Traveling is good
The beautiful mountainous landscape of Kashmir valley, numerous shrines of Jammu and the remote mountain beauty and Buddhist culture of Ladakh, justify the exclamation of Emperor Jahangir, If there is ever a heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here.
The northernmost state of India is home to many beautiful valleys such as the Kashmir Valley, Tawi Valley, Chenab Valley, Poonch Valley, Sindh Valley and Lidder Valley. Srinagar is the summer capital and Jammu the winter capital of the state. The official language is Urdu, while the main spoken languages are Kashmiri in Kashmir Valley, Dogri in Jammu and Ladakhi in Ladakh. Most people speak at least a little Hindi.
One can arrive here by air to Srinagar and Leh or board a train till Jammu or Udhampur. By road entry is via Jammu upto Srinagar and via Manali upto Leh.
Kashmir Valley is a land of beautiful gardens like Shalimar and Nishant gardens, vast lakes like Dal Lake and Manasbal Lake, pristine streams and friendly people. Gulmarg, Sonamarg and Patnitop are hill stations offering enchanting view of Snow Mountains. Raghunath Temple, Bahu Fort, Mubarak Mandi Palace, Peer Baba, Vaishno Devi, Pari Mahal, Hari Parbat Shankaracharya Temple, Amarnath, Bhimgarh Fort and Ramnagar fort are some of the pilgrimage and historical sites.
Leh, the capital of Ladakh is famous for monasteries. Zanskar Trek is a great adventure tourism destination. Nubra Valley, Lake Moriri and Pangong Lake offer truly amazing landscapes high up in the Himalayas.
The beauty of Sonamarg forces the tourists to stop there. It seems that someone has laid green carpets on mountains. Once a great tourist puller and favorite place for shooting of Bollywood films, Sonamarg is perhaps the best health resort in the country. Sonamarg also hosts the International Championships of Rafting on River Sindh.
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Searched lights were switched off and we went towards check post, one CRPF man came and asked me to stay with them and allowed only Naresh Saroha to go towards Dispensary. I waited there for his return. After 10-15 minutes Naresh cane and we returned to our tent. Due to medicines, Naresh slept soon but I could not sleep after that. In the morning all wake up early and after completing our daily routines, we get ready to start the last day tracking. We took hot tea and Rusk/biscuits in breakfast and started the journey.
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Nand Rishi was the spiritual heir to another great representative of Sufism, Lal Ded. Nand Rishi was the first person to start Rishism in the valley, a kind of Vaisnavism. Leading a simple life, the shrine represents the value of non-violence, vegetarianism and communal harmony. The shrine is white in colour modeled upon the central Asian style of architecture and is quite spacious having two sprawling floors with beautifully carved wooden ceilings and staircases.
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It is 1.5 kms rocky climb from Babaltop. Around 10:30 AM we reached MahagunasTop. Mahagunas Top is the highest point of the entire Yatra. It is a pass between two peaks which connects two mountain ranges and Sheshnag and Panjtarni camps. It is believed that here Lord Shiva and Devi Parvati left their son Lord Ganesha and went to cave hence named Ganesh Top.
Due to snow all around heavy cold winds were blowing. We took a short photography session here and left this place soon as the clouds have started turning dark and there was no shelter nearby. Our next destination was at Poshpatri where we all have decided to meet. From Mahagunus top to Panjtarni there is either plane or descend track and at some places there is sharp descend. Due to snow, it becomes more difficult to descend. We were moving fast so that we can reach at Poshpatri before it started rain.
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Pissutop is situated at an elevation of 2500 feet from Chandanwadi and from here there is steep, dangerous about 3 km, zig zag climb on rocky and rough surface. This is the terrific start from here. From our group, Shushil, Swarn and me had already come to this track more than once but for rest of members, it was a new experience. From the bottom, top of Pissutop is not visible. The top which is visible from down is the half way point and most of the Yatris think it as the Pissutop. Pissutop becomes visible only after reaching at the midpoint.
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We reached Kud town at around 8 o’clock. Many shops were closed in the market at that time but only a few were open. We purchased 2KG Patisa from Prem sweets which is one of the oldest and famous shops at Kud.
“Kud, a place of extraordinary scenic beauty, is located on the Udhampur Srinagar Highway, Jammu and Kashmir, India. This popular resort is situated on the Jammu-Srinagar highway at an altitude of 1738 meters. It is 95 KM from Jammu and 37 KM from Udhampur city; it is just short of the tourist spot of Patni Top while driving to Patni top from Udhampur. Kud is famous for its sweet shops that make hot and fresh Patisa, which is very popular with the tourists.”
The Amarnath Yatra was starting on 30th June 2010.We had decided to leave on first week of July and was waiting for opening of online registrations which was due on 5th June. I was preparing but was not sure whether I will be able to go or not because my mother was ill for some period.
Recently she was diagnosed with stones in GB. She was already suffering from heart, asthma and BP. She felt severe pain many times due to stones and her condition was deteriorating day by day.
Situated in a narrow gorge at the farther end of Lidder Valley, Amarnath Shrine stands at 3,888 m, 46 Km from Pahalgam and 14 Kms from Baltal. Though the original pilgrimages subscribes that the Yatra (journey) be undertaken from Srinagar, the more common practice is to begin journey at Chandanwari, and cover the distance to Amarnathji. Pahalgam is 96 Kms from Srinagar. Amarnathji is considered to be one of the major Hindu Dhams. The holy cave is the abode of Lord Shiva. The guardian of the absolute, Lord Shiva, the destroyer, is enshrined in the form of an ice-lingam in this cave. This lingam is formed naturally, which is believed to wax and wane with the moon.
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Dates (28th June to 21st Aug.) have been already announced for The Amarnath Yatra 2013 and duration has been extended to 55 Days. Yes, this is for first time in last 5 years, that Yatra Duration is set over 50 Days. Last time, it was only in 2008, the Duration of Yatra was 58 days. In 2012, Shri Amarnath ji Yatra was reduced to only 37 Days, for which the J&K State Government & Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board had faced a lot of heat from the various Social & Religious Organizations.
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The meadow of Jesus , yes , as per some oral tradition Jesus lived in Yusmarg for sometime during his visit to Kashmir. Some even believe that Jesus is buried somewhere in Kashmir only. If anyone has read ” Rozabal Line” by Aswin Sanghi, he also has dwelled on this topic in his novel. Yousmarg is a beautiful meadow situated at the height of 2396 m from sea level and Pine and Fir trees are abound at this place. The place is under Yousmarg development authority and lies in Budgam distt. Yousmarg is no doubt, the quietest of all the tourist points of the valley , very suitable who want to enjoy the tourist place away from the tourists. Basically this place is a Trekker’s paradise as we found out after reaching the place.
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We can say , a pocket size dynamite that engulfed the visitors with its charm. The garden shows the same Mughal feeling as the bigger gardens around the lake. The spring around which this garden is built bumbles up in a large stone vase that hovers up in a hall like structure and this is specialty of this garden.
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Soon to my rescue I saw a Tata Sumo coming from behind. I indicated for some help & it stopped. The driver asked me to stand on the rear footrest and grab the carrier as it was all full from passengers. I was standing out in the open air on the rear footrest. After reaching to our point I thanked the driver for the help extended, in their local language – “Julley”.
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