In search of Moksha

2009-06-20T11:44:00.001-07:00

I was driving through the Valley of Sangro River in Italy with my client Primo and his beautiful wife Manola when he suddenly pointed outside the car window to the river and exclaimed, as if remembering something, Ganges! The connection was intuitive; after all he was pointing to a river. Just another river. I shook my head and they gave me a confused look. What! After all Ganges is just another river. Well, you will believe so unless you are born in the “Great Indian Plains”.

Ganges, one of the largest rivers in the world that flows through one of the most fertile lands on planet earth, may well fit into the definition of “any river”. And yet there is something else about it. Something that has inspired the faith of countless people for thousands of years. Something that has lived through ages in the millions of anecdotes. Something that has shaped the philosophy of a civilization for more than five thousand years. Ganges is not just a river. It is the daughter of the almighty which came to earth to wash away the sins human kind. It is the “holy mother”. Ganges is personified!

Since my childhood I wanted to see the place where it all originates. Where these streams start that journey of thousands of kilometers and during their course sow the seeds of life for more than a few hundred million people.

The idea had started taking shape when I visited Himachal last year with my friend Vikram. Having so much enjoyed the trip to higher Himalayas we immediately started planning for the next one. I have been driving in upper Himalayas for quite some time now and wanted something different and more exciting. Trekking was an immediate alternative and what could have been better than exploring the river valleys of Ganges and Yamuna (Yamuna was a later addition in the plan). We managed to find more partners as we planned through and ultimately four of us: Vikram, Vinaya, Kaushik and I were onboard. We decided to start the journey in the middle of May just after parliamentary elections. 16^th May we fixed for a meet in Delhi.

16th May 2009 (Saturday) - Delhi

Delhi has always been an unwanted stopover for my Himalayan journeys. Among hot weather and unruly crowd the only respite is the Andhra meal I can find outside the NDLS railway station. Kaushik and I reached at 5:30 AM in the morning and we waited for six hours for others to arrive. Having missed a booking in train we headed for ISBT Kasmiri Gate to catch a bus to Rishikesh. We managed to find an UP state transport bus from ISBT Delhi. The driver went out of the way to comply with the speed limit directions; he took eight hours for less than three hundred kilometers! The journey was tiring due to traffic and road conditions in UP. Reached Rishikesh In the midnight and had to take Hotel Menaka just outside the bus stand. The hotel condition was really bad but our options were none. Had a quick dinner of chawal, dal and bhindi sabji in a nearby restaurant and headed straight for bed.

17th May 2009 (Sunday) – Rishikesh

After taking a dip in Ganges at Triveni Ghat and having some jalebis, we started our journey towards Utterkashi the base for our first destination Gangotri and Gomukh. The journey took more that six hours through the ghats of Himalaya. Very scenic and a welcome break if you are from a place called Kolkata. There is an upcoming hill station on the way called Chamba where we took our lunch. We reached Utterkashi in evening and found ourselves a place in hotel Amba. Utterkashi is small hill town on the banks of Bhagirathi River (Ganges’ name before it meets Alaknanda in Devprayag). The market is very bustling and we did have a good time exploring them. We did some purchasing for our onward journey and dined in one of the many roadside dhabas.

