Kedarnath is one of the most famous pilgrimage places in India and I got the opportunity to visit Kedarnath during Navratri. I have visited Kedarnath temple twice before, both times in 2013. Once before the disaster and second time after the disaster. This temple is very famous among Hindus and so far this year more than 16 lakh devotees have had darshan of Lord Kedar. Kedarnath temple is present in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand state located in the northern direction of India. This temple is situated at an altitude of 3553 meters and is surrounded by snowy mountains more than 6000 meters high.
Kedarnath Trek Oct 2023
"According to mythology, when the Kurukshetra war ended, the Pandavas were extremely saddened by the death of their relatives. He apologized to Lord Shiva for his sins but Shiva, angry with the Pandavas, took the form of a bull and hid in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. Due to their determination, Pandavas find Shiva in the form of a bull. Seeing the Pandavas, Shiva dives into the ground in the form of a bull, after which Bhima catches his tail, after which Lord Shiva is pleased with his efforts and Shiva appears in divine form at five different places, these 5 places are known as Panch Kedar. Known by name. The hump of the bull was established in Kedarnath, after this incident a grand temple of Lord Shiva was built here. Kedarnath is also included in the famous 12 Jyotirlingas".
I had received instructions from home that if I go to Kedarnath during Navratri, I will have to return home before Durga Ashtami. I promise to leave on 9th October. I take a 10 pm bus from Delhi. The bus drops me at Rishikesh at 4 in the morning from where I take a sharing taxi which will take me directly to Sonprayag. This distance is about 210 km by road which takes 8 hours to cover. The road is well maintained but after Augustmuni the road is very bad and there was a lot of traffic jam on this route because at one place on the way JCB machine was doing the work of cutting the road.
Sonprayag
Charting showing the medical fecilities on the way to kedarnath
I reach Sonprayag at 12 noon without eating from home. There was a lot more crowd here than I expected. I will immediately find a room to stay tonight. My plan is that I will stay here today and reach Gaurikund early tomorrow morning and start the trek to Kedarnath. I keep my bag in the room and go out for lunch. While roaming here after lunch, one realizes that Kedarnath has changed a lot since 2013. There is so much inflation here that no poor man will ever be able to have darshan of Baba. There is no room below Rs 2000 in Sonprayag. Food is not cheaper than Rs 200.
The offline registration/verification office at Sonprayag
Well, I will register myself so that I can enter for the journey tomorrow. You can do this registration both online and offline. For online registration, you will have to install Tourist Care Uttarakhand app in your mobile. For registration through WhatsApp, you will have to send a message to 8394833833. And the third method is online offline registration, for which you will have to go to the office located in Sonprayag, from where you can get yourself registered immediately.
I go to sleep at 7 o'clock in the night and at 6 in the morning I sit in a sharing car going to Gaurikund. This car charges Rs 50 for 5 km, after 4 km there is a traffic jam, so I get down and start walking. After walking about a kilometer I reach Gaurikund from where the official walking tour starts. The height of Gaurikund is 2050 meters, from here the walking distance to Kedarnath is 16 km in which the travelers will get an elevation gain of 2382 meters. If any friend wants to come to Kedarnath then he should stop at Gaurikund on the first day so that you can start your journey at 6 in the morning, otherwise 2 hours will be wasted in reaching Gaurikund from Sonprayag.
For sharing taxi, passengers have to cross this iron bridge which is located at a walking distance of 500 meters from Sonprayag
Shring taxi to Gaurikund from Sonprayag
Stopping at Gaurikund, you can also take a bath in the hot water pond located here and also visit the Devi Gauri temple. I was getting late so could neither go to the temple nor to the hot water pond. And yes, from Sonprayag, devotees are released for Kedarnath only till 4 in the evening and no one is allowed to proceed before 5 in the morning. There is a bus stand, taxi stand etc. in Sonprayag, hence I saw more crowd here. And if you reach Gaurikund then the journey can become easy for you.
