My Rudranath Trekking, toughest of the Panch Kedars in 2022: A lifetime experience

Photo Copyright: Satyabrata Maiti

“Once you  visit mountains; you’ll end up having a life-long affair with THE NATURE”, I am not the exceptional.

After visiting Kedarnath and Tunganath, internal desire for visiting Rudranath, toughest of the Pancha Kedars was raising its head and I could not resist further. I and my co-trekker of my previous Panch Kedar treks decided to visit it as early as possible considering my growing age (70+) and we do not know when my physical ability will declare “no more trekking” in this life.

The Rudranath Temple is believed to be established by the Pandavas.  After the Kurukshetra war,  they wished to atone for the sins committed by killing relatives and Brahmins   during the war.   Therefore, they handed over the reins of their kingdom to their kin and left in search of lord Shiva to seek his blessings and pardon. First, they went to the holy city of Varanasi  (Kashi), believed to be Shiva’s favourite  place and known as Kashi Vishwanath Temple.   But, Shiva wanted to avoid them as he was deeply annoyed by the death and dishonesty at the  Kurukshetra war and was, therefore, unresponsive to Pandavas’ prayers. He assumed the form of a bull(Nandi) and hid in the Garhwal region.

Not finding Shiva in Varanasi, the Pandavas went to the Himalayas searching Lord Shiva.  Bhima, the second of the Pandavas saw a bull grazing near Guptakashi (“hidden Kashi” — the name derived from the hiding act of Shiva). Bhima immediately recognized the bull to be Shiva and caught hold of the bull by its tail and hind legs. But the bull-formed-Shiva disappeared into the ground to later reappear in parts, with the hump appearing in Kedarnath, the arms appearing in Tunganath,   the face appearing at Rudranath,  navel portion  and stomach appearing in Madhyamaheshwar   and the hair appearing in Kalpeshwar. The Pandavas pleased with this reappearance in five different forms, built temples at the five places for worshiping Lord Shiva. The Pandavas were thus freed from their sins.

Rudranath temple is the third Kedar (Tritiya) amongst Pancha Kedars situated in Gopeshwar Mandal in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. It is located at approximately  3,550 meters (11, 500 ft)  above sea level.  However, one has to cross Pitradhar which is  above 13,000+ ft to reach Rudranath.

Winter home of Rudranath is Gopeshar Shiva Temple which is also known as Gopinath Temple situated in Gharwal region in the ancient route of Badrinath and Kedernath shrines.  It is built in 11^th century probably by Katyuri rulers.

(https://satyabratamaitiblog.wordpress.com/2022/06/08/%ef%bf%bcvisit-to-gopinath-temple-in-uttarakhnad/ ).

The Trek of about 22  kilometres towards Rudranath Temple begins from the Saggar Village situated in Gopeshwar Mandal in the Chamoli district. Sagar (Saggar) is a small and beautiful village situated in Chamoli District.  It has also long history. It was believed to be the birth place and enlightenment place of Chakravartin Samrat Sagara who was believed to be the great great grandfather of Bhageerath who brought the Ganga to the Earth and the ancestors of Lord Rama. Sakaleshwar Mahadev temple and Chamunda temple are also here which one can visit.

There are three routes that leads to Rudranath temple:

1. Joshimath- Helang- Urgam-Palla- Kimanna-Kelgount- Dumak- Rudranath
2. Gopeshar-Saggar- Chakrakonda- pong Bugyal- Mouli Kharak- Liti Bugyal- Panar Bugyal- Pitru Dhar- Rudranath (Shortest route, about 25 km)
3. Ukhimath-Chopta- Mandal- Anusuya- Hansa Bugyal- Naola Pass- Panar Bugyal- Rudranath.  Ukhimath to Mandal which is a long but beautiful route. I would personally suggest this   route because of the immense beauty of nature one can enjoy   on the way. Also, one can see the beauty of Chopta (Tungnath-Chandrashila Trek route.  (see my blog: https://satyabratamaitiblog.wordpress.com/2021/10/28/trekking-to-tungnath-temple-chandrashila-and-deoriatal-a-thrilling-experience%ef%bf%bc/ )

Since, we had been in Joshimath and also in Chopta, we decided to explore Rudranath Trekking via  Gopeswar route for two reasons: i) it is the shortest trekking route  and ii) to visit Gopinath temple for the blessings of Lord Shiva so as to get strength in completing the toughest   Rudranath trekking.