18th May 2009 (Monday) – Utterkashi

Early morning we started looking for a travel organizer for our trek (Guides/porters/tents/rations etc). We were able to contact Mr. Jayendra Rana from Mount support (as mentioned in Outlook Traveller). He really gave us a good deal and we were happy to accept it. We left for Gangotri at around 11 AM. With the new government regulations a permit is required to visit the Gomukh area these days and the same can be collected from DFO office in Utterksahi. As a general advice it is better to send a fax well in advance as a request for permit. The way to Gangotri is along the Bhagirathi River with awesome scenery throughout. You will encounter a lot of dams built on Bhagirathi River and in some places the river is down to a trickle. In a lot of places slogans like “Bhagirathi ko aviral bahane do” (let the Bhagirathi flow uninterrupted) stare you in the face. Do we have alternatives? Anyway, we enjoyed the journey and reached Gangotri in the afternoon. Gangotri is a very small town with one narrow market running for almost four hundred meters from bus-stand to the Ganges temple. Both sides of the market lane one can see small shops selling pooja samgri for devotees. Having reached there early we decided to take some rest and later visit the temple in the evening. The sun sets here only by 8 PM in the night in summer times, so there was no need to hurry. Later, we paid a visit to the Gangotri temple and revisited it for the evening aarti. In a mystic evening, with roaring sound of Bhagirathi blended with occasional chanting of mantras by pujaris and sadhus, I was disconnected from the mortal world for a few moments. Oh! The noise of peace. Legend says that the river originated at this very place. But in the past four thousand years it has receded back eighteen kilometers due to weather changes and Human greed. We met our porters in Gangotri. One of them – Ashok – originally from Nepal, worked in Bangalore for over 9 years and was speaking Kannada. Vikram was immediately a friend. Our dinner was prepared by Asok and his team. Relaxing day and unknowingly getting acclimatized to the high altitude. The real journey was ahead.

19th May 2009 (Tuesday, Trek Day One) - Gangotri to Bhojbasa

I woke up early at around 5 AM and tried for thirty minutes to wake-up my partners. After everybody was up we did some yoga and pretended to prepare physically for the walk with Vinay taking instructor’s role. Vikram and I took bath in the hotel bathroom where the water is directly sourced from one of the mountain streams, man that was chill! When we started our journey to the source of the Ganges I was a little apprehensive. This was my first trek beyond ten thousand feet and we had to complete fourteen kilometers that day. There is a well marked path to Gomukh. The initial hike is considerably steep for three hundred meters and after forty five minutes of walk, we reached the forest check post. There, one has to provide the permit letter and pay the entry fee. They collect a caution deposit for Garbage. If you don’t bring our garbage back, you stand to lose your deposit! Immediately after leaving the check post the forest starts getting dense. Government has banned any construction in the area and all the previous construction is removed, so do not expect any dhabas or tea shops along the trail. Also only 150 people are permitted to trek here everyday and only 10 mules are allowed to walk every day. After walking for another three kilometers we reached a small stream forming out of an almost hidden waterfall. Our guide has informed us that this stream is named as “Pandav Ganga”. Beyond this the trail opens up gradually into a valley. Walk for another two kilometers and we found ourselves crossing another stream in a place called “Dev Gaddi”. It was 12.30 PM and lunch was still four kilometers away. Most of the streams are small and easy to cross in this area. After Dev Gaddi the trail tunes rocky and narrow for almost 2-3 kilometers. At some places it is hardly two feet wide with Bhagirathi roaring alongside some two hundred feet down although, it remains pretty safe for walking. We reached Chirbasa at around 1 PM and crashed in the shadows of alpine trees for a much needed rest. The alpine meadow of Chirbasa is a welcome break in the otherwise barren landscape. We were feeling tired after having covered nine kilometers already but, needed to get on. We had continuous supply of fresh Mineral water, thanks to the many streams flowing into the river. The weather was still good, clear blue sky and after the lunch we were inspired for another walk. As we got out of the shadow of alpine trees in Chirbasa the magnificent Bhagirathi peak came in full view. My first impression after seeing the peak, in the back drops of alpine and bhoj trees, was that I am looking at a painting. The V shaped valley, the Bhagirathi River flowing down as a wide stream and the Bhagirathi peak standing tall at the far end of the valley. Oh! That could only be a masterpiece by the supreme master. I remembered the song “Yeh kaun chirtakar hai…” (Who is the painter?). We managed our walk through some landslide prone areas, it was very windy and the sight of small rocks and dust coming down the slope was chilling at best. I desperately wanted to cross it as soon as possible but Kaushik was engaged in some social work helping people one the way and holding me back. Finally I moved ahead, alone! On the way I spotted some wild Himalayan goats trying their best to trigger a bigger landslide. As it was getting tiring munching some chocolates gave me instant energy (Carry a lot of them; they really help). Bhojbhasa was visible from the distance and I was dying to reach the place. Finally some descent to reach Bhojbhasa and my legs were really happy after fourteen kilometers of ascent. Bhojbhasa is set in a small open and green space in the middle of glaciers. Both sides of this small settlement is full of moraine boulders. There is an ashram of Lal Baba here and people are never turned away any time of the day/night. Another place where one can stay is a small GMVN rest house. We were the only people setting a tent that night in Bhojbhasa and finding a place was not difficult. It was getting cold but even at 7 PM there was good amount of light. Bhagirithi and Shivling peaks were so close yet so far. Kaushik and I managed to set up a bonfire and we enjoyed our dinner around it. The temperature was close to five degrees and dropping every minute. As the night set-in the only thing which I could hear was the river cutting across and occasional sound of our porters from the other tent. After an hour of sleep I heard a startling sound, wondering what it was I tried to sleep. Because of the altitude, I had sleeping problems and was walking up frequently. This was a night in the laps of holy mother, the Ganges.

