There are separate tanks constructed for men and women. Water is quite hot. A few steps above these tanks is a temple dedicated to sage Parashara - father of sage Vyasa. Around this place there are shops selling woollen shawls, sweaters, scarfs etc at a reasonable price. There are couple of shops selling tea, pakodas as well as meals. After spending around 45 min we proceeded to our next halt - Harshil.

Harshil

This is a nature lovers paradise, but as we were running late we just stopped for lunch at ’ Anchal hotel and restaurant’ at Dharali . Food was simple but delicious. Veg thali costed ₹150 . Aloo paratha was served with pickle and aloo mutter sabzi and costed ₹90. I found the dal spicy so he prepared a simple moong dal with just ghee-jeera tadka and it tasted really good. After an hour we headed for our final destination-Gangotri. On the way you can see the Ganges flowing on your left side as you start climbing the mountain. Vegetation starts changing as the altitude changes.

You can find,


• Pine Forests between 900-2000 mtr
• Deodar trees between 2000-3000 mtr
• Fir and Spruce over 3000 mtr
• Alpine meadows are found above 3500 mtr in some places.
• Kharshu, Birch and Junipers above 4000 mtr /



Grasses, shrubs, herbs sprung up in the valleys during May - September, many of them have medicinal properties.The weather starts getting cooler and the surroundings more and more beautiful. Apple orchards can be seen in and around Harshil . The road is narrow and so if two big vehicles come from opposite sides all the traffic gets stuck.

Gangotri

Gangotri is situated at a height of 3048 mtr, in Uttarkashi District. It is the place where Ganga descended from the heavens. Bhagirathi as the Ganga is called here arises from the Gangotri glacier 18 km uphill of the Gangotri town. The river is called Ganga only after its confluence with Alaknanda at Dev Prayag. The temple at Gangotri was built in 18th century by Nepali army general Amar Singh Thapa. Later rebuilt by king of Jaipur in 20th century. The elegant structure in white granite is built in Nagara style of architecture and also incorporates Katyuri style architecture, a famous form in Nepal and its foothills. The inner sanctum or garb ha grhuha consists of idols of Ganga, Saraswati, Yamuna, Maha Kali, Lakshmi, king Bhagirath, Adi Shankaracharya etc. During winters when the whole area gets covered with several feet of snow the idols are carried downhill to village Mukhba near Harshil, where they are worshipped from Diwali to Akshay trittiya (3rd Day of 2nd Month Of Hindu Calendar). On Akshay Trittiya the idols again reach Gangotri in a big procession where the locals join with great faith and enthusiasm. The temple premises has 4 small temples dedicated to Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesha, Lord Hanuman and King Bhagirath. In the Bhagirath Temple is the Bhagirath Shila a stone platform on which Bhagirath did Tapasya.

We visited few places at walking distance from the temple viz Surya kund, Gauri kund, pandav gufa and Swami Sunderananda’s ashram. Surya kund is located 500 m from the Gangotri temple. You have to cross the iron bridge to get a good view. The Bhagirathi river falls spectacularly through deep gorges. Here Kedar Ganga coming from Kedar tal joins Bhagirathi river. Gauri kund is also a similar waterfall. Both these kundas are on either side of the iron bridge. It is believed that there is a shivalinga immersed in water downstream washed by the water fall.

Swami Sunderananda (1926 -2020 ): He was a disciple of Swami Tapovananda. (Swami Chinmayananda founder of Chinmaya mission was also the disciple of Swami Tapovanananda ) . He has lived in Gangotri since 1948 when he took sanyas. Initially it was a small hut bequeathed to him by his guru after his death in 1957. There he lived practicing penance without any comforts or conveniences. Apart from being an ascetic he was also a mountaineer, photographer, author and environmentalist. He lectured widely in India about the threats to the Ganges river and loss of Himalayan glaciers due to global warming. He was a noted mountaineer having scaled over 25 Himalayan peaks, and climbing twice with Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. He was an avid photographer. He has taken one lakh photographs over a 50 year period and has been nicknamed ‘sadhu who clicks’ . He is the author of the book ‘Himalaya:Through the lens of a Sadhu'. His guru swami Tapovan Maharaj has also written a best seller book named Wanderings in the Himalayas ( Himagiri Vihar ) which is an authentic account of his travels on foot. Recently a museum has been constructed near his hut housing photographs clicked by him. It is worth seeing. Do keep 2-3 hours if you want to see it in detail.

