02 June 2012

Kedarnath Badrinath Yatra

Kedarnath Badrinath Yatra 5 May 2012
As part of our project to have darisanam at all Padal Petra Sthalams (276 of them) and Divya Desams (108 of them), we did our yatra to Kedarnath & Badrinath. We covered 3 PPS (Anegathangavadam, Thirukedaram and Indraneela Paruppadam) and 3 DDs (Kandamennum Kadinagar, Thirupiridhi, Thiruvadariasramam). Of this, Kedaram and Badari are accurate. It is generally believed Gaurikund is Anegathangavadam, Indraneela Parvatham is Neelkanta Parvatham, Joshimath is Thirupiridhi and  Devaprayag is Kandam ennum Kadinagar. Nayanmars did not visit these sthalams. Gnanasambandar sang these sthalams from Kalahasti. Azhwars have also sang the sthalams rather than the Moorthy. 


10 of us started from Chennai on 5th May 2012. We had mad our travel arrangements through GMVN. You can get customised tours organised through GMVN providing transport and stay just for your group. As most of the places in the route do not have established hotels, it is convenient to get a tour package for yourself through GMVN.


The plan was:



Date Day Day From  To KM Time Time See Stay
05-May-12 1 Sat Chennai Delhi 07:00 10:00
05-May-12 1 Sat Delhi Rishikesh 225 11:00 19:30 Rishikesh
06-May-12 2 Sun Rishikesh Rudrapayag 150 11:00 17:30 Rudrapayag
06-May-12 2 Sun Rudrapayag Rampur 60 18:00 20:30 Rampur
07-May-12 3 Mon Rampur Gaurikund 10 06:00 07:00 Gaurikund (Anekathankavadam)
07-May-12 3 Mon Gaurikund Kedarnath 15 08:00 13:00 Kedarnath (Tirukedaram) Kedarnath
08-May-12 4 Tue Kedarnath Gaurikund 15 08:00 11:30
08-May-12 4 Tue Gaurikund Tilwara 60 12:30 18:00 Tilwara
09-May-12 5 Wed Tilwara Nandaprayag 60 06:00 08:30
09-May-12 5 Wed Nandaprayag Joshimath 60 09:00 12:00 Joshimath (Tirupiridhi) Badrinath
10-May-12 6 Thu Joshimath Badrinath 45 14:00 17:00 Badrinath (Badari, Indra Neela Parupadam)
10-May-12 6 Thu Badrinath Joshimath 10 12:00 15:00
10-May-12 6 Thu Joshimath Auli 20 16:00 17:00 Auli Auli
11-May-12 7 Fri Auli Auli 0 Auli
12-May-12 8 Sat Auli Karnaprayag 100 07:00 14:00 Karnaprayag
12-May-12 8 Sat Karnaprayag Srinagar 70 15:00 18:00 Srinagar
12-May-12 8 Sat Srinagar Devaprayag 35 08:00 10:00 Devaprayag (Kandamennum Kadinagar)
13-May-12 9 Sun Devaprayag Rishikesh 75 11:00 15:00
13-May-12 9 Sun Rishikesh Rishikesh 15:00 18:00 Rishikesh





















On 5th night, we stayed at the Dayananda Ashram in Rishikesh. The Ashram is a serene place on the Ganga. 


Next day, we started at 1100 instead of planned departure at 0700. Our van had to get a 'Green Card' at RTO in Rishikesh to proceed to Kedarnath. On the way, we got down at Rudraprayag to collect the Holy water. The roads are unsafe, no barricades at the edges and there is a 1000ft drop beyond this. It is not safe to drive after sunset. Because of the delayed start, we reached our next night stay at Rampur at 2030. There is a sudden climate shock as Rishikesh is hot and Rampur is cold. You can see snow capped peaks from here. The GMVN guesthouse is set amidst hills and streams, the views are breathtaking. 


Road ends and the trekking route to Kedarnath starts at Gaurikund. There are traffic jams and no parking spaces as the day goes by. It is best to reach Gaurikund early in the day and start your journey to Kedarnath. If you are planning Kedarnath yatra, you should plan your night stay for day 2 at a place close to Gaurikund. Rampur is just 10km from Gaurikund so it was very convenient. 


We reached Gaurikund at 7 in the morning. We saw the kundam and the temples around. We reached the trek starting point, which is swarmed by horses and horsemen. You can book a horse at the Govt centre for Rs1100 and Doli for Rs4000. Or you can walk. Some of us took the Doli, a few hired horse and the rest started the walk. Horses reached the top in three and half hours by 1130. Doli took 5 hours and reached around 1330. After three hours of walk, trekkers had covered just 5.5 kms. The total trek is 14km. At this rate, the walkers would reach Kedarnath by 6pm or after ten hours! So the brave walkers also hired horses for rest of the journey. I recommend you take the horse if you want to be early and return the same day. Take the doli if you do not want to strain even a bit.


Kedar was very cold, the temple had opened a week back. The streets were full of snow. While the summer will melt the snow, July and August are rainy and not recommended. The temple was not crowded at all as we were early in the season. The padigams ( Sambandar, Sundarar)   are inscribed in the temple. The temple is quite compact. The mandapam has shrines for Krishnar and the Pandavars. Next day, early in the morning, we performed pujai. You can touch and worship Kedaranathar. We had taken Vibhuti and Vilvam for the puja.


On 8th morning, we started from Kedarnath at 8am and all reached Gaurikund by different modes in 3.5 hours at 1130. We reached Tilwara on the Ganga by 6pm. The GMVN guesthouse was pleasant, we spent some time playing in the waters of Ganga.



The next day (9 May 2012), we started at 6am. We spent sometime at Nandaprayag. Tirupirudhi is variously stated as Nandaprayag, Joshimath or Manasarovar. Then, reached Joshimath at 1200 noon. Visited the Temples and the Mutt established by Adi Sankarar.


Gate system operates between Joshimath & Badrinath. We caught the 2pm gate and reached Badrinath at 5pm. The road is quite narrow and dangerous. Had a good darisanam at the temple. The temple is crowded and there are quite long queues. There is free token system. There is less crowd in the evenings with 15min-30 min wait. In the mornings, waiting extends to 2 hours. We bought tickets for the Sahasranamam in the evening. You can sit before Shri Badrinathji for 20 minutes even as Vishnu Sahasranamam is recited.


We could also see the Neelkanth Peak (Indraneela Paruppadam) from Badrinath.


On the way back, we saw the sangamam at Devaprayag from where the Ganga starts.