If there’s one state in India that offers the most number of activities for adventure-seekers, it’s probably Uttarakhand. Nicknamed the ‘Abode of the Gods,’ the state attracts adventure enthusiasts of all kinds throughout the year. Lofty mountains, alpine meadows, frozen waterfalls, glaciers, and mysterious lakes, there are plenty of things to be explored in Uttarakhand.

Whitewater rafting

Whitewater rafting session on the Ganges is one of the most preferred adventure activities in Uttarakhand. Fed by snowmelt from the mountains around, the Ganges gushes through Rishikesh, swirling around corners and forming multiple confluences. You can choose from a mild 16 km stretch to a stringent 35 km stretch of river. While crossing, you battle rapids such as Return to Sender, Roller Coaster, Double Trouble, Tee Off, and Golf Course with difficulty grades ranging from I to IV.

Camping

For many, camping is the most excellent way to spend quality time in the lap of nature. It also provides an opportunity to spend quality time with your loved ones and understand them better. The Uttarakhand Himalayan region offers a fantastic range of camping. Whether it is wildlife camping or normal ones, Uttarakhand’s topography provides everything for the adventure enthusiasts. Be it Tons Valley in Garhwal or Jharipani in Mussoorie or Dhanaulti and Dehradun; you can find a camp anywhere in the state.

Bungee jumping

Bunjee jumping is one of the oldest adventure sport in Rishikesh. The state is blessed with India’s highest fixed platform for bungee jumping, offering adventurists a thrilling jump from 270 feet. 

Trekking

Trekking in Uttarakhand is an engaging activity that will take you over to the mystical surroundings of many Himalayan summits and peaks. The state boasts of numerous trekking routes, which promise plenty of adventure and sceneries. The popular trekking route includes Valley of Flowers, Kedarnath Trek, Roopkund Lake Trek, Chopta, and Chandrashila trek, Nanda Devi Trek.

Snow lodging

During the winter season, especially in the months of December-January, one of the top things to do in Uttarakhand is to stay in this cozy ski lodge on the snowy slopes of Auli. Here, wake up every morning to a landscape blanketed in snow, spend all day exploring the apple orchards and local villages, or take a cable car ride. You can also test your skiing skills in the slopes. Evenings are spent reading, playing board games, or sitting around a bonfire and telling stories.

The Route
We had planned to cover all the places around Badrinath in a single day. We started from our hotel in Joshimath at around 7 am. It was November and extremely cold outdoors. Wrapped in multiple layers of woolen sweater and a bomber jacket, we set off in our vehicle. 

As our car drove ahead, the character of the mountains kept changing. All around now, the grey rocks broke the blue skyline in craggy peaks. At around midway of this journey comes Govindghat. It is the starting point for trekking to Sri Hemkund Sahib and Valley of Flowers.

Tapt Kund

In an hour’s time, we reached Badrinath. Of the four “Dhams”, Badrinath and Gangotri are directly accessible by motorable roads. There is a thermal spring right at the entrance of the shrine. Bathing in the hot waters of Tapt Kund is a ritual. A common belief lies in the healing properties of sulphur in the water and the faith of having the goodness of absolving devotees of all sins. Tapt Kund is one of the holy places to visit in Badrinath.

Enclosures are made for the convenience of women as well. We walked across the footbridge over the river Alaknanda. The absolute beauty of the mountains in the backdrop and the vividly painted temple in the forefront overwhelmed us.

The Badrinath Temple

Hindu scriptures state Lord Hari undertook severe penance. His divine consort Mata Mahalaxmi turned herself into a Badri tree (a kind of a berry), to save him from turbulent weather. The reason people worship Lord Narayan as the Lord of Badri – Badrinath.

The temple, at an altitude of 3133 metres above sea level, is one of the Panch (Five) Badri. The mountains soar upwards as if determined to touch the heavens. It is easy to comprehend why mythology asserts the Gods around these snow-capped peaks. The temple is one of the religious places to visit in Badrinath.

You will find long queues of devotees lined up for “darshan” (worshipping the Lord) of the deity. Shops in the courtyard in front of the main temple sell small balls of sugar (Nakul-Dana) and other items to offer to Lord Badri.

