Kartik Swami temple – a platform for viewing Himalayan vistas

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Kartik Swami temple – a platform for viewing Himalayan vistas

The majestic view of the Himalayan ranges as seen from Kartik Swami temple

             I had read about this destination with awe and had seen the photographs of the spectacular vistas of Himalayan ranges on the internet.  Accordingly, visiting Kartik Swami temple was the last, but not the least in order of priorities for me.  I had kept this trek for the last leg, so that even if we got tired, it would be the last trek of the trip.  Having visited Deoriatal the previous day and that being a tiresome journey, sans any food etc. we all got up late in the morning, including the driver.  The ladies of the group i.e. my wife and daughter had started mumbling and grumbling about the trek to Kartik Swami temple, when they heard that it was a 3 km. trek one way.  Therefore, I had no other option than to drop them at Syalsaur and my Son also volunteered to stay back with them.  Thus, I visited the famed Kartik Swami temple on my own.

View of Kedarnath peaks from Syalsaur as we start for Kartik Swami temple

As the road construction activity is underway the vehicles stop on either side

Going past Mohan Khal en-route Kartik Swami temple road

             Katik Swami temple is a small temple dedicated to Lord Kartik, son of Lord Shiva & Parvati, placed on a ledge that offers 270º view of the Himalayan ranges.  It can be reached by trekking for 3 Kms. from a nondescript little village called Kanakchauri.  This village can be accessed both from Rudraprayag as well as a small village called Banswara on Kedarnath Highway, about a kilometer from Syalsaur.  Kanakchauri village is about 40 kms from Rudraprayag on the Rudraprayag - Pokhari route, whereas from the road at Banswara, it is about 37.9 Kms. from Syalsaur.  This road is a narrow and due to ongoing road construction work for another road, connecting some of the villages in the hills, which was taking place, due to displacement of rocks in the process, we had to wait mid-way for about 45 minutes or so.  But this road being used mainly by the local villagers falling in this route, namely – Gair, Kanyas, Akauri etc., till one reaches Mohankhal, which is the nodal point wherefrom the road from Pokhri meets, it is a smooth ride with very few vehicles traversing along this road patch.  Kanachauri village can also be approached from Karanprayag, which is about 40 Kms. from Pokhri and it is another 15 Kms. from Pokhri to Kanakchauri. 

Terraced fields and small villages perched on mountainsides en-route Kartik Swami temple

First view of the Kanakchauri village and ridge astride which is the famed Kartik Swami temple

The first view of Chaukhamba massif on trek route to Kartik Swami temple 

             Kanakchauri village is a very small village and total length would not exceed 150-200 meters along the main road, wherein numerous shops catering to local requirements as well as eateries dedicated to tourists run shop.  In case of heavy rush of tourists, there is not ample space available and the road, being quite narrow, parking is definitely a problem here.  The Mayadeep group has a reasonable rest house constructed mainly with bamboo here and they quote a price of Rs.2000/- per night for each such bamboo hut.  However, I have come across blogs wherein it has been claimed that bargaining can give you a good deal of around Rs.800/- per room per night also during lean seasons.  The trek route for the famed Kartik Swami temple is easily identifiable by a gate constructed on the road side leading towards the trek route.  Although, there are no sight to any Himalayan peaks visible from the village road itself, but a few hundred meters upward trek would make them visible.  The trek route is about 3 Kms. and takes about two hours’ time at a medium pace and the trek runs through a pleasant and virgin Oak and Rhododendron forest and the stillness is broken only with a twig or two breaking under your shoe or that of a bird chirping somewhere in the canopy and the gradient is moderate.

