Actually, today I had to write a post on Chandrashila Submit, but I would like to keep this post for the last day of the year 2024. Today I will take you to visit the Kartik Swami Temple which is located in Uttarakhand. Recently my winter trip has been completed, in which I have visited many pilgrimage places of Uttarakhand.
Two of us board a scooter with four bags from home and we feel scared to go out. Due to this delay, we feel quite scared to reach our destination. Today we have to go from Dehradun to Kanak Cheri on a scooter, which is approximately 200 kilometers away. If I talk about the weather, the sky is covered with dark clouds and there is mild drizzle which is trying to keep us away from our destination but we are so strong in our thoughts that today we will not rest until we reach Kanak Cheri.
We are ready for a 223 km long road trip under the dark clouds which will take us to Kartik Swami Temple. This is the first time for both of us that we are going to Kartik Swami Temple. Starting from Dehradun, we reach Rishikesh which takes about 3 hours to reach there, of course it is winter but the people who do rafting in the Ganga river have a lot of courage to do rafting in the freezing water of the Ganga in such cold weather.
After Shivpuri, the traffic reduces a bit. Till now the average speed of the scooter was 35, but after Shivpuri the average speed became 45. It will take us about 6 hours to reach Kanakchauri. After Devprayag, while crossing Rudraprayag, we visit the temple of Dhari Devi built in the middle of the Alaknanda river. Since the weather is not good and it is already evening, we decide to stay in Rudraprayag. Here we rent a room for Rs 1000 and sleep.
The plan was to wake up early the next morning, but it is already 10 am by the time we leave. After checking out the room, we have breakfast, after which at 11 am we board the scooter and leave for our destination. We reach Kanakchauri, 80 km away, at 12 noon. The height of this place is 2000 meters and there are still light clouds here. We park our scooter in the official parking here and leave our cloth bag in a shop and start the trek.
On moving ahead, we find a forest department check post where we are given a ticket at the rate of Rs 50 per person. The walking distance from Kanakchauri to Kartik Swami temple is 3 km in which there will be an elevation gain of about 400 meters. We are walking with a bag which contains a camera, chocolates and dry fruits for the journey. The path to the temple is not very long, so we will come down today after having darshan.
After walking about 500 meters, we start seeing snow that fell last night on the path, so far there has been no problem in walking. The trail is well built and well marked with red ribbons. It would be difficult for anyone to get lost from this trail. On the way, we find a team of horses which has left ration supplies in the village above and is now going down to the market. Looking back, we can see the villages located below the mountain.
Electricity poles are installed from Kanakchauri to the top of the temple, these poles are supplying electricity to the temple and these poles can be easily seen and followed on the trail till the top. After one and a quarter km, the amount of snow on the trail has increased. I easily cross the snow patch… thanks to my trail running shoes while my friend is slipping again and again because she is wearing road running shoes.
The forest department has put up boards on the way which say do not spread garbage, do not give anything to eat to the wild animals and do not disturb the peace of the forest by making noise. The following information is written on a board here: Kartik Swami is one of the holy tourist places of Rudraprayag district. Situated at a distance of 38 km from Rudraprayag city, this place has a temple dedicated to Lord Kartikeya, son of Lord Shiva. Situated at an altitude of 3048 meters above sea level, this place is surrounded by the mighty Himalayan ranges. According to the legend, once Lord Shiva asked his two sons to circle the entire universe and declared that whoever comes here first will get the first opportunity to worship his parents. Lord Ganesha, who was the second son of Lord Shiva, won this competition by circling his parents (for Ganesha his parents were the universe), which angered Kartikeya. Then he gave the bones of his body to his father and flesh to his mother. These bones are still present in the temple which are worshipped by thousands of devotees. This temple, located on the Rudraprayag Pokhari road, can be reached by trekking for 3 km from Kanak Chaurigaon.