20th May 2009 (Wednesday, Trek Day Two) - Bhojbasa to Gomukh

Dawn, and the first thing I was informed by our guide was about the landslide last night across the river. I immediately understood the reason behind the sound I heard last night. After the morning brush and tea I took some snaps of the sunrise; such a beautiful sight when you are in the Himalayas. All of us were little skeptical to answer nature’s call, but we did it as we did not have any other option. We were excited to move further towards Gomukh. The four kilometers trail was full of moraine boulders. As we moved along, the Shivling peak started to come in full view. I suddenly started to feel tired and soon realized that I am having symptoms of altitude sickness; our journey to Gomukh and further four kilometers to Tapovan was in doubt. After two hours of walk we could finally see the massive Gomukh glacier. The area near this glacier is dangerous, big ice chunks can collapse any time and lots of caution boards are setup. We were at a prescribed distance of five hundred meters marvelling at the shear beauty in front of us. Looking like a pile of chocolaty mud and debris Gomukh is not a splendid sight at first but, if you manage to get a pair of binoculars and sneak in a closer view you will understand the real impact of scene in front of you (no further explanation, do it yourself and see). Some people try to go closer to the snout but it is extremely risky and can prove to be fatal. I was sick but there was no sign of dejection. It took some time to believe that I was indeed in Gomukh. A place where the river Ganges originated and started its mammoth journey of over two thousand kilometers. A place which has sourced the faith of countless men and women for ages. I was suddenly feeling humbled. Tapovan was four kilometers away (Mythology: Lord Rama had done his tapasya at Tapovan). Outlook classifies this trek as tough and I showed full signs of Altitude sickness. The only treatment was to go back to lower altitudes as we were at four thousand meters above sea level. I opted out of Tapovan, while the other three wanted to move on. I came back to our temporary campsite near the glacier and started thinking about the journey back to Gangotri. However, the others were not lucky either, to make it to Tapovan. As they moved past the snout a steep climb waited for them. With all the tiredness, and guilt of leaving me behind, they were back in the camp after an hour. The four kilometers journey back to Bhojbhasa seemed easy as it was mostly downhill. We spent our night in Bhojbhasa. It rained in the night and temperature dropped to negative. Vikram realized that it was the coldest day so far in his life. He had no clue what was coming ahead! I have driven from over two thousand kilometers in high altitude mountains in Himalayas including some of the most isolated places in Himachal Pradesh and Kasmir. With that experience I know that each time you are there you hate the harsh weather and barren terrain and yet, at the same time, you somehow love it. It is this paradox about Himalaya that makes it like a shot of tequila, you hate the test but you love the hangover. I was feeling a sudden nostalgia again as the night set in.

