| Char Dham Yatra- From Rishikesh to Chamba Darshan, Day 5 |


Char Dham Yatra – Pilgrimage to the Himalayas, Day 5

Having spent time in Rishikesh with Mother Ganga, various ashrams, yoga, river rafting, darshan of temples, prayers etc., let us now journey forward to Chamba, a small and beautiful village nestled in Himalayas.
Winding roads marked by landslides here and there, lined with Pine trees and many other species of tall, huge trees, interspersed with signboards wishing all travelers a safe journey and promoting conservation of the forests; the entire road to Chamba is wrapped by the beauty of nature all around and reminders at regular intervals, of our responsibility as tourists: to follow the discipline of not dirtying the environment by throwing any waste or disposables out in the open no matter where we may go – be it the hills or any other surroundings outside of our homes, for that matter. Despite a plastic ban in all the hilly regions and mountains, tourists still don’t seem to heed the ban seriously.

As we slowly journey ahead, you will begin to feel the fragrance of religion, faith and belief. You will find your faith and feel the joy of the Supreme Lord in the captivating scenes of nature you behold, as you journey along. Somewhere along the way you also witness a game of hide and seek playing out between the clouds and the sun. At some other point you hear bhajans (devotional hymns) from a temple, echoing in the valley. As soon as the doors to the temples in these abodes are thrown open, people from the world over flock to these holy spots for Darshan. At some point you will find a group of pilgrims preparing food, having parked their bus by the roadside. Few others would be filling water from the stream of water flowing down the hillside. On such pilgrimages, when pilgrims travel in large groups, they normally bring along a cook or two and all the provisions too, for preparing the food. The vehicle is usually parked at a convenient location on the way, where water and other amenities are available. The food is prepared in the open at such locations. While some from the group help with the food preparation, some play in the water stream while the others sitting in the lap of the majestic mountains, take in the magnificient scenic view of Mother Nature. Nowadays, people spend most of their time browsing through their mobile phones instead of enjoying the natural beauty all around. The pilgrims can experience the pleasure of the beauteous surroundings even while having their lunch. Having had their lunch, the pilgrims stretch themselves out for a bit and board their bus to depart for the densely populated but extremely beautiful Chamba Gaon (village). The beauty of Chamba is to be seen to be believed. On many trees here, not even a single green leaf can be sighted, only gorgeous flowers in bold shades of violet & yellow can be seen. It is as though Nature’s exquisite beauty has chosen to adorn the Himalayas at this point. Such is the marvelous beauty of this village Chamba.

Chamba

Chamba is 65 kms from Rishikesh. The snow covered mountains and the beautiful Bhagirathi Ghat can be viewed from here. Chamba is known for its juicy and delicious apples. It is a very enchanting hill station, renowned for its apple and apricot gardens and the beautiful Buransh flowers. Chamba is an ideal location for bird watchers too, because there are several species of birds that can be seen here. In the forests surrounding Chamba, it is quite common to sight alligators and musk deer and birds like pigeons, woodpeckers and magpie. You can easily see these denizens of the forests. Chamba is an exceedingly beautiful place where you can spend a few days if you wish to.

Bageshwar Temple

Bageshwar temple is at a distance of 300 kms from Rishikesh, situated in Kumaoni Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. According to the Manas section of the Shiv Purana, one of the Ganas of Lord Shiva by name Chandish is the one who inhabited and populated this town, in accordance with Lord Shiva’s wish. Bageshwar is a pilgrimage town located at the confluence of the Sarayu & Gomati rivers, in the state of Uttarakhand. There is an ancient temple of Bageshwar Nath present here whom the locals here know by the name ‘Bagnath’ or ‘Baghnath’. There is also an ancient Shiva Temple in Bageshwar and that is the sole ancient temple of Lord Shiva in North India. This temple is South facing and the water log of Shiv Shakti is located in the Eastern quadrant of the temple premises. Shiva & Parvati are together here in Swayambhu form meaning ingenerated/self-manifested from the earth and present in the center of the water body. Bageshwar temple is the most famous one in the district of Bageshwar and the district draws its name from this temple only. The carvings in this temple are exceedingly impressive. It is very true that if a temple is ancient then the energy within them is also very distinct and unique. You can experience this when you set foot into this temple, where you can behold the Lord of the Universe, Shankar and His consort Parvati seated together on the water log. Markandeya Muni used to offer prayers to Lord Shiva here as a result of which Lord Shiva appeared here in the form of a Tiger and Blessed him. Having had Darshan of Bageshwar temple, let us move ahead now …
(To be continued …)