Jageshwar Dham, Kumaon - A pristine temple town in the midst of Deodar Forest

Visit to pristine Jageshwar Dham

I heard in my dream that I was in a crowded place. Somebody yelled at his son to wake up to see Sunrise. Footsteps on our roof were heard. I woke up in a dark room and recalled that we were in Binsar. No lights in the room. I lit up the candles. Outside was still dark. We all woke up to view the Sunrise. Quickly we freshened up and dressed with jackets, gloves covered ourselves against the chilly morning.

It was windy and still dark outside.The last of the morning’s stars were glinting like silver pin pricks, luminous and bright. We came up at the viewing platform on roof of our building. Guests were all covered with winter clothings. After few minutes, the dawn had started breaking. 

Daybreak at Binsar

The sky in the opposite direction was still dark, but in the east, a mixture of yellow and orange on the horizon beneath a dark neon blue ocean of night that had begun to evaporate.

The rising sun laminated us with warmth

The distant snow peaks of Kumaon Himalaya shone in the morning rays. 

From Left to right - Trishul - Devastan - Nanda Devi

Trishul

Kumaon Range

Tea was served at the viewing platform. Everybody were happy to see the Sunrise. Some started doing Kapalbhati, few were getting ready with freehand exercise before the breakfast. 

Caretaker announced the availability of hot water in bucket. Attendant would bring that as required. Each bathroom has two buckets - one for collecting the hot water and other for mixing. Guests had to keep empty bucket outside the room in the corridor. Attendant carrying hot water in metal buckets poured hot water to the empty buckets. One bucket for each guest. 

We got freshened up. By the time, buffet breakfast was served at the dining hall. Delicious breakfast with variety of choices - bread, butter, jam, corn flakes, poori sabji, dahlia etc.

We had whole day to stay at Binsar. I was just studying the map hung in the corridor.

Places around Binsar

Jageshwar would be a nice place to visit and utilise the time. On enquiry, I was told that there is a drivable route between Gairad Bend to Palyu Bend, but the road is bad. After the breakfast we thought to give that a try.

We drove down to check post at the Bageshwar road, asked the guard whether we would have to pay the entry fees again. They confirmed that with presentation of last receipt, the security would allow us to enter again. Gladly we came out and drove towards Almora for two kilometers. We reached Gairad Bend. 

Gairad Bend named after Gairad god. There is a temple in this road.

I asked a passerby waiting at the bus stop. He asked for a lift, and I gladly accepted to get a guide free in this route. The road is a dirt road and lonely. There was no vehicular traffic in this road, so in case of emergency one has to manage oneself. So I decided to return by day time. Enroute, he wanted me to stop near a motorcycle parked roadside, no one was around. He thanked us.

Dirt road between Gairad bend to Palyu Bend

But the solitude in this road was overwhelming. Never felt such, as a part of nature in our city life. The road is passing through the sanctuary area. Unfortunately we could not encounter any wildlife in this road. 

Dirt road between Gairad bend to Palyu Bend

After 13 kilometer we came to a good tarred road and as directed, took right turn. That's Palyu Bend. 

The onward road was excellent, we reached Bare Chinna More and took left towards Artola. Oh, I missed the petrol pump at Bare Chinna as wanted to fill my tank. It read towards Empty. I trusted the person, I gave lift. He told that in Artola there is one petrol pump. Continuing our journey till Artola. The road was very good and the drive was enjoyable. Still finding no petrol pump we were informed that there is one 3 km ahead. 

However we wanted to visit Jageshwar Dham first and took left. We entered a narrow valley with tall pipe trees both side of the road. 

Jageshwar is located at an altitude of 1870 mts, in the  Jataganga river valley near a Deodar forest starting from Artola village on Almora – Pithoragarh highway, where two streams Nandini and Surabhi flow down the hills in the narrow valley and meet near the sacred spot.

Road to Jageshwar

Every sprawling tree we passed under reminded me of a watchful guardian, a silent sentinel of the groves.  

We saw a temple by our right across the stream flowing along the road. That is Dandeshwar Mahadev Temple - the gate keeper temple of Jageshwar Dham. 