A Nuthatch bird on trek route to Kartik Swami temple

The description hoarding on trek route to Kartik Swami temple

The hut of the temple priest of Kartik Swami temple

A display poster erected by Uttarakhand Tourism near Kartik Swami temple

             Nestled in the Garhwal Himalayas at an altitude of 3048 meters (about 10,000 ft) in the Rudraprayag district of the State of Uttarakhand is the temple of Kartik Swami. Kartik Swami temple is perched on a spur of a ledge, in a serene and beautiful location, that provides a spectacular panoramic view of some of the highest mountains peaks of the Himalayan ranges in India.  The snow laden peaks of Bandar punch are visible to the west. In addition, the peaks of Kedar Dome, Meru, Kedarnath, Neelkanth, Trishul, Nanda Ghunti and Nanda Devi group of peaks are also visible from Kartik Swami. The main attraction of Kartik Swami is the mighty Chaukhamba peak which appears, as if as, it is framed as the temple’s background.  En-route, just before you take onto the huge stone steps for the final assault on the ridge to reach the temple top, is the home of the priest of the temple, who stays in a basic concrete house (an ashram), which is less than 1 km before the temple and he will accompany travelers/devotees to the temple, if required.  There is something mystical about Kartik Swami temple trek, as on the way you find broken bangles and vermillion (sindoor) all along the path made as offerings, while the temple complex has a lot of bells hanging around it.  The ever interrogative mind of mine was getting vexed to know about the mythology of the place and hence I made some research on the internet, searching for answers to my query.

The pen nib like peak_Janhukoot peak as seen from Kartik Swami temple

Panoramic view of the famed Kartik Swami temple

The main temple doorway of Kartik Swami temple

The idol of Lord Kartikey in Kartik Swami temple

The mighty Chaukhambha peak as seen from Kartik Swami temple

         Mythological anecdotes relate this place to Lord Kartik Swami, who is the elder brother of Lord Ganesha and according to Hindu mythology, he is considered as “God for War and Victory.”  He is also known as Murugan Swami in Tamil Nadu, Subramanya in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and Kartikeya in Bengal. The temple encompasses an idol of Lord Kartik Swami carved on a marble rock.  According to Hindu mythology, Lord Shiva (the destroyer) told his sons Ganesha and Kartikeya that one of them, who will be the first to take seven rounds of the universe will have the privilege of being worshiped first.  Ganesha took seven rounds around Shiva and Parvati, stating that he saw the Universe in them, while Kartikeya faithfully circled the universe. Impressed by Ganesha, Lord Shiva gave him the honor of being worshipped before anyone else. While Lord Kartikeya was taking his final round, he encountered Narada Muni (albeit intentionally), who informed him that he had been made to look like a fool by circling the Universe and that Lord Ganesh had already been granted the boon.  Angered by this kind treachery, Kartikeya sacrificed his body and gave his flesh back to his mother Parvati and his bones to Lord Shiva as an ultimate sacrifice.

As the evening sets in we head back to Syalsaur from Kartik Swami temple

            Having visited the temple and spent some quality time there, we traversed back through the serene trek through the Oak and Rhododendron tree forest and reached back Kanakchauri in about an hour’s time.  As we were totally famished by this time, myself and my driver, who had accompanied me to the temple top, ate some noodles with eggs and tea, which was so sweetened that I could only have one gulp, before discarding it.  Thereafter, as we were about to make our way back, a forest worker requested for ride upto Mohankhal as he had missed the last bus.  We dropped him at his desired destination and made our way back to Syalsaur and thus, ended my winter sojourn for the year, albeit visiting a few more destinations on our way back.

Here is a link to the video of the destination -

Enticing Chopta

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Enticing Chopta

Panoramic view of Chopta - the so called mini Switzerland 

         After having rested for the night at Syalsaur, I got up early in the morning and was rewarded with a scintillating view of the Kedarnath peaks lit up in the morning sun.  I wandered around a bit, trudging up to the main stream of Mandakini River and saw some fishermen, who had placed nets across the stream at a few places, go waist down in the icy cold water to collect their catch, really some hard work indeed.   After returning back to the TRH and having had a hot cup of tea, I retired back to my room to have a bath, before embarking upon the days scheduled trip to the famed Chopta village.

