Rishikesh

The boisterous and strong Bhagirathi river gushes down from the one side and the calm and quiet Alaknanda flows in from the other, merging to form what we know as the as holy Ganges river. This is one of the five sacred confluences in the hills of Uttarankhand and the place is Devprayag, a small town in the Tehri district of Uttarakhand.

As I travel along the Ganges from Rishikesh to Devprayag, my paternal village, I am overwhelmed with a feeling of belonging and nostalgia of my childhood days, spent running around in the mango orchards and trekking to nearby hills. As a child, I had done this journey every summer with my parents to visit my grandparents. Years later, I wanted to relive the experience and decided to do away with my car and jumped into a local bus. As our bus by passed the Laxman Jhula in Rishikesh and moved up the meandering roads, the driver put on pahari music which seemed to resonate in the valleys all around. I could hear myself humming to the tunes I had grown up listening to.

The journey from Rishikesh to Devprayag is an adventurous one as one drives up the mountains and can see the Ganges flowing, looking peaceful and placid. To some, it is also scary as one can really feel scaling the heights as the distance between the road and the river increases. Depending on the time of the year, one can see colorful rafts in the water. This area has now become a popular destination for the fun and adventure lovers who love the kicks out of rafting, rappelling or simply playing with the currents of Ganga. Though the volume of water in the river has gone down considerably after the Tehri Dam became operational, it is enough for water sports. The place looks much more tourist friendly and commercially inclined now than it did few years back. However, a tea-break at Biyasi got back memories and somehow this age-old interval point seems to have been untouched by the activities in the near-by Kaudiyala and the high volume of tourists that now flock to this place. After crossing Saknidhaar, the highest point on this journey, the decent starts till one reaches the bus stand at Devprayag. A small trek up the hill took me to the comfort of my home.

Located at a height of 2265 feet, Devprayag is a small town of religious importance to the pilgrims of Char Dham darshan. In old days, when the pilgrimage was done on foot, people used stop here for a dip in the holy waters of Ganga, a tradition that is still considered as sacred. One can find the local people taking the holy dip on various important days of the Hindu calendar. I had heard from my grandfather that a man called Anant Bhatt had come here from South India with Adi Shankaracharya in the 8^th century and believed to have settled here. We are all his descendants. I often look into the mirror to see if my features look more south Indian than north Indian! The main ancestral occupation was teerth-purohit in the holy shrine of Badrinath. These purohits spend half a year in Badrinath and rest of their time in meeting their jajmaans( or clients in today’s business parlance). This has however changed and the people have ventured into other tourist related business and most have opened resorts or dharamshalas in Badrinath.

Places to see: Raghunath Temple, Chandrabadni Temple, Dandanagrja Temple. Tehri Dam

Things to do: Trekking, Rafting, Nature Trails, relaxation, meditation

How to reach: Ten hourss drive from Delhi, Nearest Airport is Dehradun (Air Deccan flies twice daily), Nearest Rail head is Rishikesh