June 14, 2025

Uttarakhand, formerly known as Uttaranchal, became the 27th state of India around the year 2000. It is the origin of two of India’s most sacred rivers— the Ganga and the Yamuna— which gives it a significant place in Vedic culture. The state is also home to important religious sites such as the Char Dham and Panch Kedar, so it is no surprise that it is affectionately known as Devbhoomi, or the Land of the Gods.

Geographically, the region is enriched by the Himalayan Mountain ranges and glaciers. It is home to hundreds of bird species, making it a paradise for bird lovers. For adventure seekers, especially trekkers, the state offers a wide range of opportunities— from simple treks to highly challenging ones along with rafting and skiing. Thus, Uttarakhand stands as a leading destination for both spiritual and adventure tourism—truly living up to its name, Devbhoomi.

This year, I registered for the Chopta–Tunganath–Chandrashila trek organized by Youth Hostels in the first week of April. It was a short and relatively easy trek of about five days. As the departure coincided with a public holiday, I opted for a train journey. I took a train from Mangalore to Haridwar. The train passed through many Indian states—Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh—and finally reached Uttarakhand after a 40-hour journey, reaching at Haridwar.

We stayed at Madhwacharya ashrama, after some rest, went to attend the Ganga Aarti at the ghats. The crowd was massive. people had come early to secure the best viewing spots. The flow of the Ganga was incredibly clear and pristine. The Aarti takes place between 6 and 7 in the evening. After the Aarti, I sampled some local street food—jalebi, rabri, chaat—and ended with a warm kulhad wali chai (tea served in an earthen cup).

The next day morning began the journey to the trek’s base camp, which was in a beautiful village in Rudraprayag district. I got the chance to stay there for about three to four days. The village was small enough that I could take long, leisurely walks around it. To reach Rudraprayag, I took a bus operated by the Himachal Pradesh government. It was during this journey that I came to know the meaning of the word ‘Prayag’—which signifies a confluence of rivers.

The five confluences -Panchprayag in Uttarakhand are Vishnuprayag, Nandprayag, Karnaprayag, Rudraprayag, and Devprayag. According to Hinduism, all five confluences hold great spiritual significance.

The first of these confluences is Vishnuprayag, where the rivers Vishnuganga and Alaknanda meet. There is an ancient temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu at this site. The second is Nandprayag, where the rivers Nandakini and Alaknanda merge. Here too, there is an old and magnificent temple dedicated to Goddess Nanda Devi. The third in the Panch Prayag is Karnaprayag, where the Alaknanda meets the Pindar River. The Pindar River is also known as Karnganga. According to the Mahabharata, it was at this very place that Karna performed intense austerity to the Sun God and was granted the divine boon of kavach-kundal. That’s likely how the name Karnaprayag came to be. Next is the Rudraprayag, the confluence of the Mandakini and Alaknanda rivers. Near the confluence are temples dedicated to Chamunda Devi and Rudranath. From here, the route to the Kedarnath pilgrimage begins, going through Ukhimath–Chopta–Mandal–Gopeshwar and finally joining the main route to Badrinath. The fifth and final of the Panch Prayag is Devprayag, where the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers merge. After this confluence, the river is officially called the Ganga. There is also an ancient Shiva temple in Devprayag.

After a 7-8 hours journey from Haridwar, we arrived at Sari village around 3 in the afternoon. After freshening up a bit, we went out to explore the village. Sari is an incredibly beautiful village with pure and resh air. Fields of wheat stretched out in every direction. Many of the houses still followed traditional architecture—made of stone and mud. Almost every house had a dairy animal outside. During the trek, we saw many women carrying fodder for their cattle from far-off places. Despite the heavy loads on their backs, they climbed up and down the hilly terrain with remarkable ease and skill.

There was a nearby Shiva temple in the village, which we visited. A Ramleela performance was taking place at the temple, but since we arrived a bit late, we missed the actual play. Interestingly, all the characters in the play were performed by girls and women. During our three-to-four-day stay, we became familiar with a few faces in the village—especially the girls dressed up for the Ramleela.

On the second day of the trek, we went nearby in the morning for some light exercise. We had intentionally planned to stay in Sari for a full day. Sari village is located at an altitude of about 7,000 feet above sea level. So, it’s important to let the body acclimatize to this height—doing so makes the upcoming trek easier. During the stay at village managed to capture a few birds on camera. Honestly, photographing birds and animals is quite a challenge. By the time you focus your camera on them, they’ve already hopped onto another branch! At such moments, you wonder—don’t birds know how to pose for a camera? At around 3 PM, we had our trek orientation. During the session, we received detailed information about the higher camps, the weather conditions, and the dos and don’ts of the trek.

On the third day, around 8:30 AM, we deposited our extra luggage at the base camp and carried only the essentials with us. By around 9 o’clock, the trek was officially flagged off. The first day’s trek was a short one—just about 5 kilometers. We completed it quite comfortably.

The name of the camp for the day was Deoriatal. Since the distance was short, we reached the campsite by around 11 AM. As a welcome drink, we were served rhododendron juice which is locally called as ‘Buransh’. We had chance to relish this Buransh juice for couple of times during the trek journey and more interesting moment was eating nectar from Buransh flowers. After keeping backpack in the room, we went to see Deoriatal Lake.

This place was incredibly beautiful, and thankfully, not too crowded. Nature seems to have lavishly poured out its blessings. At the centre of the area was a serene lake, surrounded by dense trees on all sides. From here, the distant mountain ranges—Chaukhamba, Kedarnath, Nanda Devi, and Trishul—were faintly visible.

The rhododendron flowers, which were only seen in scattered patches back in Sari village, were now blooming everywhere. It was their peak blooming season, and the entire landscape was carpeted in bright red blossoms.

Like most beautiful places, Deoriatal too carries a certain curse. Our guide shared a story from the Mahabharata related to this lake. During their exile, the Pandavas once came to this region in search of water. One by one, they reached this spot and drank water from the lake, but since the water was not considered suitable for drinking, they all fell unconscious. Only Yudhishthir remained. When he arrived and saw his four brothers lying unconscious, a Yaksha (divine being) appeared and told him he would only revive his brothers if Yudhishthir answered his questions. Yudhishthir answered all of them correctly, and so the Yaksha brought his brothers back to life. Even today, the lake water is considered unsuitable for drinking. During our trek, the drinking water we used was brought from Sari village.

After exploring the area for a couple of hours, we returned to camp for lunch. The camp was just about 500 meters from the lake. After tea break, we went back to the lake with the group to watch the sunset. According to our guide, around 4 PM on a clear day, the reflections of the distant mountain ranges appear vividly in the lake’s still water. But that day, because of some light cloud cover, we couldn’t witness that spectacular view.

Around 6 PM, it started to get dark, and the cold began to intensify. As we climbed higher from sea level, the temperature dropped steadily—at night, it fell below 10°C. When we returned to our room, hot soup was already waiting for us. Honestly, soup and mountain-style Maggi feel no less than nectar in such biting cold.

We all bundled up in warm layers, and then our group sat down for a round of cards. Around 7 PM, dinner was served. After dinner, we retired to bed…..

To be continued….