Dandeshwar Mahadev at the entrance to Dham

The temple city comprises a cluster of 124 large and small stone temples, dating back from 9th to 13th century AD. Archaeological Survey of India now preserve some of these temples. 

Mrityunjoy Temple at the Jageshwar Dham complex

There are many temples, some of them are Chandi-ka-Temple, Jageshwar Temple, Kuber Temple, Mrityunjoy Temple, Nanda Devi or Nau Durga, Nava-grah temple, a Pyramidal shrine, and Surya Temple, amongst which the oldest shrine is the Mrityunjaya Temple. I could not stopped myself to experiment with another immersive 360° photo.

Jageshwar Dham Complex

For the devotees, there were lots of monkeys all around. They used to snatch the "Puja Offerings" and did not bother whether before the puja or after. So be careful.

Monkey business as usual in the temple premises

Now-a-days, the Government of Uttarakhand and Parmarth Niketan (Rishikesh) are jointly organizing the International Yoga Festival at Jageshwar.

Temple Complex

Jyotirling Jageshwar Temple

We spent quite some time here. On our way back, we took the road to Pithoragarh at Artola in search of a petrol pump. We found one HP Petrol pump at Gurrhabanj a small hamlet on the ridge. This only dealt with cash. No card system was available.

Humara Pump - HP initiative

Tankful, we trailed back the same route. As this area deals with cash only, we could locate an ATM only in Panuavanola, 4km from Artola. 

We resumed our journey again, on our right the snow clad peaks peeped out occasionally in open areas. 

Himalaya

By that time, it was lunch time and, we felt hungry, and were in search of a restaurant. At Palyu we could locate one restaurant which serve lunch. Great! 

I ordered some stuffed parathas and noodles (Maggi) - a staple diet in hills and always freshly prepared. We relished the dishes and after sometime we resumed our journey following the same route - the dirt road. Stomach full, my co-passengers fell asleep fast. At around 2:30 we reached at the check post. 

The guard identified us and allowed in. En route to TRH there is one open space and a temple - Veeneshwar Temple.

Veeneshwar Temple inside Binsar Sanctuary

Here I saw a remnant of British era. On our left there was a small hutment estd in 1907.

Hutment from british era estd in 1907

We reached TRH at 3:00pm. Grand outing to Jageshwar dham......

We joined the crowd at the viewing platform. Guests were gossiping, kids playing ludo, soaking in the mild afternoon Sun.

Kid, doing gymnastic - enjoying. They came from Mumbai.

Far ahead snow clad peaks still visible, playing hide and seek with clouds. We could see Panchocholi beyond Munsiyari. A group of guest landed here that day from Munsiyari and were very disheartened to be far from Himalaya. Obviously, Munsiyari is situated in the lap of Panchocholi and Binsar is a bit far. We did some photo session.

Panchocholi from Binsar

Peaks playing hide and seek

Trishul at setting Sun light

At nightfall again the daily routine of generator light - buffet dinner - and....waiting for another Sunrise to light up the world of Binsar....

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Binsar, Kumaon - A sanctuary known for walks and bird watching around ...

Arriving Binsar

We had a good night sleep. I woke up early morning, peeked outside through the glass windows. It was still dark. After few minutes the Sun would rise. High time to prepare some hot water for darjeeling tea. 

I always carry a Tea Kit consisting of a small immersion of a glass size, two small containers for Darjeeling tea (TGFOP-my favourite brand) and sugar, a steel glass, a spoon and a coaster.

After setup, water started boiling in the glass in few minutes. Few pinches of tea leaves and covered with coaster. When all leaves were soaked and drowned, the tea was ready. The aroma of flavoured Darjeeling tea filled up the room. Two cups of tea was ready. Still it was dark outside.

Outside it was bit cold in balcony. We donned jackets, gloves & caps and then came down to the lawn in front of Dak Bungalows. Being Diwali time there was no moonlight, we had to use mobile torch. The Dak Bungalows stood like a haunted house in the dark.

Sun was about to rise.

Gradually the eastern side was glowing and the skyline of Himalaya was silhouetted against the glowing sky. It was worth visit.