Pandav gufa is a small cave where Pandavas were believed to have stayed for a while when they were wandering in the Himalayas.

We had come to Gangotri in 2017 (you may visit our Gangotri blog for more details) In 5 years we saw a lot of commercialisation of the place. Instead of a holy place it is fast becoming a tourist spot. We found steel plates or leaf plates being replaced by plastic plates and paper cups. Disposing this huge amount of waste would entail either dumping it in Gangotri itself or carrying it all the way to Uttarkashi for further disposal like shredding, incineration etc There are several ashrams dotting the banks of Bhagirathi (Ganga is know here as Bhagirathi) which provide free food and accommodation to sadhus . Some of them even provide food and accommodation to common people at reasonable cost. There are also some sadhus who stay alone and practice penance in the surrounding forests. Sadhus from all over India travel across India visiting different pilgrimage centre or tirthas , many times on foot . They have a good network with each other and the ashrams. So their food and accommodation is taken care of. In Himalayas where one has to walk long distances before reaching an ashram, the locals used to provide food and accommodation. With the nature of Himalaya changing into a tourist/trekking/adventure destination, these things are slowly changing. Once you start converting your homes into hotels and home stays, providing free food and accommodation will be a thing of the past.

The Himalayan region is inherently very unstable due to the tectonic movements. The movement of the Indian plate into the Asian plate makes the region seismically active with frequent earthquakes. Widespread construction of roads, increasing influx of people for tourism and adventure activities, tunnelling the mountains for hydroelectric power projects, construction of dams and other developmental activities have only worsened the problem. Soil erosion, deforestation, loss of biodiversity are now visible even to ordinary eyes, thus threatening the very pristine environment that we come to enjoy. According to an ISRO study 75% of Himalayan glaciers are melting at an alarming rate. This will not only affect the Himalayas but 1.3 billion people downstream and cause irreparable damage to the distinct habitat that the Himalayas provide.

We actually wanted to visit Goumukh but due to heavy snowfall in the mountains and bad weather warning, government closed down the Goumukh Yatra. As we had few days to spare our travel agent suggested us to visit Lakhamandala and Mahasu devata temples in Jaunsar region. We started from Gangotri at 11 am . We had to travel 203 km to reach Lakhamandala. Google maps was showing journey time to be around 6.5 hrs.

On the way, around 7km from GangotrI , situated in the picturesque Bhairav ghati near the confluence of Jadh Ganga and Bhagirathi, is the Bhairav temple . Bhairav a form of Shiva is the Kshetra pal and a visit to the temple is a must to conclude your Gangotri Dham Yatra. The Bhairav ghati boasts of the highest bridge in Asia in a place called lanka. It is at a height of 2890 m above sea level. We took lunch at a road side outlet a little ahead of Harshil. The food was simple yet tasty.

Lakhamandal (1712 m / 5616.8 ft)

