The last night was cold. EXTREMELY cold. There was no hot water in the morning. We were only one degree and a teaspoon sugar away from turning into Popsicle.
There were chunks of ice while brushing our teeth from the bucket.
Note: Chandrashila is in a Wildlife Sanctuary, so there is no electricity in the entire area.
Trek: Chandrashila
Distance: 4 km
Trek Milestones: Chopta – Tungnath – Chandrashila
(3km + 1km)
Difficulty Level: Easy to intermediate
Season of Snow: December to May
Will I find camps to hire, sleeping bags, snow boots here?
– There are no big stores here, but locals do keep a limited supply of it.
Anything on the way to eat?
– In summer, yes. There will be a lot of food stalls on the way to the temple.
In the winter season, none at all. You wouldn’t need anything to eat on this short trek really but make sure you keep water with yourself.
There were no such plans of trekking Chandrashila, but the glorious view of the glowing Kedarnath in the night from Chopta compelled us to get ourselves as close to it as possible.
Determined as we were, began the trek with Lucky, a local guy from a nearby village. Those stair-like steps always become very tiring. It was sunny, it was cold and we were sweating.
And what? I started seeing chunks of snow on the steps. I started getting all those caterpillars and butterflies in my stomach, lungs, and throat. Soon enough, the entire way was filled with slushy snow, thick snow and black ice in parts and it became a task to walk even a few steps.
It was so dramatic with me right in the center of the panoramic view of majestic peaks like Kedarnath, Nanda Devi, Mt Trishul, Boodha Kedar, Chaukhamba all around me. They were all looking down on me like bullies let little kids be around them some times.
Tungnath
Finally, after good 3 exhausting hours, Tungnath was in sight.
Tungnath – meaning the lord of the peaks, is one of the panch kedar temples, and the highest Shiva temple in the world.
Legend Says:
As the mythology goes, after the war of destruction in Kurukshetra, Pandavas started their journey to visit Lord Shiva to wash their sins away.
Aware of the massive killing of own brothers and relatives, defeat of morals and the dishonesty involved, Lord Shiva decided to avoid them at any cost.
Therefore, he disguised himself in the form of a bull.
But when one of the Pandava brothers Bhim still recognized him, Lord Shiva disappeared into the ground with different parts of the body emerging at various places.
His hump appeared at Kedarnath, his arm was spotted at Tungnath, his head surfaced at Rudranath, the stomach and navels were traced at Madhyamaheshwar and the hair at Kalpeshwar.
Pandvas built a temple at this place to worship Lord Shiva and to please him.
Temple Altitude – 3680 m
Opening Months – May to November
During the winter season, the temple is closed and the symbolic image of the deity and the temple priests have moved to a place 19 km from here, Mukumath.
The priest at Tungnath too is a local Brahmin from Maku village, unlike the other Kedar temples where the priests are from South India, a tradition set by the eighth-century Hindu seer Sankaracharya.
“Bhai ji ruke kyu ho. Asli chadhai toh ab shuru hai!” – This is no time to stop. The climb starts from here, Lucky pushed us.
I could see this mountain completely laden with snow in front of me. As excited I was on seeing such a sight, the fear of height was searing back in me. I knew that I’d be trembling midway and crying for help. But the fact of my being asked me “if not now then when? You have to do it. For your own self!”
The inspired me started walking up. And therefore falling.
*
The most stupid mistake I made was to go for the trek in sneakers.
But in my defense, I was not expecting snow in Chandrashila. In fact, wasn’t even expecting to do a trek when I left home. Forget that, I had no idea where I was heading towards even!
Walking into this heavy load of snow, I was wondering when is this ever going to end. I lifted my head up and saw that the walk got extended into the sky as the milky snow and foamy clouds met on the horizon. There was pin-drop silence. All I could hear was my own breath.
Chandrashila
I turned around to check on Pashmina. And I was totally awed by the view behind me. Motivated to see even more of what I never saw before, I started walking with utmost dedication and stopped only once I touched down the first stone at Chandrashila.
I took a deep breath. And smiled a thank you at them for letting me be with them at 4,000 meters.
डर भी लगा
कई बार गिरा।
क्या बताऊॅ पहुॅच कर ऊपर
क्या सुकून मिला।।
न छोड़ूॅगा अब एक भी शिखर
चलता रहेगा जीत का सिलसिला।
शुक्रिया चंद्रशिला।।
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