Padampuri – a
nature lover’s delight
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| Resorts coming around Padampuri |
Every time I
searched google for ‘Padampuri’ in Uttarakhand, it invariably launched a series
of responses and mostly it showed up ‘Jilling Estate’, without much of help
about the actual details of the destination.
Therefore, I thought of paying a visit to the place sans visiting the
said estate, as everyone who is a bit tech savvy would be knowing about it by
just surfing the internet. I thus
embarked upon the journey be encompassing Padampuri as a destination during my
winter sojourn to my little abode in Ranikhet.
It was a wintery morning in Delhi and getting up at about 4.30 A.M in
the morning in the cold January month was an exercise in itself and we reached
the New Delhi railway station well in time to board the New Delhi-Kathgodam
Shatabdi that leaves at 6.00 A.M in the morning and is scheduled to reach
Kathgodam at 11.40 A.M. However, the day
had more agony stored for us, as on that fateful day i.e. 5th
January, 2017 the train did not arrive at the platform even 10 minutes prior to
its departure time and simultaneously the announcements of other trains being
cancelled because of fog were being continually made. Since there were no announcements being made
in respect of our train, random thoughts that it too had been cancelled was
gnawing inside the mind. I started
mentally contemplating an alternate arrangement for reaching the
destination. Just then an announcement
was made informing the passengers that due to some ‘technical glitch’ the train
would leave later, no further details were provided and this kind of
announcement continued intermittently, until the train finally arrived at the
platform at 8.00 A.M, albeit two hours late.
Thereafter, the journey commenced after about another 10 minutes and we
braced ourselves for further delays en-route.
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| Aerial view of Chanfi as one heads towards Padampuri |
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| View of the famed 'Jilling Estate' from Padampuri |
The start of the
journey appeared to be inauspicious and the train slowly chugged along and
finally reached Kathgodam at around 2.25 P.M., the only saving grace for the
journey being the considerate approach of the Indian Railways which provided
for some Dal & Rice at around 1.00 P.M. to the passengers because of the
delay, which is not usually not a scheduled meal during the journey. Since, I had already pre-booked the taxi
wallah, who drops me regularly at my pad in Ranikhet, we did not have to waste
much time in either identifying a suitable vehicle or rate etc., as he had
already done the needful at the pre-paid booth.
We started from Kathgodam and after travelling for about a Kilometer or
so, we started our descent towards Ranibagh, on way to Bhimtal. The distance from Kathgodam to Bhimtal is
about 23 KMs and therefrom one has to reach Khutani, which is about 5 KMs from
Bhimtal. The roads bifurcates from
Khutani and one has to take a sharp U-turn towards Champawat/Lohaght road to
reach Padampuri. After passing by
Khutani, the next notable inhabited destination in Chanfi, which is 6 KMs from
Khutani and is situated in a valley. Having gone past Chanfi, the road again starts
ascending, albeit steeply and after one covers a further destination of about 6
KMs, one reaches Matial village and the trek to the famed ‘Jilling Estate’
starts from here and as the road climbs down about another Kilo meter, one
reaches Padampuri, situated in the valley below, where two rivulets
conjunct. It is small nondescript little
hamlet situated in the lap of nature, as if ensconced in a timeless warp.
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| The ancestral home of Sh. N.D Tiwari ernstwhile Chief Minister of UP & Uttarakhand in Padampuri |
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| Traditional farming methods being used to cultivate potatoes |
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| Modern technology is also creeping in slowly to replace or methods of farming |
As we were
already late, we headed directly for the Tourist Rest House (TRH in short)
Padampuri, managed by the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd. (KMVN in short). It is situated right on the State Highway
heading towards Champawat district of the State. Initially we decided to stay overnight at the
destination, but decided against it as the rooms there were poorly maintained
with seepage in toilets and rooms giving a shabby appearance to the entire
structure. However, the staff posted
there were very co-ordial and helpful and especially the cook Mohinder, had
excellent culinary skill and fed the famished souls with delectable pakoras,
omelettes & coffee. After having
placed the order for snacks etc., we walked down the road upto the village
square, wherefrom the ashram of famed Sombari baba is stone’s throw away and
having visited the temple complex, we headed back to the TRH. Padampuri is also known as the birth place of
the mercurial but controversial Congress leader of yester years, Sh. Narayan
Dutt Tiwari, who had been the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for quite some
time, his ancestral home is still inhabited by his extended family.
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| The famed Sombari Baba ashram in Padampuri |
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| A photo of famed Sombari Baba sourced from the net |
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| Where the Vultures dare - Himalayan Griffon in flight in Padampuri |
Padampuri is a
combination of tradition & modernity, perched at an altitude of 875 MSL or
about 3000 feet above MSL (measured by me through altimeter inbuilt in my
wristwatch), it has a moderate climate, but gets colder in winters as it is
surrounded by high peaks that allows only minimal sunshine hours in a day. The main economic activity of the village
revolves around agriculture, as there is sufficient availability of water in
its vicinity. I found a lot of
poly-houses and on enquiries found out that floriculture has become an
important activity for sustenance and coupled with this many resorts on hill
tops around Padampuri are coming up. The
river that runs up from the Sombari Baba ashram is a treasure trove of avian
fauna and a famed water-fall is situated further ahead in the river, but the
same is visible in its entirety only during the monsoon season. I found out a link to the photograph of the said
water fall, which may be accessed by my readers by following this link - https://tmi2-tourmyindiapvtlt.netdna-ssl.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Padampuri-Waterfall.jpg.
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| View from Tourist Rest House, Padampuri |
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A traditional Kumaoni home in Padampuri -
it had started raining as we were to commence with our journey towards Sitlakhet |
It would not be
justified if I do not mention a little about the famed Sombari Baba, who was
named so because he used to launch a community lunch for the villagers every
Monday i.e. Sombar/Somvar in Hindi. An
associate of the famed Haira Khan Baba, he was an ascetic of the famed cadre of
saints who roamed the Kumaon Hills during the early 1900s. The region
still echoes with legends about them. Sombari Baba was also one of the teachers
of Swami Rama whose master, Bengali Baba had sent him to Sombari Baba during
his early days. The present ‘mathadish’
or head of sect is Swami
Parmanand Puriji Maharaj, born in 1889 AD, was not present at the Padampuri ashram,
but was away to Gurgaon, Haryana on request of one of his disciples, who
despite being about 127 years old and having had two major surgeries, he still
appears to be going strong, although I was not fortunate enough to meet him. Thus, ended our brief but pleasant encounter
with Padampuri.
Here is the link to the video for the destination -
© S Roy Biswas