Sunshine on the Himalaya made us happy...

The day breaks gradually in the valley down below. Back in the TRH the breakfast was ready. We came back to our room, took hot water bath, packed our belongings and loaded them in the boot. We were not sure about the hot water availability at Binsar KMVN as there is no power connection.

We relished buffet breakfast with stuffed parathas & curd - the staple food at western Himalaya. It was time to move on. I enquired about any alternate route to Almora at the reception. There is one through the forest road-no extra charges but only to register the details at the entry & the exit of the reserved forest.

We bade goodbye to Mukteshwar KMVN and made a stopover at IVRI gate to withdraw some cash. There was no card payment systems at KMVN TRHs. The same case should be there at Binsar. Hence some precaution.

In front of IVRI gate

After few minutes (a kilometer) we saw a Forest check post at our left and a sharp left turn to a non-regular road. The guard told me that after 8-9 km, I would get main road to Almora. There was no traffic at all in that road.  At the end of the Forest road, the guard recorder our exit. He was playing on road with the local kids. We reached Sitla.

We were on a good tarred road. Todays travel is around 85km. It was a relaxed driving with occasional stoppage for photography. We reached Khwarab bridge at 11:15am after 31km from KMVN.

Bridge at Khwarab

We took Almora route. After around 15 minutes of uphill driving the roadside sweet shops started to appear. Basically two main sweets are there - Bal mithai and Chocolate sweets. Both are "so sweet", one cannot have either whole at a time. A strict No-no for diabetes patients. Bal mithai is made of hard cocked "khowa" with a layer of sugar balls (similar to homeopathic sugar pellets). We bought some of both varieties. 

We reached Almora and entered the Mall road. It is one way as the road is narrow and through the market. One can take bypass road on the right side while entering Almora. That road goes to Pithoragarh as well. There is another bypass on the left if somebody wants to go to Kausani or Someshwar.

After the market we took the right diversion road towards Bageswar (around 5km after entry) while the main road goes towards Someshwar. 800mts, another diversion - both side goes to Bageswar; at Kapakhan both roads meet.  We took the right again and then left. The straight road meets with the Bypass road and also goes to Pithoragarh.

Dinapani Tourist Rest House KMVN

After right-right-left we reached few levels above Almora town and a few kilometer more we left outer periphery of Almora. On the way to Kaparkhan we crossed Kasardevi, Dinapani.

And few kilometer more (4 from Kapakhan) along the Bageswar road, we reached the entry check post of Binsar sanctuary. 

Check post at Binsar Sanctuary.

Here the visitor has to pay for the entry pass for the vehicle and passenger. Entry fees for driver is free.

Entry gate Binsar Sanctuary - Fees details.

Binsar - it was during Durga Puja of 1990 at Ranipur Haridwar. A team of bikers of BHEL - the Kawa team, returned from Kumaon trip. They shared that how hard it was to drive upto Binsar KMVN after a long drive from Munsiyari. The road was very steep and broken; No electricity at TRH (Tourist Rest House) et al.

Now this was in front of me. After 26 years. The road was narrow, broken at some points, not suitable for two lane traffic. So it requires a careful driving till we reach KMVN. Last 500mtrs were broken to the hilt. Low floor sedans would have a tough time negotiating the middle ridge of the road full of loose stones.

We reached KMVN during lunch time. Without delay we ordered the lunch and was told that buffet was already on. There was no electricity as heard earlier. The supply is from stand-by generator from 6pm to 9pm only. Here we would stay for 2 nights and prepared we were.

Binsar KMVN

We kept our bag in a room of the old building. From the windows, we could see Himalaya partially. There are candles on the stands here and there telling us the electric supply is for limited hours only. The old building is an annexe to the main building. On the roof, there is the viewing platform. Everybody has to come over it to view the Himalaya from sunrise to sunset.

Me at Lunch

The dining hall is quite a big to host the guests. Seeing the cars at the parking, it seemed that the Rest House was full. The buffet was good and enough with a variety of vegetarian (paneer/ cottage cheese curry) and non-veg (egg curry) and other dishes, salads, deserts etc. Hot fulkas (hand made tawa rotis) raised the appetite of ours.😃

Now we have enough time to explore the surroundings. There were lots of butterflies in the lawn, it looked beautiful, the sky was blue and the horizon was bit cloudy. 

