Monday 31 August 2015

Jim Corbett National Park may get the Corbett’s rifle



Jim Corbett national park is named after a famous hunter Jim Corbett, who was given the responsibility of killing a man-eaters of Champawat. The feat was achieved by Jim Corbett after a meticulous and clever planning. Then after, he was given the charge of killing other man-eaters in three other parts of Uttarakhand. In 1907 , the then LG of United Provinces, Sir John Hewitt KCSI presented this rifle to Jim Corbett in order to put an end to the menace created by the tiger of Champawat. After killing this tiger, Jim Corbett also killed other big cats of Rudraprayag, Ramnagar and Pawalgarh. The rifle used at that time was .275 Rigby bolt action.  The rifle may be brought back to Corbett national park  on a ‘pilgrimage’ by the year 2016, for which the Corbett park authorities are holding talks with a London based gun maker, who is currently possessing the rifle.

John Rigby, the owner of the company John Rigby & Co .  has the planning to bring the rifle on a ‘pilgrimage ‘ to the Corbett national park as the place is pious for the rifle.  On getting the permission of bringing the rifle in India, the Corbett authorities shall be able to exhibit the rifle to the tourists visiting the park. The presence of the rifle in the park itself shall be the main attraction to the visitors. As per the tourism ministry, the exhibition of the rifle shall also bring a boost in the tourism of National Park.

The gunmaker John Rigby has also plan to auction 100 sets of leather bound book each containing 5 books and the profit earned by selling these books shall be donated to the National park.

The company has also produced a commemorative .275 rifle as homage to the Rigby rifle used by Jim Corbett. The commemorative rifle will be produced for auction at the Safari Club International convention between February 3 and 6, next year.

Saturday 29 August 2015

Triyuginarain, where Shiva wedded Parvati




         An  excursion  can be made to the legendary village of Triyuginarain in Kedar valley,  Uttarakhand, which lies on the ancient bridle path that goes from Gangotri to Sri Kedarnath.  The place is known for the marriage of Shiva and Parvati. The three-km trek from Sone Prayag criss crosses through forests and orchards takes you to this place. There is a nine-km. motorable road from Sone Prayag to this place.  This temple is believed to be existing since Treta yug.

            This place is known for the magnificent temple of Lord Vishnu, the Narain, which is similar to that of Sri Kedarnath, in architectural style and sculptural perfection.  In the front portico  of the temple, a fire known as “Akhand Dhuni” has been burning for hundreds of years.  Traditions attribute this fire to the occasion of the wedding of Shiva and Parvati. The pilgrims reverently smear the holy ashes on their foreheads.  The presence of a Vishnu temple at a site where Shiva and Parvati were wedded is a glorious example of the popular faith that, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, that is the creator, preserver and the destroyer are the different forms, of the same supreme being.  The worship of any individual God of Hindu pantheon, is the worship of  all gods and finally worship of that ultimate Brahma, which is ONE and none other.

            Fascinating are the views of the perpetual snows that can be seen from here.  The surroundings are beautiful.  There however is no good accommodation at Triyuginarain except for some old dharamshalas.  One can always enjoy roughing out a day’s stay among the friendly and innocent villagers.

The most populous town near this temple is Guptakshi. One can stay overnight here at Guptakshi and visit Triyuginarain next day. The distance of Guptakashi from Rishikesh is around 180 km which is normally covered in 7-8 hours drive.


Shri Badrinath ji


            Shri Badrinath ji is one of the Char dhams of India and also Uttarakhand. The Badrinath temple is located in the district Chamoli of Uttarakhand. The distance of Badrinath is around 298 km from Rishikesh. Rishikesh is 225 km from New Delhi. The valley where Badrinath is located is surrounded by Nar and Narain mountains. The Badrinath temple is in the lap of Narain mountain with Neelkanth in background. The main gate entrance of the temple is called Singhdwar. The temple has two parts, one garbhgriha and another mandapam. Garbhgriha is the place where deity is seated whereas mandapam is the place where pilgrims assemble.  From mandapam, puja is performed. There is a special small square reserved for Abhishekh puja and for this puja a prior booking is must. Abhishekh puja is early morning puja.
                
             Shri Badrinath dham is popular since ages and finds mention in vedic texts. It is said that the dham was brought back to its ancient Hindu glory from Buddhist influence by Adi Shankaracharya. In Skand puarana, it is described that after heavenly orders, Sri Adi Shankar recovered the Vishnu idol from Narad kund which he duly enshrined and once again Badrinath ji became a Hindu temple.
               