The board on the road is welcoming all the devotees to visit Kedarnath.
and the walking path begins
Gaurikund
You can see the hot water pond located in Gaurikund in the photo below, some devotees are also seen taking bath in the pond.
I leave Gaurikund at 8 in the morning. If you are not able to walk then you can hire horse-mule, palanquin and basket from Gaurikund. The horse rate which I asked from the horse owner was Rs 2000-2500 per person, the horse will drop you 3 km before Kedarnath temple while the palanquin and basket will take you to the temple. We had not walked even a kilometer when it started raining. It rained lightly for the first 3 km but later it became heavier. Due to heavy rain, I stopped and started thinking that the weather is bad and if I continue like this, I will not be able to reach the temple today. I was not expecting rain so I did not bring my rain jacket. Plastic rain jackets were available in every shop here, I also bought one which was available for Rs 150.
It has started drizzling and it is getting wet
For the last 2 weeks I was in Solang Valley of Himachal Pradesh state, while staying there I did a lot of trekking, hence my fitness is very good. So I catch speed wearing a plastic jacket. Here the wet road is not so much a hindrance in walking fast as the horses are creating a problem. Horses are colliding with walking pedestrians, the smell coming from their dung is making it difficult to walk. In the first hour I cross Jungle Chatti which is just 4 km from Gaurikund. From here it takes another half an hour to reach Bhimbali which is 2 km away from Jangal Chatti.
Jungle Chatti
A small temple of Lord Hanuman situated at Jungle chatti
I have lunch after reaching Rambada. It has been two and a half hours since I started walking and now the rain has also stopped. I eat paratha and tea. The hot tea is giving me warmth and strength to move forward. Shoes and pajama are soaked below the knees. After having food I think that I should reach Kedarnath in next three hours. The climb starts from Chhota Lincholi and ends at the horse stand. I start walking slowly on the wet path and now it has started raining again. Oops, don't know what the weather wants today.
I have reached Chani Campsite which is 12 km away from Gaurikund, it is still raining and suddenly a rainbow is visible between the mountains. I am not as tired while walking as I am getting wet in the rain, but I feel very happy seeing the rainbow emerging from the womb of the mountains. I stopped for a while and looked at this view. I am watching the devotees coming and going, I am shivering from the cold while standing. I am thinking that I will have to walk a little faster otherwise I may fall ill from the cold. It was good that I put all the clothes first in plastic and then in the bag.
Chhota Lincholi
I walk fast for the next 4 km, a line of blue-yellow tents can be seen far and wide. Food and accommodation facilities are being provided to the passengers everywhere. The fare for staying here starts from Rs 1000 to Rs 3000 per person, the rest as you can bargain. Food is being charged at the rate of Rs 200 per person. At 1.30 in the afternoon I crossed Rudra Point, this is also the landing site for the helicopter. The helicopter lands all the passengers here and takes them down from here. I could not get any information about helicopter booking because heli booking is done in FATA. But you people can check the information and fare of Heli online.
Of course it is raining and people are getting wet and shivering from the cold but the devotion of the devotees is not decreasing.
When a rainbow appears at the confluence of rain and sunshine, a person forgets all the fatigue and gets lost in the landscape.
The Rainbow
I walk the last two kilometers shivering in the cold but by now I can clearly see the Kedar Valley. The peak of Kedarnath temple is shining clearly. The rain has stopped and the sun is setting. The last rays of the sun are playing on the Kedar Dome mountain, the whole scenario looks like a fantasy. I am stopping again and again to take this view in my eyes. The lights are shining till Bhairav temple. Now that the rain has stopped, I wear a jacket and a warm hat from the bag to regain the lost warmth.
Disclaimer: This blog has been written in Hindi and translated into English with the help of Google Translator. All the above photos have been clicked by me from poco f1 android phone. All photos were edited in Lightroom.
[//]:# (!pinmapple 30.73553 lat 79.06703 long Tracing the Path of Pandavas: My Kedarnath Pilgrimage (Part 01) d3scr)