We finally fixed our itinerary with the help of  Mr Sandeep Bisht of e-Uttarnachal  as follows:

29-May-2022 (Sunday): Ahmedabad – Dehradun airport; night stay at Rishikesh

30- May-2022 (Monday): Reaching  Saggar village for night stay via Gopeshwar

31- May-2022 (Tuesday): Trekking to Rudranath and night stay  at Panar Bugyal

01-Jun-2022 (Wednesday): Reaching  Rudranath and  night stay there

02-Jun-2022 (Thursday): Trekking  back to Saggar with night stay at Panar/Liwatti Bugyal

03-Jun-2022 (Friday):  Trekking  back to Saggar followed by  Rishikesh (by car)  and night stay

04-Jun-2022 (Saturday): Rishikesh –  Dehradun –  Ahmedabad airport and back to Anand

29-May-2022 (Sunday):

We left Anand at about 9:30 am and reached Vadodara airport by 10:30 am. Flight was on time and left at 12:00 noon. Reached Delhi airport terminal 2 and went to terminal 1 by the shuttle bus. We had our lunch that my co-trekker  brought . Flight was delayed by an hour and we reached Dehradun airport by 7:15 pm. There was no formality about  e-pass checking and registration hence we came out straight to our waiting cab driven by Mr. Pradeep. We reached Rishikesh and checked in Hotel Tapovan at 8:15 pm where I booked three rooms in advance, one for Pradeep (Driver) (RN 101), one for co-trekker (RN107) and one for me (RN 104). We took dinner in the hotel and called it a day.

30-May-2022 (Monday):

We started our journey at 6:00 am in the morning from Rishikesh. Enroute, we  visited Dhari Mata Temple for an hour. There is a saying that one has to visit  Dhari Mata for her blessings in travelling Uttarakhand. We had our breakfast on the way (Teen Dhara) and reached Gopeshwar at about 2:30 pm via Rudraprayag. We spent about half an  hour in  Gopeshwar Shiva Temple and captured it  thoroughly in my camera (see my blog: https://satyabratamaitiblog.wordpress.com/2022/06/08/%ef%bf%bcvisit-to-gopinath-temple-in-uttarakhnad/ ) .

After the temple visit, we took our lunch one the way to Saggar village.

We reached Saggar village by 4:00 pm and checked in Sonu Home stay. The village is named by the legendary Chakravarty Samrat Sagara, the great-great grandfather of the Suryavanshi King Bhagirath (an ancestor of Rama).  We left our luggage and went to Sakaleshwar Shiva Temple in the village and returned after spending some time there.  Mr. Diwan Jeeju (our guide)   took us to  a nearby hotel for dinner since Sonu home stay did not provide food.

31- May-2022 (Tuesday):

Diwan-ji (our guide) and his friend, Sunil and Pradeep (driver) joined us for trekking to Rudranath. We started our trek at 6:00 am from Saggar Village.  After   trekking of about one kilometre, we left  behind the village locality and entered in the path of forest.   The day was clear and sunny with occasional cloud. Weather was quite bright and favorable for us as there was no sign of rains.  Rain could make   the journey difficult in this path.

After leaving the village and walking for about 1.50 km, we got a small shop at Chandrakoti where we had our first tea and proceeded forward.

After completing about 2.00 km from Chandrakoti, we  reached Pung Bugyal ( Bugyal = grasslad) at about 8.45 am)    where there is a modest facility for stay and food. Pung Bugyal is a beautiful place with small green grass (meadow) in between a dense forest. We had our breakfast (Dal roti)  here and thereafter slowly started walking. After this place the path turned steep.  The trek was getting tough with each passing step because of steepness and bad  condition of the path.  On the way we crossed Kalchat  where  we had tea and crossed Gime gime pani (a source of water).

