Deoria Tal - Tungnath - Chandrashila

31 September, 2011

I was since very long itching to go to the mountains. So on a weekend I made up my mind to revisit Tungnath (one of the panch kedars in the Himalayas) including Deoria Tal (about 2400 mt) this time in my program. One of my friend Manjit was my companion on this trip. Both of us took a night bus from Anand Vihar Bus Terminal to Rishikesh, changed the bus at Rishikesh, Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Ukhimath (about 8 km from Sari Village) to finally stay overnight at Deoria Tal. When we reached Sari Village (from where we trekked up for about 3 km to reach Deoria Tal), it was already 6:30 pm. The locals in the Sari village told us that the tented accommodation is available at Lake. So we started walking up and by the time we reached half the way, it was completely dark. Frankly speaking we were a bit afraid as we were passing through a dense forest land, however the way was open and not misleading. We took a sigh of relief when we saw a light coming from the shop nearby the lake. There were a couple of Israeli tourists who had arrived there that afternoon and were planning to a trek upto Tungnath the next day with the help of their guide. We took our especially prepared dinner by Hira Singh, the shop and the tent owner and slipped into our tents without even knowing where the lake was.

I was actually dying to see the Lake and could not sleep properly as I was waiting for the day to break. I set an alarm for 5 am but got up many a times to check how much time was left. Even before my mobile alarm could wake me up, I peeked out of my tent and what a stunning panoramic view!!! Our first encounter with the serene lake with a backdrop of enchanting snow capped Himalayan peaks, just like a picture postcard, so mesmerizing! I woke up Manjit to enjoy this treasure of Mother Nature. And as I had imagined the first word that came out of his mouth was 'WOW', he was so delighted to see this marvelous scenic beauty. We took our weapons out to capture this beautiful phenomenon and started clicking some pictures. We took a circumambulation of the lake and were fortunate to see some beautiful local hilly birds. Hira Singh told us that as Devas (deities) would bathe in this lake hence it took the name 'Deoria Tal'. Some believe that this is the same lake where the Pandavas (heroes of the epic Mahabharata) were offered to answer the mystical questions asked by Yaksha (in the form of a crane) to let them quench their thirst from the lake and only Yudhisthira (the eldest brother) could answer all the questions rightly and could revive his brothers.

Confluence of Holy Bhagirathi (on left) and Alaknanda (on right) at Devprayag, this is where onwards we call it Maa Ganga  

Jantar Mantar

10 September, 2011

I was always curious to know what was inside these strangely erected structures while passing through these lanes. As a child, we would always think that this is some kind of Bhul Bhulaiya. So today (9 June, 2011) was my chance to explore these mysterious structures and to know what all this Jantar Mantar was about.

It is one of the five astronomical observatories (at Jaipur, Delhi, Mathura, Ujjain, Varanasi) built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh (II), the ruler and founder of Jaipur who had a very keen interest in Astronomy. 

Unique structures

Janjehli - Shikari Devi - Karsog - Delhi

4 August, 2011

Today I got up early morning as I had to walk a lot to reach Shikari Devi Temple via Budha Kedar Cave and to get down towards Karsog. When I stepped out of the guest house and asked the locals about the way to Shikari via Budha Kedar, I got a feeling that the way was through jungle with multiple trails at certain places which could be misleading and could make me go astray. I was alone and I had only today's time to cover all this, so I decided to give the cave a miss this time and tried a convenient path which would go all along the roads. It is a 16 km trekking from Janjehli to Shikari Devi, one can also go by Bike/Jeep/Car (preferably by a 4x4) but the last few kilometers do give you a hard time as the road is in very bad condition (due to rains probably).

Apple orchards all across the road

Sunjanpur - Sunder Nagar - Mandi - Janjehli

2/3 August, 2011

Today's plan was to go to Mandi and from there to Janjehli Valley for the trek to Shikari Devi. The day was as lazy as I was. I got up a bit late, had morning tea and walked out with Bali to take bath at the village dhara (natural water stream flowing from the mountains). Just a km up from this place, we had received some very good views of Dhauladhar range when I visited Bali last time for his marriage. We thoroughly enjoyed the natural bath in open and by the time we reached back home it was almost the lunch time. So we started our bike journey only after the lunch with sweet memories at Bali's place, by this time I became sure that we will not be able to reach Janjehli today.

I initially thought that the day would not be a fruitful day in terms of travelling, but a pleasant surprise was waiting for me near Sunder Nagar.   

Serene Beas from a bridge near Sujanpur Tira

Riding through beautiful woods on the way to Mandi 

Ghasyarin (the grass cutter women) on the way

Beautiful reservoir in Sunder Nagar

Spent some here just enjoying the nature's bounty to Sunder Nagar

Enjoying the fascinating lake and enchanting layers of mountains in the background 

Bali beside the lake enjoying his Bhutta

Sunder Nagar between a sunder hill and a sunder lake

Captured this mouse like figure in the sky in this beautiful city

After enjoying the nature's gifts at this place, we moved to Mandi and arrived late evening. We left our luggage at Bali's place and moved out to visit ancient Bhimkali Temple. The story goes that Goddess Kali declared that she would re-incarnate in a huge form like Bhima (one of the pandavas, heroes of epic Mahabharata) to protect  the meditating sages from the demons and would be known as Bhimakali. Later during their exile, the pandavas spent few days in Mandi on the bank of holy river Vipasha (now Beas) and worshiped Goddess Bhimakali. The entire temple is built as if the Goddess Kali is sitting on the back of a tiger (see the head of the tiger in the picture below). One can also spot the figures of pandavas with Draupadi (wife of pandavas).

After the temple exploration, we picked up some food from a local restaurant and came back home to finish the day with these delicacies of Mandi.

Jai Maa Bhimakali !!! 

Next morning, as planned Bali and me both set out to go to Janjehli to visit Shikari Devi. On the way, we stopped to click the temple during the day and took a bus to a place just before Pandoh. Upon arrival here, we got to know that one bus had left and the next bus would come a bit late. By the time the next bus arrived, it was already noon, so Bali dropped the idea of going to Janjehli and I moved alone the second time to Janjehli. 


Janjehli (2150 mt), a small village nearly 80 km from Mandi is a paradise for hikers and nature lovers. It is the base for the trek to Shikari Devi Temple, 16 km up from here. Tall deodar trees, apple orchards, lush green meadows, small beautiful streams and enchanting views all add to the beauty of this amazing and quite place. The road to Janjehli is bad at some patches, our bus also got punctured at Thunag and this gave me some time to click some beauties on the way. 

Entering the fascinating Janjehli Valley

I had reached Janjehli before the sunset, so thought to visit Pandav Shila, a village 2 km before Janjehli. As per the locals, the massive rock (Pandav Shila) belongs to pandavas and is actually a filtering stone which came out of the tobacco pipe of pandavas while they were in this village during their exile (which now has grown multi-fold from its original size). To my surprise and as per the villagers, one can strangely move the massive rock only with a finger. I was very eager to try this natural wonder, though not with a finger but I managed to move this rock with both my hands.

Pandav Shila, a natural rock    

Captivating Janjehli Valley

After trying my hand at Pandav Shila, I walked back to Janjehli enjoying the natural beauties around. I had my lunch cum dinner and explored some of the temples in Janjehli before going back to my guest house for a good night's sleep with the sweet memories of the wanderings so far and tomorrow's trekking expedition to Shikari Devi.