We reached lakhamandal around 8.30 pm and stayed at a homestay by the name hotel Vivaan just adjacent to temple premises. The owner prepared us a simple meal of rice dal sabzi and khandua roti . We liked the food very much. Though simple it had good taste. Even dal - rice tasted better than the one we eat in cities. Only thing I didn’t like is that the food was served in disposable plates. Next day we headed towards the temple around 10 am. Lakhamandal falls in the Jaunsar-Bawar region of Dehradun district. The temple is built in nagara style of architecture and probably belongs to 12 century AD. Stone inscription dated 6th century AD found under the pyramidal structure records the construction of a shiva temple by princess Iswara belonging to the royal race of Singhpura, for the spiritual welfare of her late husband Chandragupta, the son of the king of Jalandhar. Currently the temple premises is under the control of Archeological Survey of India. Over the years several shivalingas have been found in a 2-3 km radius around the temple when people have dug the ground for construction activity or road building etc. Probably in the past this entire area must have been covered with shivalingas giving the place it name . It is believed that the Pandavas installed 1lakh shivalingas here to get rid of the sin of gotra hatya. The temple premises is spacious and well maintained. Apart from lord shiva the garbha griha has idols of Ganesha,Surya Narayana,Parvati, Vishnu. The priest told that many times idols are found in the surrounding villages which are then brought here. Childless couples come here on mahashivratri and perform puja , japa etc to get a son. Legend says that the shivalinga in the main temple was discovered/ worshiped by Kamadhenu. Everyday she is used walk from the village downhill and pour milk from her udders on the linga. The Nandi in front of the temple has been desecrated by invaders. Adjacent to the main temple is a big rock plinth ,on which is found a big linga. Locals tell us that this linga was brought by Bhim from the Ganges. Previously there must have been a temple here because we find two dwarpals at one side. They are also desecrated by the invaders. The priest told us that these dwarpals were named as Veer - Bhadra in Satya yug , Jay - Vijay in Treta yug , Dwar - Pal in Dwapar yug and Danav - Manav in Kali yug . One can see a skull on the head of the Danav and a crown on the head of the Manav. In Satya yug if a dead body was brought and kept in front of the shivalinga then it used to become alive for a while. The priest also told us that this is the site of the lakshagriha and also showed us the opening of the tunnel. However I think this is just a dantakatha because we find another place in Uttar Pradesh by the name of Varnawat which seems more plausible to be the site of lakshagriha. As we go Further west in the temple premises is another linga. If you pour water on it you can see your reflection on the linga . Some say it’s made up of graphite.The priest told that shiva came in the dream of some villager and told him that he is present here. When the place was dug this unique shivalinga was discovered. Behind the temple we saw some beautiful wooden houses. We were told that they were made of deodar wood. Devdar wood is very durable and hence good for construction . Some houses were 500 years old and still didn’t have any damage. After around 2 hours we returned to our homestay. The owner told us that just 8 km away is a temple called Budha Kedar and requested us to visit it. We agreed and within 20-30 min we reached the so called Budha Kedar. Later on we realised that the temple we visited was actually Bhatad Kedar. However it was a good experience, the people were very cordial . A new temple was being constructed a short distance downhill as it was becoming difficult for the priests to climb the mountain daily. The new temple was being constructed in Deodar wood with exquisite carvings. We met the Mistry (chief carpenter). He told us that he learned designing and carving from his father and that’s how the knowledge has been passed through generations. He does not draw or write anything on paper and the design just comes in his mind which is then manifested on wood. He follows the tradition and eats only once a day, also he doesn’t shave or cut his hair till the temple is completed.The carvings were very beautiful. India has had a rich tradition of architecture since ages which can be seen even today in temples, wells, forts and palaces. From the four faces of Brahma, the creator, are stated to have originated the four heavenly architects viz 1) Visvakarman (who built Lanka),

2) Maya (father of Mandodari and the one who built Sabha of Pandavas in Indraprastha ),

3) Tvashtar (mentioned in Rigveda as a skilful craftsman, considered as the creator of wombs also built weapons like Indra’s Vajra

4) Manu (built the city of Ayodhya).