Glorious view of Kedarnath peaks from Syalsaur early in the morning

Having had a heavy B’fast, as we did not expect to find many eateries on the way, we commenced our journey for Chopta at around 10.00 A.M.  The sky was a clear blue and the sun had made its grand appearance for the day, slowly warming up the environ that was still laden with the cold ground frost permeated air.  We traversed a distance of 14 Kms. along the Mandakini River upto Kund, wherefrom the road crosses over the Mandakini River and heads towards Kedarnath and the other one heads straight on uphill towards Ukhimath.  We traversed on an uphill drive for another 5 Kms. before we reached Ukhimath, which is the famous temple town housing the Kedarnath deity during the winter months and I will describe in detail in the ensuing blog.  We had to travel another 29 Kms. from Ukhimath before we could reach the destination for the day i.e. Chopta.

The signpost near Ukhimath

A deep gorge with a village home perched precariously on way to Chopta

Flock of sheep being herded along the road to Chopta

         From Ukhimath, instead of heading towards the main township, one continues along the main road and crosses small villages en-route namely Karokhi, Mastura, Dihara and Dhankund before one reaches Makku bend, wherefrom one roads heads for Makkumath.  Thereafter, the road gets steeper and more curvaceous and you traverse through some virgin Oak & Rhododendron forests and as you start nearing Chopta, a multitude of sign posts crop up showing presence of resorts etc., until you reach Dugalbitta that has a small hotel and some campsites strewn across and thereafter, one crosses Baniakund before finally reaching Chopta.  Being winter, snowfall had taken place in the region a few days earlier, hence some parts of the road was still covered in ice and there was snow along the sidewalks of the road.  The journey to Chopta appeared to be more tantalizing now.

Going past Baniakun en-route Chopta

As I have described that it was pleasantly warm when we had started our journey in the morning and there was a lot to rumbling & grumbling, when I had instructed the family members to don proper winter clothes that we were carrying.  However, no sooner we had alighted from the Car that a strong gust of icy cold winds hit us with gale force.  Some of us, who were still skeptical about donning the winter clothes, quickly dived back into the Car and piled on the jackets and caps et al.  Chopta is a small nondescript little village that is dotted with a number of eating joints, to ensure some grub for the ever hungry tourists, albeit everything is sold at much above the marked price.  Still it is a luxury to get the goods made available in these hostile environs by the local traders.

Panoramic view from Chopta village

Panoramic view of Chopta - towards Tungnath - from Chopta village

The starting point of trek towards Tungnath from Chopta

       As we had a sumptuous B’fast before commencing with the journey, we started our climb towards Tungnath immediately.  One has to pay a fee of Rs.150/- per person for entry, as this entire place comes under the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary and this fee is collected by the forest department.  However, if you are a student and carrying a valid ID, there is a fifty percent discount.  Having procured the tickets, we started trudging towards our next target i.e. Tungnath temple.  Tungnath is the highest Shiva Temple in the world (3680m) and is one among the Paanch Kedar Shrines. It is believed to be more than 1000 years old. The temple is closed during the winters and the deity is shifted to Mukku village. Tungnath temple opens its doors to pilgrims in the summer around the end of April and shuts down in November in winter.  As per the mythology, Lord Shiva had taken the form of a bull in order to avoid the Pandavas, who were seeking his blessings for their sin of having killed their own kin.  However, Bhima spotted him and Lord Shiva in bull form went into the ground to escape the Pandavas, but Bhima caught hold of its tail so that it could not escape. Several parts of the bull then cropped out of the ground at five spots and accordingly the Panch Kedars were formed. Kedarnath temple is dedicated to the hump of Lord Shiva and is the most famous Paanch Kedar shrine. The other Paanch Kedar shrines are at - Tungnath, Madyamaheshwar, Rudranath, and Kalpeshwar.  At Tungnath temple, Lord Shiva’s arms are worshipped.

