Trek to Tungnath

Chandrashila to realisation

Dear Readers,

Rivers flow. Sometimes they quite disappear and reappear. Continuous and constant. They meet the oceans . But when they change their state to go back to the mountains, in the pristine places, to emerge with purity, is that a weakness of character because they have changed ? Isn’t the latent energy more dangerous to those who find scope in the weaknesses of others ?

Today or Forever, I will be blunt.

MOONSCAPES

Tungnath is the highest Shiva temple in the world, ‘Tung’ meaning peak of a mountain and ‘Nath’ meaning lord. It is one of the Panch Kedars, as I had shared the mythological evidence of this place, the story of Pandavas and Lord Shiva in my earlier post:

Temples and Reminiscence Architecture

The temple is a similar architecture of stones, significant use of locally available materials in a way which suits the adverse climate, rain and snow. This temple is said to be originally built by Arjuna, one of the five Pandavas. The temple at present is found to be around 1000 years old. We find the natural presence of ‘Nandi’ in front of the gate to the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. Inside the temple there is a shrine of Adi Guru Shankaracharya. The Lord of Tungnath temple is worshipped by the local priests of Makkumath, who are known as the ‘Maithanis’, while in the other Kedarnath temples, Madhyamaheshwar Temple , the priests who worship the Lord originally belong to South India known as the ‘Rawal’, Tungnath worshipped by – Maithanis,  Rudranath and Gopinath worshipped by –Bhatt and Tiwari Brahman family of Gopeshwar village and Kalpnath worshipped by Bhalla- or bheel now – known as Negis in Urgam valley ( earlier – Nath were worshipping Kalpnath  and later by Bhatt Family ) – as Shri Darban Singh Negis son – Trilok Singh will be next Main priest of Shri Kalpnath Temple in future. While on the Other hand the main priest of Shri Badrinath Dham is Rawal from Kerala and Dimaris form Dimmar Village of Chamoli Garhwal  along with the priest of Devprayag mostly Dhyani ( Caste). Also, the courtyard of the temple has shrines of Goddess Parvati, Lord Ganesh and Kaal Bhairav. There is a new installation of a steel ‘Trishul’.

The trek to Tungnath is approximately 4 kms from Chopta( we can bring our vehicles till this point) in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand. There are many hotel stays and tent arrangements in Chopta for tourists. Food facilities are adequately available. It is a approximately a 2 hrs trek. The path is stone built and is convenient or not mostly depends on the weather. One should always be prepared for the rain. On the way, we can find a panoramic view of peaks of Hathi- Ghoda mountains, Choukhamba, Nanda Devi and many others. The valleys of two big rivers are formed in the Tungnath mountains- Alaknanda and Mandakini. And two small tributaries – Akshakamini and Balkhila form the micro and macro watershed of the Tungnath – Chopta Region..

Due to the stone floor, at that altitude, it is very cold and difficult to walk at first. With time one adapts. The trek doesn’t end here. There is a further 2 km trek to the Chandrashila Peak, Chandra meaning ‘Moon’ and Shila meaning ‘Rock’. According to the Hindu Mythology, the Moon God meditated and prayed to Lord Shiva at this place, when he was cursed by King Daksha. Lord Ram also meditated to Lord Shiva At Chandrashila to overcome of the curse as Ram Killed Ravan and He was a Brahmin.

MOONSHOTS

It was comparatively more difficult to climb to Chandrashila. The slope was steep as it always is. However it was not slippery until one chooses the more used path. It was a challenge to directly walk on the virgin grass of the mountain instead of the stone paved, irregular path. Irregularities. Words are less to describe that day of October. I never imagined these clear skies and a 360 degree view of snow laden peaks. I had never imagined standing at such a place from where I could witness the white clouds casting shadows on green mountain surfaces.

The whole way and Chandrashila peak was full of the ‘stone-stacked on one top of the other’ structures, as used by trekkers to show the way. It was breathless, literally.

But I was held so firmly to lose breath than hope.

And reaching there was enough. I was ready to flow.

It was a flow somehow caught in some depth for a while. But it appears to the surface again . I described my dreams along the way.

We were waiting for each other. Time and me. To be precise: Chandrashila and me. Before snow wanted to embrace her, which he desperately wanted to till he did.

Sharing again-

For the sake of Love;
I LOVE you in a pretty special way
You know, I think;
I hear you SAY.
Every time, at the end of it,
where we stood together,
I FIND pieces of me slightly, binding,
With the heart-made glue you had offered.
If these lines seem cheesy,
I can definitely claim a cheesier version,
on my name, it is history.
With everything, river flows,
Parrots flying so high above.
And much higher are the peaks,
where LOVE lives;
my love for you.
You wish to know things
I am holding back a lot, that's true.
Somewhere I couldn't imagine
Your eyes can see to that extent.
YES, deep they are,
and deeper they want to be.
Love, doesn't carry you on its shoulders,
love, lets you realize
How strong you are and
How much more you can simply be.

This is me for now.

Punam