After trekking of about  5.0  km further, we reached Mouli Kharak (3029 m amsl) at about 3.00 pm where a small shop and limited stay arrangement were available. Our guide, Diwanji decided to have our night stay in this place. Our original plan was to stay in Panar Bugyal which was about 3 km further away from this place. I feel it was an intelligent decision looking to our physical condition, especially of my co-trekker,  who was completely exhausted to reach this place.  Pradeep was giving her company in slow walking. I was walking ahead of them since I never wanted to have more rest. We had our lunch here with dal and rice.  There were only two tents and one was allotted to us.

After lunch, my co-trekker  took rest and we went out for surveying the nearby places. Dewan ji took us to a place where he was organising nature’s camp earlier. We found a skeleton, seems to be of a deer and we took photographs  putting it on our heads. We returned back, by the time the sun was setting. We had our dinner with roti– sabji and slept early, since we had to get up early for the next day trekking. Limited mobile connectivity was available here.  There was no power supply and hence the shop keeper uses solar panels for limited mobile charging and lighting.  Since I used an App for our trekking information, I found that we trekked about 8.5 km with an average speed of 1.2 km/hr.

01-Jun-2022 (Wednesday):

We started by 5:00 am and reached Lwitti Bugyal by 6:00 am and had tea there. After taking rest for about 15-20 min we were again on the trek and headed towards Panar Bugyal.  We reached Panar Bugyal which is about 2 km from Lwitti Bugyal at 7:15 am and had breakfast with Maggie and tea. This is a beautiful place which reminds me the saying of  Albert Einstein “The most beautiful gift of nature is that it gives one pleasure to look around and try to comprehend what we see.” I was   enjoying the gift of the nature and trying to capture it through my lens. The place and the trek had mesmerizing beauty of snow-capped peaks in one side and stone sculptures of the nature on the other side.

We left Panar Bugyal  by 7:45 am and reached Pitradhar by 11:30 am which is about 3 km from Panar Bugyal. We took some rest there. It was the highest elevation in our trek, about 12,000+ ft above sea level. Pitradhar is the place where the trekkers pay respect to their forefathers. We left Pitradhar after about 20 min rest at about 11:50 am.

From Pitradhar, road started becoming a little smooth and descending. After Pitradhar we could enjoy a large patch of flowering Rhododendrons with buzzing sounds of honey bees busy in collecting nectar even in the peek noon hours.  We also saw some Sambar deer in a distant place, hence could not capture a photograph. We also found a Monnal bird far away from us. Around 1:05 pm we reached Devadarshini point from where we got the first view of the temple. But  even then it was not near and we took about one and a half hour more to reach Rudranath.

LANDSCAPE

Nature’s sculpture

Our guide and Sunil went fast and fixed the stay arrangement just about 150 m away from the temple. Before reaching the temple, there was a Narad temple and Narad kund followed by Ganpati temple on our left side of our track. We could also see Surya Kund about 50-100 m down the path on our right side. By the time we reached our staying place at 2.30 pm, we were tired and hungry. The temple was closed and it opens at 3 pm. The food (rice and dal) was served to us and we enjoyed the meal. We came to know that the temple opens at 3:00 pm and Aarti at 7:00 pm. My co-trekker took some rest and in the meantime we four went to see the temple which was opened by that time. After taking some photographs of the Rudranath temple and Panch Pandav temples  from different angles, we went to see the swarasti kund which was about 300 m down, behind the temple. I could also take a photo of red Nanda Devi peak due to setting sun.

We returned to the Temple and sat there till the Aarti at 7.00 pm. No photography was allowed inside the temple hence could not take the picture of Aarti. After the Aarti was over, we returned to our stay location. In a room we all five slept after the roti sabji as dinner. Soon the room became a snoring room and sleep was intermittently disturbed.

02-Jun-2022 (Thursday):

We got up at 4:00 am and left the place by 4:45 am. It was then dawn with a twilight.  We slowly reached back to Pitradhar enjoying  sunrise, the play of morning softlight on peaks especially on  Chukamba.

