Before I start my journey let me tell you guys some facts about Kedarnath:
Kedarnath is one of the holiest pilgrimages for Hindus. As per Hindu beliefs Lord Shiva manifested in the form of Jyotirlingam in Kedarnath. Kedarnath temple is located in the Rudra Himalaya range. It is situated at an altitude of 3, 581 mt.(11748 feet) it is a 14 km trek from gaurikund. Between Gaurikund and Kedarnath there is place “RamBaan” which is situated almost mid of this 14 km way. It’s a high attitude area so people are having respiratory problems, joint pain should be careful. Kedarnath Dham opens for only 6 month a year. Opening season is 20th April – November first week.(Note: Date often gets changed according to the weather conditions. Best Season to visit Kedarnath Dham is May – 15 Jun, and Sep – Oct.(Because rest of the month u will find loads of rain in that area, and its not safe to visit kedarnath in rainy seasons because of land sliding and other problems. In nights temperature drips to – 2, 3 so take heavy woolens and jackets with you.
So here I go with my trip to Kedarnath. In the month of May while in Delhi hot summers were killing and torturing Delhites. My friend and me decided to visit Kedarnath dham, not for devotional purpose, but just to kill the Delhi summers and for some driving thrill(this was our thought when we had just started our trip). We were very much aware about the road conditions, so this time we decided to ride Mahindra Balero. We take a very simple and famous rote Delhi - Roorkee - Haridwar - Rishikesh - Devprayag - Rudrapryag - Pipalkoti - Gopeshwar - Kedarnath. Till Rishikesh we didn’t face any problem because I have driven my car on this route numerous times, but the problem started when we crossed Devprayag. Road became so narrow that earlier we didn’t imagine this. But still because my friend is rally driver so we didn’t face any problem. Well after seeing number of accidental vehicles and couple of traffic jam’s we reached at Pipalkoti, which was our first halt. We stayed in a small guesthouse, and again in early morning we started towards Kedarnath witch was now just 100 kms far. Well after driving continuous 3 hours finally we reach at Gaurikund, which is actually like a base camp for Kedarnath dham… very beautiful place we have parked our Bolero in prepaid parking which was quite expensive 200 – 300 for a day. We take a bath under a natural hot water spring… Which was very relaxing after a long ride. After taking bath we packed our traveler bags with some necessary thing(daily use things), buy two support sticks(which are very much required while u r moving towards Kedarnath) Buy some chips and water bottles(always buy chips water bottles biscuits from the base itself because after that u have to pay a heavier cost for them i.e. 30 Rs. for a water bottle or 45 Rs for a cup noodle). Well at last we started walking to wards Kedarntah that was 14 kms away. We took almost 5 hours to complete the 14 km stretch, why because after crossing the height of 8000 feet our legs was shivering with cold and tiredness, but still we make it.
We check in to a Hotel, which was Ok, but we paid 2000 bucks for a night.(There are lots of other cheap options available i.e. Dharamshal’s and small hotels). The time when we reach there it was already dark . so we simply take a bath with hot water and go to sleep. Beware because of glaciers around the place in nights temp. Drip down to –3 degrees.
Well in morning we wake up early and again take a bath and run towards the main Jyotirlinga temple(because earlier we were told by hotel manager that to have a proper darshans we have to wake up early because after 8 PM you wont be able to see Jyotirlinga because of crowd). Well at last we have a great darshans of holly lord Shiva and Jyotirlinga, believe me experience was awesome… now we were feeling some kind of devotion with in us. Well after having darshans we started exploring the nearest places… which were equally beautiful, the Himalayan mountain range was so clear, that we were able to see clear snow on the mountain cliffs. There was not much trees and plantation because of high attitude.
Well after spending two full days in kedarnath dham we were felling so relieve, which I can’t express in my words. Frankly speaking I was not in the mood to leave that place… but friends that was not my destiny, so we came down to Gurikund after spending memorable 2 days…. And again we became a part of this hustle life…
Now I am really missing those cliffs covered by fresh snow… those devotees(sadhus) who came every year to have a glimpse of Lord Shiva, there chants “Bam Bam Bholey” . Awesome experience…
Well sorry that I am writing this review in the category of Badrinath. but I didnt find any category for Kedarnath.!
Regards
MJ