After 2 km comes Khaylo Sthan where there are shops and arrangements for staying for the night. Since we are neither hungry nor do we want to stop, we quickly cross from here towards our destination. From Khaylo a dog starts walking with us. We don't know its name but the dog is not running away and is probably giving proof of its fearlessness by walking along the mountain.
About one km from Khaylo the stone stairs start, till here the height is 2150 meters. On moving ahead there are groups of monkeys on the way who are harassing the devotees...if someone has a packet of food in his hand they snatch it and take it away, whether there is a mobile or money in the bag the monkeys snatch it and take it away. I put my camera in the bag but the good thing was that the dog was walking along with us so the monkeys did not come near us.
About a kilometer before the temple comes the temple of Van Devi where red colored dupattas are tied. Here is also a big statue of Lord Hanuman installed whose face is towards the snowy mountains. The more I am going towards the temple, the more disappointed I am because today there are clouds in the sky and we will not be able to see the high snowy mountains of Himalayas from here. Before entering the temple premises, we take off our shoes on the last steps.
Before entering every Hindu temple, we show our respect to God by taking off our shoes. The sun is about to set, the yellow light on the horizon is turning into orange. Even though we are not able to see the snowy mountains, the sunset has made the view very dramatic. Everything looks very new and beautiful. This place seems to be bathed in yellow light. After taking off the shoes, we climb about 108 steps and reach in front of Kartik Swami Temple.
**History of Kartik Swami Temple;
This temple is dedicated to Kartik, the elder son of Lord Shiva. This temple is situated on the top of Kronch mountain and its height is 3050 meters. According to historical books, this temple is 200 years old and the sound of the bells installed here can be heard up to 800 meters away. A grand puja is organized at this temple on the day of Kartik Purnima and Shivratri in which the local people participate enthusiastically. The best time to visit here is considered to be from June to October.
**
According to Skanda Purana, Lord Kartik killed Tadkasur, due to which the eighth month of the Hindu calendar is dedicated to Kartik Swami. According to the mythological story, when Lord Shiva told his two sons Ganesh and Kartik that whoever will circle the earth first, his worship will be done first in the future. On hearing the challenge, Kartik sets out to circle the earth, while Ganesh starts circling his parents, after which Lord Shiva gets pleased and gives Ganesh a boon that from now on, humans will worship Ganesh first.
When Kartik comes back after circling the earth, he comes to know that Ganesh has already received the boon of worship first. Angered by this, Kartik hands over his bones to his father. It is believed that the bones of Kartik Swami are enshrined in this temple. It is believed that childless people pray here for having a child and when their wish is fulfilled, they tie a bell here and thank the Lord.
A forest goddess and a Shivalinga are installed in the temple premises. The idol of Kartik Swami's vehicle which is a peacock is also installed here. Kartik Swami's weapon Vel is also installed here. After having darshan of the Lord, we go to the back of the temple from where about 100 mountain peaks are visible. Although there are clouds in the sky today, so nothing is visible, while the sunset has made the atmosphere magical. While leaving, I am standing in front of the temple with folded hands and thinking that I will have to come once again to see the views visible from here.
So this was our journey which started from Dehradun and reached Kartik Swami Temple. In a single day we reach from 720 meters to 3050 meters. After crossing the 223 km long road trip, we reach Kanakchauri and today itself we visit the temple. Of course today was a tiring day but after reaching the top of the temple, we felt very good and all the tiredness went away. That is all for today, we will meet later in which I will take you to Chandrashila Summit.
Tomorrow is the last day of the #winterchallenge organized by 
Disclaimer: This post is originally written in Hindi and I have used Google Translator to translate the Hindi text in English. All the photos have been clicked by me from Sony a7iii and edited in lightroom, post thumbnail created in adobe photoshop.
[//]:# (!worldmappin 30.38580 lat 79.09871 long A Pilgrim's Ascent: Journey to Kartik Swami Temple (10,007 ft) d3scr)