             It is assumed that the Adi Shankar achieved enlightenment in Jyothirmath (now Joshimath) in the form of divine light, the Jyoti. Is the place Ashtakhand is Jyothirmath and the divine light was received at Ashta Khand ? Well , the subject is historical and we can only guess.
               
                It is believed that Badrinath had some Buddhist religion influence due to the posture of idol which is padamasan and other certain associated facts related to Buddhism. Later, it was Hindu renaissance which brought Badrinath back to its original Hindu religion.

               The pujas start getting performed from early morning. Every Puja must be preceded by “holy dip” in the Tapta kund. Following are the some of the special morning pujas:
·         Abhishekh  
·         Geeta path
·         Srimadbhagwat
·         Mahabhishekh

Following are the evening pujas:
·         Aarti
·         Geet govind

            The above pujas should be booked in advance.  The timing of the darshan at the temple are as follows:
·         From 4:30 AM with Shubh Prabhatam till 1:00 PM
·         From 4:00 PM till 9:00 PM closing with the divine song “Geet Govind”.


Sometimes the time between 1:00 PM to 4:00 Pm is reduced to ease the rush of devotees for Darshan.

For more please visit :Jai Badri Vishal

Saturday 1 August 2015

Journey to Tapovan, Lata, Vishnuprayag


The Dream Mountain resort is located at an altitude of 2000 mtr. The picturesque view of Himalayan mountains namely Hathi Parvat, Ghoda parvat, Sleeping beauty mountains from resort would spellbind you. The early morning sun rays on these snow capped mountains and different species of chirping birds in the midst of variety of flora and fauna in the resort was a blessing to soul. We had early morning tea, breakfast and got ready for another day of journey to surrounding places. Today’s itinerary was Tapovan hot water spring, Vishnuprayag and Hathi pahad.


Dream Mountain resort

Tenting at resort

During winters

Resort tent

Hathi Parvat, Ghoda parvat, Sleeping beauty and Hathi pahad. 

First we started with Tapovan hot water spring, which is 15 km from the resort. The route is towards Niti valley. The Niti village is the last border village on the China border. There are many other villages along the route. Tapovan hot spring is one of the places wherefrom one can view Nanda Devi peak. Nanda devi trek is one of the most sought after treks in Uttarakhand. For this trek, permit is issued by the government. As soon as we reached Tapovan, the air got more fresh and cooler.   It was really very exciting and breathtaking experience to be near Tapovan spring surrounded by giant mountains. Few people were already there and boiling eggs in the spring water for breakfast. It must have been a gala time for those people as it was appearing from their cheerful moods. We also participated in their party, but unfortunately could not be offered the eggs as the same were not enough. After spending half an hour or so, we decided to march towards Lata and Rini villages further.  Rini is famous for Chipko andolan whereas Lata village has homestay tourism.

Tapovan hot spring


First we reached Rini and then Lata. As soon as reached Lata, we were told that the summer village is 2 km above the main road. Trekking to the village was not possible as it had started drizzling and we had no plan to go to this village. So, we decided to move back to Joshimath and then to Vishnuprayag and Hathi Pahad.   
Rini village

Summer village, Lata

Winter village, Lata

Niti village 75 km from Joshimath

After reaching Joshimath, we took the road to Badrinath for Vishnuprayag. Vishnuprayag is the first prayag (Confluence) in the series of all the prayags. This prayag is not inhabited like other prayags. There is a small temple which is taken care of by few priests. We reached there and spent around half an hour. From Vishnuprayag, we further moved to Hathi Pahad.

Visnhuprayag 

Hathi pahad is just opposite to Joshimath across Alaknanda. From Hathi pahad, after reaching to a certain point we were stopped by some hydroelectric personnel for further journey ahead. That place has establishment of hydroelectric project and due to security reasons probably we were not allowed further journey. So, ultimately we decided to return back and it was already evening 4 PM.  While returning back to resort we also paid visit to temples like Narsingh, Bhavishya Kedar.

Rainbow after rain


Joshimath town viewed from Hathi Pahad.

The whole day passed quite serenely and at the night we were gazing in the sky, the stars were visible after day drizzling. The stars seemed quite near to earth and very clear visibility was there.   The next day we were planning for our return to Dehradun.  There were many other places where we would be visiting on next tour.

Other mountains viewed from resort
Resort at night
Night sky 
For more please visit : www.dreammountain.net/joshimath/