21st May 2009 (Thursday, Trek Day Three) – Bhojbasa to Gangotri

We left for Gangotri at around ten in the morning. The terrain was known and now and it was downhill. All of us split and were walking at our own pace. Due to the last night’s rain the morning sky was clearer than anything I had seen in the past; a perfect day for photography. I was walking a bit slowly with our guide Pradeep while others had been strolling ahead. The journey was relaxing and the legs were getting used to the walk. We enjoyed the views of bjoh tree forests and occasional streams even more. Now we were the guides and started directing lot of people on the way and felt some sense of accomplishment in life. We reached Gangotri in the after noon and immediately crashed onto our comfortable hotel beds. In evening we revisited the temple, this time for the sole reason of getting the halwa Prasad. You have to pay fifty rupees to get your name on the receipt but without it you can get the halwa for just ten or twenty bucks. We chose to stay a wise consumer and opted out of the receipt. I thanked god for making us complete the journey and filled my can of Ganga Jal from temple ghat. This was the only souvenir we were taking back home and the most valued one for my mother.

22nd May 2009 (Friday) – Utterkashi

As we started the journey back to Utterkashi, some traffic jam at the start, lot of pilgrims were coming in as the yatra season had started. The most sacred of Hindu pilgrimage the “Char Dham Yatra” - 1) Gangotri, 2) Yamunotri, 3) Badrinath and 4) Kedarnath - starts every year around May. Each of these destinations is the origin of one of the four main head streams that form the mighty Ganges. We reached Utterkashi and started planning for the remaining journey. Our earlier plan was to trek to Dodital in the second leg of the trip. But Vikram and I were scared of the torturous walks again. It was an intense argument and counter argument for two hours before we could be persuaded to take up the journey. Mr. Jayendra rana gave us an idea to take the Dodital – Yamunotri trek making it a five day trekking trip. He offered a good deal again and an extra porter too. We came to know that this time we had a very experienced guide, Mr. Laxman Rana, who had already climbed forty one peaks and still counting, some of them more than twenty thousand feet! He promised us an excellent trek. We never knew his actual plans!

23rd may 2009 (Saturday, Trek Day One) – Utterkashi to Bebra

A visit to Kashi Visvanath temple in Utterkashi was due and we did it the first thing as we came out of our hotel. Just after lunch we started our 12 kilometers drive to Sangam Chatti, our starting point for the trek. Some clouds were hovering around in the sky which forced Kaushik to buy a backup raincoat. The walk of our life began as the clock hit 3 PM. Most of the trek was through lush green jungle. After a walk of a kilometer the climb suddenly became vertical and continued for four hundred meters that way. We later came to know that our guide had taken a shortcut. It was only on later days that we found what a real shortcut meant for Laxman Rana. The weather was getting bad with occasional drizzle. When we were half way down the trail it started raining and sleeting. We had no help. The heaven suddenly looked like a hostile terrain with slippery trail and deep valley waiting to swallow anything that comes by. The sound of a nearby mountain stream was suddenly scary at best. And that is when we saw it. A small dhaba appeared out of no where, as if placed there with a purpose. Jai Ganesha. We were happy to take a retreat and had some tea. The dhaba owner Rudra Pratap Singh was happy to see some customers. The rain lasted for around forty five minutes leaving behind wet trails and cold breeze. The weather was awesome; the heaven was suddenly back, with even more beauty. We decided to camp at the jungle village of Agora but, since we reached very early, we continued further to a place called Bebra. Having already finished a fair walk during the earlier trek we were more fit and the greenery around us ensured ample supply of oxygen. At our camping place we met a team from Pune and a bunch of school girls from Dehradun. The sky was clear in the night and with no pollution we were able to view lot of stars in the night sky, a rare sight in our polluted cities. Our camp fire was lit and we had a great time. We had trekked eight kilometers and it was steep at some places. However, the real climb was yet to come and “Shortcut Rana” never gave us a clue.