The trudge towards Tungnath begins in the right earnest

Fresh snow scattered all around - on way to Tungnath

Sign of life on a dead looking tree - a single flower

Due to the snow and extreme cold conditions, the snowfall that had occurred a few days earlier had failed to melt away, instead a thick coat of black ice now covered the road at many points and was quite treacherous.  We trudged along cautiously, stopping over here and there to catch our breaths, in the rarified air.  After trudging for about two hours or so, we reached a point where there was a meadow, with a small makeshift house cum tea stall, but due to snow it was closed.  We frolicked in the snow and enjoyed some quality time, trying to rejuvenate our slackening energy levels for further climb upwards.  However, I suddenly spotted ominous looking cloud tantalizing closing over the nearby peak and in no time at all the entire valley started to be enveloped by it.  As such the road was treacherous at many parts because of the black ice and even a slight drizzle would have rendered it unusable and could have resulted in really nasty fall and consequent damage to limbs.  So with a sense of despair, I decided to trudge back, better be safe than never and bid adieu to Tungnath with a small resolve of returning back in near future.  But a word of caution, Chopta is fast becoming a commercial destination and there were hordes of visitors, creating a cacophony of noises, shouting at top of their voices, this does not augur well for a designated ‘Wildlife Sanctuary’, therefore, the issuance of permits is required to be restricted and may be issued online for specific number of persons only and they should also be made to give an undertaking of good behavior, once inside the sanctuary or else in a few years it will lose its charm & charisma.  I could not spot a single exotic bird during the entire trek.

Snow covered slopes all across 

Fresh snow scattered all around - on way to Tungnath

Ominous clouds surrounding the peak en-route Tungnath

The clouds enveloping the entire valley - an ominous sign indeed

        However, for the readers I have made some research on the internet to gouge out some information about Tungnath, so that they do not have to refer to other blogs for information.  The trekking distance between Chopta to Tungnath is 4 kms and usually takes around 2 and a half hours to cover for a young person. Around ten minutes before you reach Tungnath, there is a small detour to a peak called Ravanshila. It is said to be the place where the demon king Ravana meditated to please Lord Shiva.  The path to Chandrashila starts from Tungnath temple itself. It is clearly marked and cannot be missed. Distance of Chandrashila Peak Top from Tungnath is approx. 1.5 kms and even though it’s a steep climb, the distance can be easily covered in 1 hour. There is a small temple at Chandrashila and from the top one can savor grand 360 degree panoramic views of the Kumaon & Garhwal ranges.  According to a mythological legend, Chandrashila is the place where Lord Rama performed penance after killing Ravana, so as to absolve himself of the sin having killed a Bramhin.

My watch altimeter showing the altitutde at Chopta village

Photographing myself

As the sun sets - view of Guptkashi - across the valley

By the time we reached back down at Chopta about three & half-hour’ time had elapsed since we had started our ascent and we were a famished lot.  Cold winds had gathered speed and it was bone chilling, we ordered some hot cups of tea/coffee to one’s liking and we had some Maggi tossed in with eggs and fried in butter, but the driver, who too had trudged alongwith us, preferred a ‘thali’ i.e. a complete meal.  I placed my watch on the table and set up the altimeter, which showed that we were perched at an altitude of 2820 meters, the warmth of my hands showed the temperature at 25 degrees Celsius and time 3.38 P.M.   By the time we finished our meals, it was almost 4.00 P.M and the temperature had started plummeting and as we retraced our steps back to Syalsaur, I took a few photographs of valleys and Guptkashi, the sister town of Ukhimath perched just across the valley traversed by Mandakini River.  Thus, ended the day late in the evening, as we gorged in some more ‘pakoras’ (chickpea flour based fried food) and tea on returning back to Syalsaur.