Their four sons are called respectively Sthapati, Sutra-grahin, Vardhaki, and Takshaka. These four evidently represent the progenitors of the four classes of terrestrial artists. They form the guild of architects, each an expert in his own department, consisting of the chief architect or master-builder, the designer or the draftsman, the painter, and the joiner. ‘Vishwakarma Prakash’ , ‘Mayamat shilpashastra’, ‘Shilpa shastra vidhana’, ‘Vastu ratnavali’, and numerous other books had been written and their manuscripts are still available in libraries. This Mistry however was totally unaware of any such books. For him the oral tradition was sufficient. I was both happy and sad at this scenario. Happy because at least part of the knowledge still exists in oral tradition, sad wondering how long this knowledge will survive and what about the loss of remaining knowledge which now exists only in manuscripts. Close to the old temple was a spring arising adjacent to the roots of a deodar tree. The priest told us that the spring arose when the idol of lord Shiva was installed in this mandir. We drank some water from the spring, a rare opportunity to drink fresh water directly from its source which we can’t afford in the cities. Then we visited the pandav gufa (caves) which had many tunnels which were supposed to lead to far away places at the time of Pandavas. The priest told us that this area was the territory of king Virat during the Mahabharata era and Pandavas had hidden here for few days during their agyatwas. He showed us a rare nine leaflets Bilva patra.
Having visited all places in lakhamandal we headed for our next destination Mahasu Devata Mandir near Hanol.

Hanol is around 90 km from lakhamandal and should take around 3 hours but we took few halts on the way to enjoy the scenery . The road passes through forests and as you descend you can see the Tons river on the right side of the road. It’s a beautiful sight and we couldn’t resist ourselves and spent some time on the rocks by the river . We Reached Mahasu devata temple parking around 7 pm. Adjacent to the parking area is a Dharamshala run by the temple. You get free accommodation and have to pay ₹50 in case you want blanket and pillows. There are no rooms but separate halls for men and women. There is a separate bathroom and toilet block. Its clean and well maintained. This accommodation was however full. People associated with the temple having their homes close to the temple also provide accommodation but we preferred to stay at GMVN guest house 700 mtr. from the temple.

Hanol (1054 m /3458 ft )
Hanol is a village situated on the banks of Tons river (which is the largest tributary of Yamuna) in Dehradun district, Chakrata block of Uttarakhand. The famous temple of Mahasu devata is situated in this village. He is the supreme deity of the region and is especially revered in the Jaunsar - Bawar and Rawai parangana region of western Uttarakhand and Sirmaur, Solan, Jubbal and Shimla in eastern Himachal . In fact he is not a single deity but 4 brothers are collectively referred to as Mahasu devata. He is regarded as the god of justice and his decision was acceptable to local rulers as well as the villagers even today. The temple was constructed in 8 th or 9th century by Huna Bhat, a Brahmin who brought Mahasu maharaj from Kashmir. Currently it is under control of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Temple history: According to the legend a demon by name Mandarth used to reside in the village and used to gobble one person everyday. Constantly being troubled by the demon, villagers prayed to lord Shiva who then asked his devotee Deolari Devi to send her four sons to fight the demon. A fierce battle ensued and after a couple of days the brothers killed Mandarth. After many years a villager found 4 shivalingas while ploughing the field. These were named after the four brothers viz Bashik Maharaj , Botha Maharaj, Pavasik Maharaj and Chalda Maharaj. According to another story around 8-9th century a man-eating demon Kirmir used to trouble the villagers. A Brahmin by the name Huna Bhatt resided in the village. He had 7 sons , out of which 6 had been eaten by Kirmir. One day when his wife was filling water on the river, the demon tried to mis behave with her. She took her half filled pot and somehow escaped. A voice from the pot told her that if she wants to save her family and the village, send her husband to Kashmir and pray to the powerful Mahasu devata (Mahasu is apbhransha for Maha shiva) present there. Accordingly Huna Bhatt went to Kashmir and prayed to Mahasu devata. Pleased with his devotion, Mahasu devata agreed to come with him. After returning to his village Huna Bhatt started the yagna as directed by Mahasu dev, but due to miscalculation of muhurta or impatience he started ploughing the field a day before. The result was that when Basik Maharaj came out his eye got damaged, then came Botha Maharaj whose knee got injured, then came out Pavasik Maharaj and his ear got damaged, Chalda Maharaj however came out at the right time and so didn’t get injured. Mahasu killed the demon Kirmir and bought peace to the village. Botha Maharaj stays at Hanol, Pavasik Maharaj temple is at Thadiyar whereas Basik Maharaj temple is in Maindrath while Chalda Maharaj roams through out the region of their Deitydom where Mahasu devata is considered as Ishtadev. He stays in the temple of Pavasik Maharaj for 12 years and Basik Maharaj for 12 years. While travelling from one temple to another he stays for a day at Hanol with Botha Maharaj.

