Wander through India : UTTARAKHAND : AN ODE TO THE HIMALAYA AND SPIRITUALITY ( Day VII : TO THE HIGHEST SHIVA TEMPLE IN THE WORLD )

UTTARAKHAND : AN ODE TO HIMALAYA AND SPIRITUALITY

#DAY VII: Chopta-Chandrashila-Saari

49. The night was super cold and we shivered inside the quilts just waiting for the dawn. I remember the cold not allowing us to get comfortable and had experienced similar situation at another place called Pangong too. A dim light proclaimed arrival of the dawn with grey overcast clouds in the sky. The agenda for the day was trek to Tungnath and a stay out there followed by trek to Chandrashila.

50. By 0800 we were on our way and the trek was fairly well defined, there are rest spots built on the entire route where the hiker can rest for a while and catch his breath. In case one is carrying a back pack then the trek does appear stressful and that was the case with me , as the track climbed continuously uphill , I started to feel the strain , my breaks started increasing frequently but I hung on determinedly , and so was the case with my companion , it was sheer grit on her part to complete the trek and I was extremely proud of her perseverance.

51. The total trek distance till the top is 5 km and one passes through thickets of Rhodendrons which by now had already bloomed and were waning , the atmosphere was a combination of heavy grey clouds , white snowed out peaks , bare rock mountains and shafts of sunlight in patches , a totally electic combination if I may say . I met many individuals’ locals from the region who do this trek very frequently every season. I found their company very refreshing indeed.

52. Tungnath ji , the highest shiva temple in the world and one of the five Panch Kedars. It is believed to be more than 1000 years old and is generally accessible only in the non-winter months

53. It was a joyful moment of doing darshan of the Lord himself . After the darshan myself and Umeid , our guide decided to climb till Chandrashila , it was not a very strenuous trek maybe because I was not carrying the backpack. The 270 deg views of the Himalaya were there but they were hidden because of the cloud cover hence we dropped the idea of staying the night out there and decided to return back to Chopta and then press on to Saari Village itself.

54. Chandrashila literally meaning “moon rock “ is situated at a height of 4000 mts above sea level and is the summit of Tungnath. This peak provides a 270 deg view of the Himalayas and is famed for its sunrise with the peaks of Nanda Devi and Trishul clearly visible. It is impressive in its beauty .

55. The return leg was uneventful and we reached Chopta by around 4 in the evening and by 6 we were at Saari where we checked in to a delightful cottage run and settled for the night.