We reached Devadarshini at 5:45 am; Pitradhar at 7:54 am; Panar Bugyal    at 10:25 am. We had breakfast Maggie and tea and then left. We reached Lwitti Bugyal at 11:30 and had tea and biscuit. On our surprise we found a few young boys of teens going to Rudranath to built their endurance for the defence recruitment.   We enjoyed the path full of wild flowers and carpet flowering of some species. Flora of Rudrathan trek is similar to Vally of flowers as well as Tunganath Trek. Our next stop was Mouli Kharak where we reached at 12:25 pm. We had lunch Dai-chawal and took some rest. We left the place at 1:30 pm for Pung Bugyal. We were moving slowly since while descending down one has to be careful for their toes and knees. The path was covered with  fallen leaves, stones and pebbles.  On the way we crossed Kalchat at 4:00 pm where  we had tea and passed Gime gime pani at 4:45 pm.   We finally reached Pung Bugyal at 5:50 pm and decided to have night stay there.  We meet many local people on the way and also photographed a variety of subjects: tree; flowers; birds; forest; paths, etc.

Wild Flowers

Flora of Rudranath Trek is almost similar to Vally of Flowers and Tunganath Trek. Hence I have not added all that I captured during my trip.

03-Jun-2022 (Friday):

We left Pung Bugyal at 5:45 am after taking a glass of tea. We walked  very leisurely  and took photos of our fellow trekkers as well as the village girls working in the field. We found among them a YouTube-r , Jyoti Negi who shared her mobile number and willingly posed for the photographs with a great smile. We reached Saggar at 8:30 am. Diwanji arranged breakfast in a hotel. In fact, he also joined his hands in cooking and we had roti with pumkin sabji and tea.  We say good bye to Diwanji and left Saggar for Rishikesh at 9:50 am with Pradeep. We crossed Karnaprayag at 11:25 am; Srinagar at 1:45 pm and took lunch at near Devaprayag in Danveer hotel at 2:25 pm. We finally reached Rishikesh and  checked in Hotel Tapovan at 5:30 pm. We took bath in hot water and relaxed for some time. We had our dinner at 8:00 pm and went to bed.

04-Jun-2022 (Saturday):

We got up by 4:00 am and left the hotel by 4:45 am to go to Joli Grant Airport. On the way we had tea and reached the airport by 5:40 am. We say good bye to Pradeep and checked in for going back to Ahmedabad via Delhi. Waiting for the flight, mind was engrossed with the experience of Rudranath trekking.

What E. O. Wilson said “Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.”, I was realising every aspects of it  through my each  step in Rudranath trekking experience.    

 We reached back to Anand by 5:00 pm with full satisfaction of a new experience and confidence that we can trek some more years.  Every journey in the Himalayas  gives me a different experience. Every trek has its own story to tell. Every trek gives me the pleasure to look at beautiful nature with a vastness of eternity. I look forward to once again be  into the Himalayas where I go to lose my mind and find my soul.

Birds and Butterfly that I could click in the trek.

Caution:

1. Toilet facility is minimum in this trek.
2. Age is not a bar to trek this route. One should follow the rules of Buddha’s Vipassana meditation. “look at only two steps forward” once you cross it fix your goal for next two steps. Finally, you will reach the destination, Rudranath, may be by taking   a little longer time than others.
3. Don’t throw plastic bottles and plastic rappers in the mountain.   A clean environment is a sign of a healthy environment. Keep an empty bag with you for bringing back the plastic litters that you may be crying in the form of water bottle, cold drinks, biscuit rappers, chocolate covers, etc.  If you cannot clean the environment, at least do not spread the litter and plastic.

Confession: The beauty of the nature which I captured in my camera is so voluminous that I could not share even 5% of it in this blog.

Jai Hind!

Satyabrata Maiti

 Acknowledgement

1. My Co-trekker, for her cooperation and understanding to trek in adverse conditions.
2. Mr. Sandeep Bisht,  e-Uttranchal for his support in arranging the trip.
3. Mr. Pradeep, Driver for his support and also trekking with us.
4. Mr. Diwan (Guide)  for making all necessary arrangements for our best possible comfort that one can have.
5. Mr. Sunil, friend of Diwan for his company and sharing his knowledge time to time.
6. On line literature resources were used for the write up.
7. The Wikipedia for giving insight of Rudranath.

The Author: Satyabrata Maiti