24th May 2009 (Sunday, Trek Day Two) – Bebra to Dodital

Just as we were about to start our journey to Dodital Lake we had a surprise visitor in the morning. He was demanding rupees eight hundred as porter tax or something. He had a previous year bill book and no identity card. Mr. Guide initially engaged with him in a long discussion which later turned into argument. He gave up after some time and directed the person to us. We were quickly into a denial mode. Vikram claimed to be a government official and I took the role of a lawyer with enormous contacts. We refused to pay him unless he proves that he is a real contractor. I asked him for some documentary proofs under some sections of law and threatened to get Mr. Dhaniram - he was some kind of a boss - behind bars. After a lot of argument, he left us with a promise to catch on the way. Was he a cheat or not, we still don’t know but we had a feeling of triumph that time. Soon after we left Bebra the jungle became denser. In four kilometers our guide had already taken three shortcuts with almost vertical climb for hundreds of meters. Vinay gave him a new name – The “Shortcut Rana”. Our next stop was Manjhi, around eight kilometers from Bebra, it is a small summer time cattle shade. Our lunch was a hot bowl of Maggie. Mr. Budhi Ram’s dhaba served excellent tea and we were fresh once again. The remaining six kilometers to Dodital was one of the densest jungle I have ever seen in my life. This was good enough to even beat the western ghat forests in Karnataka and Kerala. Small water streams, trails full of fallen leaves from trees, birds chirping around and occasional flowers here and there; hay man that was yet another heaven. Around two kilometers before Dodital I stopped at a small bridge while Mr. Guide kept his walk on. Vikram and Vinaya were still thirty minutes behind me. I was alone in the middle of a dense forest with only a rucksack. And that is when I heard some sound. Around three hundred meters above in the mountains I black mass was moving slowly. Within seconds it was out of sight. I am still not sure but it looks like I had spotted a Himalayan bear (Vikram guesses that I might have had my beer the previous night). Just when it started to rain we reached Dodital and minutes after reaching it started raining heavily. Dodital is supposedly the birth place of Lord Ganesha and there is a temple dedicated to him along side the lake. There is a river which originates from this lake called “Asi Ganga”. It really got chill in the night and we managed to get our selves a lone forest guest house at 10 PM with some helping from Mr. Guide. Vikram broke his own record of “coldest night” yet again! Thankfully the rain stopped in the night.

25th May 2009 (Monday, Trek Day Three) – Dodital to Seema

We woke up early in the morning and after the morning stuff, we took some snaps of our lifetime. The lake was absolutely still and we got some great snaps of the surroundings and its reflection in the water. As per our guide, the trek was sixteen kilometers for that day and the first three kilometers was tough; remaining a “cake walk”. The mistake we did was to believe him. We started for our first pit stop, Dwara top at around 7 AM the morning. Vinay and Kaushik were ahead and Vikram and I fell behind. Our guide took us through some crazy shortcuts which cut the distance only to add to the climb. The last leg to reach Dwara top was killing me. We were walking on the face of a mountain, crisscrossing it after every twenty or thirty meters. I felt like giving up and going back. This was not tough, it was impossible in my case. But then came Zen master in my mind (‘This too shall pass’) after a lot of struggle, I did manage to make it to the top. Outlook traveler should categorize it as toughest trek after Mount Everest! Reaching the top was rewarding and the sight of the endless bughyals in front of us were mesmerizing. We were at fourteen thousand feet and thought the tough part was over. Our actual destination was Seema top, and as per our guide it was just behind one of the mountains he pointed to. I thought it will be a cake walk. And then it started. A walk that was about to change my perception of my own limits; a nightmare that would last for the ten kilometers. The Himalayan paradox was back in full force. Awesome landscape, but the climb was steep and we hit altitudes of over fifteen thousand feet. Half way down the path and the weather turned hostile. Rain and sleet came down with strong breeze, cutting through my heavy Boston jacket and chilling to the core. The pea shaped hailstorm hit us from all possible directions. The seemingly unending walk lasted for five hours and I still can’t imagine how I managed to complete this part. As we descended near Seema the view got better and better. Now we were surrounded by Himalayas suddenly down in a valley. Our guide took a lot of shortcuts (some risky ones) and was giving an impression every time that the destination was just round the next hill top. After lot of curse and swears we finally reached Seema top. The rain had stopped and as we reached a large grass land which was surprisingly flat. Our porters had already put our tent and as we were about to camp, sun broke out of the clouds. This was the most beautiful place of our journey yet. It was a marathon sixteen kilometers of Himalayan walk for almost ten hours and we had very few resting breaks in between. But, once we reached Seema we forgot the pain altogether. We were running around mad and taking snaps. We were lucky to see the sunset and had “Bandar poonch” and black peak in the back ground. I can’t describe this entire place in words. No wonder Gods wander here in the Himalayas. The largest bonfire of our journey was setup by one of our porters – Kedar. We enjoyed out dinner around it and prepared for the downhill trek of the next day.