We sat on the porch for few hours enjoying the ambience, the cloud formation over the Himalaya, and occasional peeping of the peaks beyond the clouds.

Cloud play over Himalaya

We came out of the campus, a trail beyond leads to Zero Point - the highest point of the Binsar Sanctuary and a dirt road goes to Sunset Point.

UN set point - 500mtrs

After tea, we strolled down for (S)unset point along the dirt road. At the end, there is a Forest Rest House built by the pre-independence Britishers.

Forest Rest house at the Land's End

The house might have been built a centuries ago, when Britishers explored the region. 

Setting Sun from the Forest Rest House Binsar

Being inside the sanctuary the road was also not maintained as there is a chance of accidental fires from the tar melting. Forest fires played havoc in Uttarakhand in recent years.

Sunset at Land's End

We followed the dirt road back to TRH. A dilapidated mile stones bears the signature of old road to Kaparkhan built by the then Public Works Department (PWD).

Kaparkhan 14 km milestone at the Land's End.

At the nightfall the forest was full of sounds. Scurrying squirrels searched for food under bristles of wispy moss. Monkeys were on their own business of howling at each other preparing for night sleep. We treaded cautiously holding my camera and the purse. The forest’s smell was fresh and organic. We could hear the orchestra of birdsong. It was soul soothing. We found the reasons of coming here out from a city life.

We came back to Rest House. Generator supply started at 6:00pm. We rested for a while, had some quick tea using my tea kit. 

We came out on the roof. Below the horizon beyond the Saryu valley the lights of the houses sparkled yellow with some fire works of Diwali festivals here and there. The sky was clear, the evening stars peeped down at us like silver asters, glinting and shimmering. The stars were coming out like lucid snowflakes of silver as they sprinkled the night sky above. 

Dinner was ready.. 

Buffet Dinner

It was cold, dark outside. We did not want to inhale candle flame with no ventilation of the room. So its better to go to sleep at the earliest - better before the lights off. So we went....

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Mukteshwar, Kumaon - An idyllic location for family outings

Traveling to Mukteshwar

Diwali 2016 - the light festival in India. A long weekend. School holidays. Add a day or two - it was quite a days for going back to Himalaya.

Himalaya is calling

This time no more din & bustle of the famous hill stations of Kumaon, Uttarakhand; but some idyllic locations. 

Planning started to select the places - serene, not-many-travelers, nearer to snow-capped mountains, drivable roads, previously unvisited, suitable for family holidays. AND most of all PREFERABLY OUT OF REACH OF MOBILE SIGNALS.

Places came in mind - Mayavati near Lohaghat, Chaukori, Munsiyari, Bageshwar, Kausani, Binsar, Mukteshwar and many more.....

Difficult to choose from, for only five days in hand. Considering first day and the last days travels would be longest and boring through the plains of western Uttar Pradesh till the Shivalik, effectively we would have 3 days in hand. 

There are two/ three entry points for Kumaon - from east towards west

• Tanakpur for Mayavati, Lohaghat, Pithoragarh, Dharachula....
• Haldwani for Mukteshwar, Almora, Kausani..
• Kaladhungi for Nainital, Bhowali, Seven lakes...
• Ramnagar for Ranikhet, Shitlakhet, Dwarahat and beyond...

Considering travel time, fatigue, enjoyment, nightstay, we planned to first night stay at Mukteshwar, then off to Binsar for two nights. While returning back to Delhi, Nainital would a better choice, being the nearest hill station on the way back.

It would be a peak season for travel enthusiasts, especially from Bengal, Maharashtra & Gujarat. So it was advisable to book early the secluded rest houses else, it would end up in unpleasurable trip. I consulted Tripadvisor and other portals and finally zeroed in to KMVN accommodations.

I reserved rooms in KMVN Guest Houses at Mukteshwar & Binsar as they are the best located to give you the view of Himalaya from the rooms.

