Unexplored India - Kinnaur Kailash / Sangla Valley

Now we start towards some unknown/unexplored corners of Incredible India.


Again, Himalayas...Himachal... hills... mountains...valleys... snow... nature... beauty... beauty... beauty... Incredible beauty of Incredible India !

The basepoint is again Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh.  In case you like pure nature, you would like to avoid this crowded city. But if you want to store essentials for your journey, this is the best place to get it all as chances for luxuries or even necessities get slimmer by every kilometer you cross from here. 
As we told in our earlier series of Giri Ganga Temple,  from Shimla, crossing Kufri, we reach Fagu, from where the road divereges. One goes toawards Kotkhai, Khara Pathar,  Hatkoti, Jubbal, Rohru,and further onwards to Chanshal Range. 

The other one goes towards Tibet and is also known as Hindustan Tibet road. This is the road we take this time for our journey towards Kinnaur Kailash & Sangla Valley. 


Here are a few pics on the way :

First View of River Satluj :

 An Artistic Rock in the River Satluj

 Mile Stone for the last point on Indian side. 246 kilometers from Ambala, 200 Kilometers from Chandigarh already and still 254 kilometers away....

Images of Incredible India : Chitkul

Sometimes, Images fail to explain... let me try words ... the immense, overwhelming beauty of Kedarnath

If you think that its only a myth or only false stories that Dev-lok or Shiv-lok exist above this Prithvi-lok(mrityu-lok).... its time you travelled to KEDAR NATH. Once you start scaling heights on track to Kedar Nath, you will forget you belong to a mortal earth.... I swear, I swear, I swear !!!

I only wish I could take capture it all in photos... but ... ... aperture of your lens betrays you pathetically,  panoramic views cannot be taken in spherical shape, batteries give up... u replace them with back-up & that too exhausts, the views change by every second, u have got only two eyes to see in only one direction... ... camera, battery, lens.. all give up... You end up saying - " OK.. Let me enjoy in alone & let me print it all in my memory, my brain... all I can do later is to tell the other mortal earthlings who have never been to this place..." ,  praying that words do not betray you this time.

 

...no camera in the world can capture what these two pair of eyes really see....The abode of Gods --Kedar Nath is ethereal...

.... its an out of the world experience... literally !!! its a 14 km trek along Alaknanda River (a branch of Ganga). You cross one huuuuuge mountain only to find a bigger one waiting to be crossed. Clouds remain kilometers beneath your feet.... the best feast for the sight comes in the end... when Sumeru Parvat in its full elegance reveals itself behind the majestic Kedar Nath Temple. The market near the temple does play a spoilsport, but u need to ignore it to savour the time of your life. 

... For a Hindu atleast, it's THE moment... a moment, for which he has waited for so many lives, so many reincarnations, so many births.  For others, it's hard for me to imagine, how others would feel it, because it is so enchanting for me that i cannot even imagine if even a non-hindu will not be touched by this so so immense & so so overwhelming beauty of this abode of Gods... 

KEDARNATH !!!!

Scenic Beauty of Kedar Nath Temple

Earlier we posted about the Waterfalls on the way to The Kedarnath Temple. Presenting some more pics of the endless scenic beauty of the place. The only pity is that there is a limit to which cameras can capture a scene. There is a limit to which the batteries can sustain. But there is no limit of the beauty, the scenes that you see on the 14 kms of trek towards the Kedarnath Temple.

See this photograph.
This is heaven.... indeed heaven...



This is how clouds play hide & seek with snow peaks of the Himalayas.

These peaks form the beautiful background of the main temple. The name of this peak is Meru Parvat. According to Hindu mythology, this mountain is the centre of the Srishti (The Creation, The Universe.)

A Small Village School in the Lap of the Himalayas

Seeing small children running towards school is anytime a delight to the eyes & refreshing to the mind as all of a sudden it reminds you of your own school days.

But seeing a school at such a beautiful place, a valley right in the lap of Himalayas, was quite an envious experience as we went down our own memory lane.

We just kept moving on praying to God for a bright future for all children having dreams in their eyes.



The village was near The Rudra Nath Temple. One of the Panch Kedars.

The Road to Nowhere : A view on way to Badrinath (from Kedarnath)

While moving from the Kedarnath Temple, towards shri Badrinath ji, we had our breakfast at Chopta , where the scenes were a delight for the human eye. Moving onwards, we passed through the Musk Deer Sanctuary. Though we could not see any musk deer over there, we stopped at one place to confirm that we were on the right track. Clicked a photograph as it looked like we were on - "The Road to Nowhere!!"

Triyugi Narayan Temple : Marriage place of Lord Shiva & Parvati

Triyuginarayan Temple is assumed to be a temple of "Treta-Yug", a Yug older than even the Kedarnath temple, which was built by Pandavas in Dwaapar Yug. Situated in a small vllage in dense, thick forests off a few kilometers from Sonprayag, on the way to The Kedarnath Shrine, this is the place where it is believed that Lord Shiva was married to Parvati.
The fire around which "Phere" were done, is still kept alight here. Unfortunatelly the photos of that pious fireplace were damaged during transfer from our camera to PC.

This is the place in the temple where Kanyadaan of Parvati took place.


Its a completely mesmerizing experiencing to attend Aarti in this temple, standing near the fireplace which is witness to one of the most sacred & auspicious ceremony of the God himself & is still alight since millions of years.
Truly Awe Inspiring to any one having a little of faith in Hindu Religion !!!



Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, Graphite, 6" Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology

Pandukeshwar : on way to Badrinath

A Lion in the Police Chowki :


The Lonely Flower :

The Badrinath Temple

One can only thank God for such opportunity to actually be there at such a holy place, to actually see it from one's own eyes....
These are a few rare moments when one feels to have achieved the answer to the question : why the life has been given to us ?

Waterfalls @ Kedarnath

The path to Kedarnath Temple was filled with hundreds of waterfalls.... some seemed to come faling from heaven itself.... here's a glimpse ...

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