26th May 2009 (Tuesday, Trek Day Four) – Seema to Hanuman Chatti

We continued downhill towards Hanuman Chatti. Since we had an extra day, we planned to cover Yamunotri. The sixteen kilometers trek was steep downhill. We were losing altitude fast. I discovered a secret very soon and let me share it; climbing down a cliff is tougher than climbing up; loose rocks and steep descend is a deadly combination. The climb down through the boulders took a toll on our knees. We took even more breaks than when we had climbed. It was painful. The first 4-5 kilometers was like a punishment for all the sins we had committed. However, every now and then we encountered huge grasslands full of small white flowers on the way. Simply superb. You should be here to experience nature at its best. As we moved further the walk got a bit easier and we were able to walk non stop. After almost six hours, we reached Hanuman Chatti. The view of Hanuman Ganga was beautiful with its glittering white water. This is the place on the way to Yamunotri. Here we parted from our guide and porters, as the way to Yamunotri was fairly easy and one does not need a guide. They were a good company throughout and we had a great time with them. Further we took a jeep towards Janaki Chatti. Yamunotri is a six kilometers walk from here along a paved concrete path. We spent the night in Janaki Chatti.

27th May 2009 (Wednesday, Trek Day Five) - Yamunotri

We started our trek to Yamunotri early in the morning. It gets really crowded here and it is advised to leave very early in the morning. There is no administration here and countless number of mules and people travelling up and down. The mules, people, palki walas just push you on the way. On one side you have rock face projecting and on the other side a deep valley; one slip and moksha. The route is decent and steep climb only through the last two kilometers. Lot of healthy pigs (oops people) opt for the mule ride or even human ride rather than the walk. Many of the mules slipped due to the slippery track and the heavy load on them. I pity those mules and horses and the people out there. Another disappointment was the pollution of plastic being spread by thousand of devotees visiting every day. What all in the name of faith? We reached Yamunotri after six kilometers of walk. We saw ourselves as avid trekkers and nothing could stop us now. People around us seemed to be from a different world. Yamunotri is a symbolic origin of the river Yamuna. The actual source – Saptrishi Kunda – is about a kilometer vertically up from this place. Two major headstreams fall separately from two sides of a mountain and combine soon after to form the Yamuna River. As we reached the temple we spotted the hot springs and readily took bath in it. The water was really hot and has real magical properties; the tiredness was gone after ten minutes and four dips. After darshana, we headed back to Janaki Chatti and immediately started for Barkot after reaching. From there we collected our luggage (Mr. Jayendra Rana was generous enough to get it transported from Utterkashi) and headed towards Rishikesh where we planned to spend the night. The drive was through Mussoorie and Dehradun. We reached Mussoorie at around 7 PM and the city of Dehradun was just superb from top; as if we were flying in a car. We reached Rishikesh at around 10 PM and the excellent dinner at Rajsthan restaurant was something we needed badly.

28th May 2009 (Thursday, Trek Day Five) – Rishikesh and Hridwar

City life is boring. We wandered in Rishikesh and saw Lakshman Joola and Ram Jhoola. The heat was immediately a problem and we decided to abandon any further walks even as Vinaya insisted. Around noon we started for Haridwar where we were to watch the maha aarti at Har Ki Pauri. The journey was almost coming to an end. We witnessed the maha aarti at Har ki Pauri in Haridwar where around ten thousand people gather every day to offer prayers to the river Ganges. The evening weather was nice with occasional drizzle. A nice breeze swept across the banks of Ganges. The nostalgia was setting in again. I knew I was not the only one.

See the complete photo gallery of the trip.

To be continued……

Amit's

In search of Moksha