The temple at Hanol was initially built in Huna architectural style but over the years developed into mixed style. Today the roof is in Nagara style of architecture. The temple is built with a mix of stone, wood and metal with beautiful paintings decorating the outer walls.

In 1993 the top and entrance part of the Mahasu devata mandir collapsed. Gangarama, the raj mistry was given the task to rebuild the fallen part. He specialises in the traditional Jaunsari art of temple construction which consists of intricate stone and wood work with exquisite carvings. It took him 10 years to complete the job. During this period he neither shaved nor cut his hair as was the tradition. He was given 3 lakh rupees and 5 tolas of gold by the villagers.

The temple premises is quite spacious and well maintained. There is a small ASI museum in the premises displaying some idols, weapons and artefacts . You can see people surrounding a priest who as a representative of Mahasu solves their problems. There is a continuous Deepa lighted inside the garbha griha. Also a tiny stream of water arises in the inner sanctum. Prasad is cooked for devata and the main priest just behind the temple. Food is offered to devata around 3-4 pm after which the priest eats. The priest eats only once in the day. Women were not allowed to enter the temple previously. Also goats/sheep sacrifice has been stopped now. Previously two types of goats were offered to 'Mahasu Devata', ones which were sacrificed and the others which were left in the temple premises. These goats then roamed in the surroundings and no one obstructed their movement or hurt them. Whenever 'Chalda Maharaj' moves from one place to another these goats make their appearance in that place before his arrival thus acting as a messenger. The temple premises has two stones. It is believed that only a person without ego can lift them.

There is an old tradition of sending salt to Hanol from Rashtrapati Bhavan which continues even today. According to a folklore, centuries ago when the procession of Chalda Maharaj was passing from one village to another the Doriya (symbol) of maharaj fell into Tons river. Tons futher has confluence with Yamuna and that’s how the Doriya, reached Delhi. A fishermen found it and gave it to the king who then started storing salt in it. Mahasu maharaj was angered and some bad things started happening. Learned brahmins were called and they told the king about the Doriya. The king brought is back to Hanol and apologised. Thats how it became a tradition to send salt to Hanol.

After spending 2-3 hours in the temple we started our return journey. On the way we visited 'Basik Maharaj' temple and returned to Rishikesh via Chakrata. As we had started around 2pm we didn’t stop for food as it was a long journey back to Rishikesh.

We reached Rishikesh around 8.30pm. Next day we returned to Bangalore with our mind full of breathtaking Himalayan beauty and spirit filled with serenity.

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Photos

JollyGrant Airport
Jolly Grant Airport @Dehradun

On Road
Rishikesh To Uttarkashi - Pleasant Colourful Evening

The Sage
This Sadhu is carrying 1.25 lakhs Rudrakshas on his head weighing 45kg. He is doing the arduous Tapasya of carrying this load for around 15 hours
a day for years together along with some other hatayoga practices he didn’t disclose. He said by doing this for a specified period he will become a shiva-gana

Swami Sundarananda
Yogi who Clicks

Shiva Temple
Shiva Temple @Lakhamandala

Dev & Danav
Dev and Danav at Entrance of Shiva temple at Lakhamandal

Under Construction Kedarnath Temple At Bhatar
Devdar wood is used for construction and carvings.

Kedarnath Temple
Old Kedarnath Temple at Bhatar. A new Temple is getting built downhill

Old Kedarnath Temple
Old Kedarnath Temple at Bhatar. A new Temple is getting built downhill

Stream From Deodar Tree
Near Old Kadarnath Temple At Bhatar