The temple facade is built of stone and has arched windows. It was in the 16th century that a Garhwal King got a temple erected to house the statue of God. The present structure is the result of plenty of restorations repairing the damages caused by avalanches and earthquakes. Lord Vishnu is worshipped in a Shalagram (black stone) idol; sitting in a meditative pose surrounded by idols of other Gods like Ganesha, Garuda, Kuber and more. After we entered the dimly lit sanctum and treated our eyes with the view of Badrinath, a deep sense of divinity filled our hearts and minds. An abundance of spiritual aura seemed to ooze out of every corner. It seemed that His genuine holiness was connecting with us in the most tangible way possible. Fifteen more idols are worshipped around the temple.

Charanpaduka

About three km from the main temple, there is a place with imprints of Lord Vishnu’s feet. Narrow and steep village road leads the way to this place and it takes around an hour to reach the spot. The calm of the region and the mesmerizing view of the glaciers is a treat for the eyes to behold! It is one of the divine places to visit in Badrinath. At around 300 metres from the Badrinath Temple, signboard asserted the birthplace of Badri Narayan. Google doesn’t mention this place in its suggestions, yet we decided to have a look.

According to a legend, Lord Shiva and Parvati used to reside in the temple premise. One day, they had found a child here, whom they lovingly carried to their house. Keeping the child at home, God and his consort went to take a bath in the river. On their return, they found all doors of the temple locked from inside. Badrinarayan appeared in his true form and asked them to move to Kedarnath. We walked through the lanes of the town of Badrinath, crossing over a small bridge built over a stream. We reached a spot with a raised mass of uneven rock, black in colour (much like the stone that the deity Badrinath is made of), with a signboard chronicling the legend.

Other temples in the vicinity

Mata Murti Mandir, Brahma-Kapal and Sheshnetra are the other temples that one may visit. Mata Murti Temple – the temple of the Mother of the twins, is devoted to the mother of Nar and Narayan. A fair is held every year in September at the temple on the day of Shravan Dwadashi.

Brahma Kapal is a platform on the bank of river Alaknanda, where Hindus perform propitiating rites for their deceased ancestors. On the opposite bank of Alaknanda, there are two seasonal lakes. Between these lakes is a boulder having an impression of the legendary snake Sesh Nag. The Hindu mythological tales say Lord Vishnu took retreat on a snake here. The formation of the eye on the stone is natural and a major tourist attraction.

Have you ever seen a mountain breathe? The mighty Neelkantha Peak of Badrinath seemed like it did; the snow at the mountain top gave way to waves of vapour caused by the warmth of the Sun’s afternoon rays! The place looked like the Gods inhabit there!

THE YATRA

Yamunotri is the westernmost shrine of this region. Hence it is traditionally the starting point of the Char Dham Yatra of Uttarakhand which then goes to Gangotri and then Kedarnath and finally concludes at Badrinath. There is a pattern in this pilgrimage–you keep moving from west to east. Two of these Char Dhams are the source of India’s two most important rivers- Ganges and Yamuna, which themselves meet down at Sangam in Allahabad. Other two are dedicated to two of the most important deities which happened to be source of two streams of Hinduism- Shaivite and Vaishnavite, i.e. Kedarnath dedicated to Lord Shiva and Badrinath dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Also, all these four dhams are at almost same altitude zone- Yamunotri being lowest at 3293 metres and Kedarnath being highest at 3553 metres. Factually speaking, all these four dhams have trekking routes connecting each other. No doubt, these would have been the travel routes centuries ago for the pilgrims until the roads came up. Not just the route, there are many legends connecting these dhams, few of them dating as back as times of Mahabharata.But another existing fact of interest is that out of the two dhams with river sources, only Gangotri is accessible by road, whereas there is an almost a six-kilometer trek from Janaki Chatti to Yamunotri. Similarly, in the other two dhams of deities only Badrinath is accessible by road, while Kedarnath has to be reached by an arduous 18 kms trek from Gaurikund.

THE EXPERIENCE

A lot has changed in this region after the devastating floods of 2013. Being in the same region, all of them had to face to fury of the nature. Immediate after effect was the reduced number of pilgrims. But these four dhams command such a respect in the Hindu mindsets that, five years down the line, the number of pilgrims coming for Char Dham yatra has reached back to the pre-2013 levels. We were told that as many as 7000 pilgrims go to the Yamunotri temple from Janaki Chatti daily.