Here is the link to a short video of the destination -

Syalsaur – the non-existent village

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Syalsaur – the non-existent village
(A photo blog)

As the morning sun lights up the Kedarnath peaks - view from Syalsaur

After spending some quality time at Devprayag we headed toward the final destination of the day i.e. Syalsaur.  From Devprayag, the road runs along the right bank of the river Alaknanda for a distance of 29 km up to a small township Kirtinagar, which was founded by one of the former Maharajas of Tehri Garhwal named Kirti Shah. Here Alaknanda is crossed over on a bridge to its left bank and then after traversing a further distance of 6 km comes the town of Srinagar. The road from Devprayag to Srinagar is all level driving without much of climbs or downhill runs.  The road traverses through some small villages namely Bagwan, Maletha and Kirti Nagar.  After crossing Srinagar, which is also a significant and historically important seat of modern learning, associated with the Garhwal University established here by the British in late 1920’s, is still known to be a seat of learning, where NIIT and other modern teaching establishments flourish.  The township of Srinagar is also known for the holy temple dedicated to Goddess Dhari Devi.  The statue inside the temple is said to change its colour in the reflection during various phases of the day.  Despite protest by locals for not disturbing the temple, which was to be relocated from original position due to construction of dam downstream, the relocation was undertaken on 10^th June, 2013 and within three days the devastation in form of unprecedented floods shook the entire region on 13^th June, 2013 wherein thousands of human lives and livestock perished and caused irreparable loss to property.  The devastation that took place is still attributed by the local people to the wrath of Goddess Dhari Devi. 

As River Alaknanda meanders beyond Devprayag

Green terraced fields on the road side

Approaching Srinagar town

The River Alaknanda widens as we near Srinagar town

Traversing a further distance of 33 Kms. alongside the Alaknanda River, we reached Rudra prayag, which is another confluence on the holy Ganga River.  This confluence is that of Alaknanda River with Mandakini River flowing in from Kedarnath.  I will provide you all with a brief detail about this destination in one of my ensuing blogs, as due to paucity of time, we did not have a stop over here during our journey, so as to reach Syalsaur in time i.e. before the evening set in.  From Rudraprayag, the road again bifurcates, the road that runs along Alaknanda River heads towards Badrinath and the other one that crosses the Alaknanda River heads towards Kedarnath and this road runs along the mesmerizing Mandakini River.   Having gone past small, but well known townships of Tilwara and Agast Muni and after having traversed a distance of 28 Kms. from Rudraprayag we finally reached Syalsaur, which is actually a non-existent village, with only wilderness and a single house and a silk breeding center, parked in between the villages of Chandrapuri and Banswara of Rudraprayag district of the Uttarakhand State.  Having covered a distance of 165 odd kilometres during the entire day, that included a small stop over after Dev Prayag in a small home run café of sorts, where we had some really nice noodles & Coffee, we reached Syalsaur late in the afternoon and as the lunch hour was over, we ordered some pakodas etc. being famished and tired.  Being the only occupants of the TRH, the entire staff was ready to receive and provide for us and we enjoyed our grand stay.

The gate leading upto Dhari Devi temple near Srinagar

Distant view of Dhari Devi temple 

Headed towards Rudraprayag

Going past Tilwara

Going past Agast Muni

Reached Syalsaur finally

This nondescript little destination i.e. Syalsaur, which houses the Tourist Rest House run by the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd. (GMVN) is perched at an altitude of about 870 meters above mean sea lever (MSL) and provides for accommodation in bamboo cottages that are speckled alongside the pristine Mandakini River, with its turquoise water spluttering on the rocks and the distant Kedarnath peaks looming over the valley.  It is a very beautiful location, calmness and serenity personified and for the tormented souls, to spend a few days in bliss, away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Pilgrims to Kedarnath can stay here, the holy place is about 55 km from Syalsaur.  Being a virgin destination, Syalsaur itself was home to about thirteen odd hotels, constructed in a row facing the serene Mandakini River.   All of them, including the GMVN run one, were destroyed during the ravaging floods of 2013 and I have garnered some photographs from the internet showing the location of the GMVN run TRH then and you can compare the same with my present video.  The only hotel that withstood the ravage and remained standing was built away from the river. 

The Kedarnath peaks - early morning view from Syalsaur

Photo sourced from internet to show the pre-2013 position of TRH at Syalsaur

Photo (2) sourced from internet to show the pre-2013 position of TRH at Syalsaur

Here is the link to the video for the destination