Visit to Unique Uttarkashi in India

The Northern part of India is full of holy, beautiful, and sacred places of pilgrimage for Hindus due to the Himalaya Mountains range. One can start visiting such beautiful places for the entire life and even then, all such places may not be covered. I have performed the holy pilgrimage of four dhams on my own and have stayed at many less popular places during the pilgrimage. Uttarkashi is one such place that comes in the way to Gangotri, the origin of holy River Ganga. Uttarkashi is considered very vital place of pilgrimage as per Hindu religion and is considered equivalent to Banaras in terms of religious importance.

We had reached Uttarkashi from Ranachatti, which is around 120 miles away from Uttarkashi on the return path from Yamunotri, the origin of the holy river Yamuna. It takes around five to six hours to reach Uttarkashi from Ranachatti due to steep mountains roads. Uttarkashi is unique as this is the place where the holy river Ganga flows from South to North instead of normal flow from North to South. Such Northbound flow of River Ganga is only at Banaras (Kashi) in addition to Uttarkashi. That is the reason why the Uttarkashi is considered holy and sacred as Kashi. The Rivers Varni and Asi meet Bhagirathi (Ganga) here at Uttarkashi. This triveni sangam is considered very holy as per Hindu religion. The pilgrims take a holy bath here at the triveni sangam. However, one must be extremely careful while taking a bath here as the flow of River water is very rapid and have many powerful twisters inside. There is a famous temple of Kashi Vishwanath here at the ghat of triveni sangam. There are also temples of eleven Rudras, Gopeshwar Mahadev, Guru Datatreya, Guru Parshuram, Annapurna Mata, and Goddess Ganga. All these temples are situated on the ghat of triveni sangam. The morning and evening arti rituals are worth attending here at the Kashi Vishwanath temple on the River bank. The holy and spiritual atmosphere at the time of arti ritual is really unique and forms an ideal atmosphere for dhyana and meditation. The famous ghat of Manikarnika is also worth visiting here at Uttarkashi. There is a chained ghat at the triveni sangam point so that all the pilgrims can take the holy bath in the River safely. The ancient temple of eleven rudras is really unique here as there is no such temple in whole of India. This temple is around 1100 years old and the Lord Shiva lingam installed here is also very big and elliptical in shape. The pilgrims put the milk on the Lord Shiva lingam and pray for fulfilling their heart's desires. The stay of around two days may be sufficient here at Uttarkashi to cover all the vital spots of tourist's interest.

There are few hotels and many dharmashalas available here at Uttarkashi for the pilgrims. We had stayed at Hotel Hariom, which provides good double room at the rate of around Rs.300 ($6) per day. The hot water is supplied in the morning hours in the rooms. The standard Indian food delicacies like paraunthas, vegetables and salad are easily available here at very nominal rates. Nonvegetarian food items are strictly banned at Uttarkashi and even at all such places of pilgrimage in the entire Himalayan region. Alcoholic drinks are also strictly prohibited. It is suggested to visit Uttarkashi during the summer months from May to October in view of very severe winter here. There is a facility of post office and telephone office here at Uttarkashi for the tourists. The town of Uttarkashi is very small and certain modern facilities are not available here. One must be prepared to live without such amenities. In spite of this, Uttarkashi has lot to offer to all the tourists in terms of natural beauty of snow cladded Himalaya Mountains situated all around it.

I had stayed at Uttarkashi for two nights and enjoyed every minute of it. I would request all my AC friends and readers to grab an opportunity to visit Uttarkashi to enjoy its beautiful and spiritual environment during their next visit to India.