The day came shortly and excited we were. On 28th of October we packed our Alto and started at 6:25am in the morning. There was mild morning traffic. After 20 km we stopped at Toll gate of Dasna. Road condition improved a lot mostly all towns have through roads/over bridge or bypass roads.

At 80km we encountered the second toll at Brijghat near Garh Mukteshwar. The road was under construction near the bridge on the river Ganges. One side was closed. There was a damaged vehicle lying by the side which might have had high speed collision.

So far so good, we need a break - have breakfast and.. We planned to stop at 100km from Delhi. Last time we stopped at Tadka restaurant at Bharat Petroleum pump. There is a Cafe Coffee Day outlet and a clean washroom.

Tadka Restaurant and the Bharat Petroleum Pump

at 100km from Delhi on Moradabad highway.

By the way, my wife, packed some stuffed parathas as usual. Whenever we start from home for a trip, we have our standard breakfast and packed lunch with us. This helps us to stop over at any place we like and devour. We had freedom. 

We had our share of stuffed parathas with achaar and ketchup, took time to freshened up.

Fifteen minutes and we were on road again. At 8:30am we crossed another toll at 115 km. Till Moradabad the road was excellent. We cruised and at 9:00am we crossed 50 percent of our travel. From here we had two options - one was to going via Rampur - Rudrapur - Haldwani; other was to going via Bazpur, Kaladhungi to Haldwani.

We preferred Bazpur road as there will not be much traffic as Rudrapur. Because Rudrapur route used to be the main traffic route for whole of Kumaon towards Nainital-Almora-Ranikhet.

We got back to Moradabad town for a 2km then took right turn towards Bajpur. Usual town traffic leads to a traffic jam of heavy vehicles. Very unfortunate. Very bad road condition with four lane traffic on a two lane state highway. There was no chance of skipping any vehicle as the road condition was axle-breaker. Alto, being a small car, we somehow managed to overtake some trucks sometimes. It took 45mins. to cross 7km stretch.

We were lucky to turn right for Bajpur, while the truck line goes straight. Actually we were about to miss the right turn, thanks to GPS and google map. Getting bored at traffic, I just opened my mobile to check our location. Thank GOD!

Now the road was smooth, very infrequent heavy vehicle and usual local traffic plying on the road. It was a driving driving pleasure along the major district road (MDR65W) after the jam. We crossed Tanda, Bajpur and entered Terai region. It was an excellent drive peaceful, green all around. We reach a road junction with a traffic direction showing Corbett falls.

"Let us check that", I said and drove left for 500 mtrs or so, there was a gate of forest department. You have to buy ticket for your vehicle and visitors to enter and lastly a 200mtr walk down to reach the water falls.

It was nice to be there, however we have to drive another 100km to reach Mukteswar and above all to reach KMVN before sunset, so that we could enjoy the Himalaya during sunset. 
We should not miss that. We get back to road again skipping Corbett Falls.

We reached Kaladhungi at the bottom of Shivalik at around 11:30am.

From here one road goes to Nainital and other road goes to Haldwani. We followed Haldwani route through Terai forest. Midway we stopped to have some break to stretch out. My wife opened up another surprise - a box full of chicken biryani. 

Road to Mukteshwar from Bhowali

Wow! What a delicious lunch break in a nice ambience. We took a portion each and kept some for later consumption. It was a twenty minutes break. Relaxed, stomach full, we started again and at Haldwani filled out petrol tank. 260km in 15liters - not a bad average on the highway with one hour idle drive with AC on during traffic jam after Moradabad.

We crossed Haldwani, then Kathgodam from wher the hill starts. To reach Mukteshwar from Kathgodam, there are three routes. One goes via Bhimtal to Bhowali, the other one is via Jeolikot to Bhowali, which is preferred by heavy vehicles and the third one, the longest via Nainital.

As usual, we followed Bhimtal route. After few kilometer, we crossed a narrow passage between the hills and Voila! We are by the side of Bhimtal. One of the biggest lake in Kumaon Himalaya. There was a diversion at the far end towards Bhowali. Traffic was restricted due to election campaign. We took the bypass route and then reached Bhowali-Naukuchia Tal road.

