|
|
Pilgrim
Tours
|
The
temples of Shiva and Vishnu at Kedarnath and Badrinath have been the destination
of pilgrims for centuries. Once reached after tortu- ous treks but easily
accessible today by road. At Uttarkashi at a height of over 3000 meters
the snow melts to form the sacred rivers of Ganga and Yamuna is a deep
recess of the mountains. |
 |
 |
The route to the two sources begins at Rishikesh and passes ancient
temples and Valleys along the way. The Shrines are open
from 1st week of May up to 'Deepawali day.' The towns close up for the
severe winter season and everyone moves down to
towns lower down the slopes. In the hinterlands of the
Himalayas is Gangotri where, it is believed, Ganga, the stream
of life, touched earth for the first time. |
According
to the Hindu religious scriptures, the heavenly goddess Ganga manifested
herself in the form of a river to absolve the sins of King Sagar's sons.
|
After three generations of severe penance, performed
over several centuries, Ganga conceded
to descend to the Earth. At
the legendary source of the river, Goddess Ganga is worshipped in
the form of deity. The Gangotri temple was built in the early
18th century by a Gurkha commander, Amar Singh Thapa
and later rebuilt by the Maharaja of Jaipur |
 |
 |
By November, Gangotri is snowbound, and so the deity
is taken 25 kms down stream to Mukhba, so that her devotees
are not thwarted. Despite the severe cold, several "SADHUS" remain
at Gangotri year round, even through the very severe winter.
Gomukh, the identified source of the river Ganga, is 18 kms further uphill.
The trek to Gomukh is gradual, and several pilg- rims undertake the journey
to pay homage to the river at its known source. |
GarhwalHimalayas.com also organize various yatra packages in Garhwal
Himalayas as follows:
....
....
|
|
 |