THE ROUTE

The trek to Yamunotri is a mixed bag. The trail is paved and has a protective railing towards the valley side throughout the trail. Although regular trekkers will find it easy, six kilometres is a no mean task at such altitude. At times it is steep enough to make you sweat and breathless, more so if you are not habitual of walking and being at an altitude of over 10 thousand feet. There are shelters every half kilometer or less. There are sitting places in these sheds. There is facility of drinking water and there are numerous shops on the way selling food, snacks and drinks. Walkers can even purchase a stick to support as a third leg. Down at Janaki Chatti, there is a well-developed market selling almost everything of daily need. There are other ways to cover the distance and most common is a riding a pony. You can hire a pony either for the round trip or the one way. Then there is a palaki where you are lifted and carried by four people on their shoulders in a seat. Then there is a doli, generally for kids and lighter people in which one people carries you on his back in a seat carved inside a basket. Now the problem is that everybody has to share the same walking trail to go and return from Yamunotri. At times and at certain narrow points the trail becomes quite crowded and there are instances of traffic jams, and even walking becomes tougher and bit of ordeal. Moreover, the cemented trail also becomes somewhat uncomfortable for the ponies and gets slippery. Imagine, there are around 2000 ponies at Janaki Chatti to take pilgrims to Yamunotri. But one thing for sure, despite few grims and whims here and there, everybody is fine with everything and considers it as a part of their journey to the deity.

THE SOURCE

Interestingly, just like Gangotri, the actual source of Yamuna river is also not at Yamunotri. As Gaumukh is further 18 kms from Gangotri, similarly actual source of Yamuna rives is said to be the SaptrishiKund which is a small glacial lake fed be Champasar Glacier in the Bandar Poonch massif. This lake is said to be somewhere between 14 to 18 kms far from the Yamunotri temple at an altitude of over 16,500 ft. Saptrishikund is also named so because of its mythological association with the seven great sages– Kashyapa, Atri, Bharadwaj, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni and Vasistha. Treks to this place are very less and hence very little information is available about it. It might be bit tough but not impossible one. Actually this is indeed a very beautiful trek and legends connect it to even Ramayana and it is often said locally that this was the place where Hanuman came search of Sanjeevani all the way from Lanka. Not for the legend, but certainly for its charismatic beauty, I hope to do this trek some day. Legends say that the actual source of Yamuna being so tough to reach, temple to worship Yamuna was built down in the valley at the present site. As the secretary of the Yamunotri Temple Committee Kriteshwar Uniyal said to us, that it was impossible for the lesser mortals reach at the original source

THE SHRINE

Yamunotri temple has three-four main parts. First one is the sprout in the rocks from where river Yamuna emerges. That is the place where the river is worshipped by the devotees ritualistically. The sprout is covered by a cage to protect it. Then there is a proper temple nearby which has three idols- one of the Yamuna, second one of the Ganges and third one too of Yamuna which is taken out during the procession and festivals. Between these two sites is a hot spring called as Soorya Kund (Yamuna is believed to be the daughter of Sun god). The water in this spring is so hot that it is used to cook rice which is taken back by the devotees as a Prasad (blessing). We have seen this phenomenon at many places in Himalayas.

Then there are also bath ponds for the devotees to take bath before the pooja where the hot water is mixed with cold water of Yamuna to make it more bearable. There are separate baths for men and women. Besides, there are numerous shops lined up selling food, snacks, drinks, prasads, offering and souvenirs. There are also few options of stay for the devotees who are late and might not be able to return Janaki Chatti before dark.

Fast Facts

• Janaki Chatti to Yamunotri temple is a trek of 5.5 kms. A normal person will take 2 to 2 and half hours to walk down the trail.
• Ponies charge 1200 rupees one way and a palaki 4000 rupees one way.
• Travelers are normally allowed to leave till 5 pm in the evening from Janaki Chatti towards Gangotri.
• There is enough of water and food available on the way.
• There are also sheds for the shelter from sun, rain and wind.
• Always walk towards the hillside to be safe as there are lot of pulls and push from various elements.

Avoid travelling in dark on the walking trail.