Bhowali is an important town in Kumaon - a business center, a junction point of many routes. It is the junction point, all roads to Kumaon - Almora, Mukteshwar, Dhanachuli, Nainital, Kathgodam meets here. There is a TB sanatorium situated here at Nainital road. The weather is so favourable that realty business is flourishing over few years.

From Bhowali market, we took the road to Mukteshwar and started climbing through ever green forest. Pine fruits were scattered on the road. Vehicular traffic was sparse, and it was a bright sunny day. 

It was 2:00pm in the afternoon and 34 km more to reach Mukteshwar KMVN. We stopped to stretch. Another spell of biriyani; another photo session, an immersive photo experiment.

An immersive photo experiment

At around 2:00pm we started off through a beautiful scenic road and entered Mukteshwar 2:45pm. The road side hotels, resort started showing up gradually. KMVN is located at the land's end. So we continued through the market and reached IVRI - Indian Veterinary Research Institute at Mukteswar. There is a Human Hospital outside IVRI Campus.

Hospital for Human being at Mukteshwar

We passed through a narrow road uphill by the side of SBI with ATM and Human Hospital. After a kilometer or so drive we reached KMVN - our last point. Still we have enough time to watch rays of setting Sun on the Himalaya. It was quite a journey around 341 km drive - still fit. 

After checking in in Royal room just above the Dining room. From the attached balcony, one can see unrestricted view of Himalaya. We quickly freshened up and came out to survey the surroundings. There is ample parking space for the vehicles. At the end of the parking space there is a flight of stairs (without rail) going down to a Kuccha Road track towards left and on the right to an old building in down slope.

Just below the slope there is an old building of british era - a PWD Dak Bungalow. There is lawn in front of the Dak Bungalow, from where one can see the below - Shitla - Ramgarh area. 

PWD Dak Bungalow at Mukteshwar. KMVN at the backdrop.

Due to mists & cloud, we could not see the Himalaya clearly in the afternoon. Only some faded dull outline of the peaks were visible; still Trishul, Nandadevi could be identified. We were fortunate to see that at least.

Fade lines of Trishul

Setting Sun is on the opposite side. We took the Kuccha Road as there was a sign board for Chauli ki Jali.

Fallen tree in the Jungle along the Kuccha Road. 

We came across an open space with sloped stones, bushes littered with used water bottles, and namkeen packets. I thought that as Chauli ki Jali as the road ends few paces ahead to two separate gates of two houses with sign boards hanging. "Home Stays" available - Call xxxxxxxx'.

A lady with winter clothing was ahead of us. As the sign board at the entry was telling "Chauli ki Jali" this way, there must be a way. We asked her about the way. She could not tell as she was also a tourist, she came the day before with her aged mother from Kolkata.

I discovered a footpath along the boundary going up. It was kind of rocky bed of a stream. We followed that for around 25 mtrs and found some rocks jutting out of the hills and overhung over the valley below. A little above few more of them. This is an ideal place for rock climbing/ rappelling enthusiasts.

Chauli ki Jali - Mukteshwar

Some old local women were gossiping over peanuts. Rays from the setting Sun made a golden orange hue over the dried grass. Prayer bells at the Mukteshwar Mahadev temple was ringing occasionally whenever a blessing-seeker entered the temple. These created a nice ambience over there. After spending some time over there we trailed back the same way we reached there.

Following the Kuccha road from Chauli ki Jali

After sometime we were served evening tea. Sitting in the balcony we started feeling the chill of the November wind. Far side in the valley the lights were sparkled like stars.  Straight ahead there was lot of starts as if milkyway came down on earth. It is Almorah town at night. 

At around 8:30 we got a call from dining room. The dinner was served. Buffet dinner with Fried rice, Roti, Dal, Sabji, Salad, Egg Curry, Deserts and all. The tastes were good, not so spicy. The dinner and the breakfast are complimentary - included in the tariff. Also, there was not many options to dine out as well from KMVN.

Complimentary dinner at Mukteshwar KMVN

Back to room after dinner, we called it a day....

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