Day - 7 (11/11/2024)
Our fifth and sixth day's itinerary: Gopeswar, Vaitarni, Tunganath, Anirudh Temple, Vishwanath Mandir, Maa Kali, Maa Tripura Sundari Lalita Mayi Mandir, Narayan Koti, Mundkatiya, Kalimath, Triyugnarayana, Agastymuni, Rudraprayag.
A recap of the sixth day's places of visit: Mundkatiya, Triyugi Narayana, Narayan Koti, Vishwanath Mandir, Kali Math, Anirudha Temple and night halt at Rudra Prayag.
Plans for the seventh and eighth days: Rudra Prayag, Baghnath, Baijnath, Satyanarayan Temple, Patal Bhuvaneshwar, Jageshwar Dham, Katarmal Sun Temple, Aadi Badari, Rudraprayag.
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Our next stop was at Syalkot where we had darshana of Lord Adi Badari in a temple complex. Adi Badri is a group of ancient temples in the Badrikshetra region of Uttarakhand, about 17 kilometers from Karanprayag. Adi Badri is a shrine dedicated to Vishnu and is part of the Panch Badri group of temples. It is believed that Adi Guru Shankaracharya initiated the construction of these temples.
According to legend, Adi Badri is the place where the Vedas were written and Maharishi Ved Vyasa wrote the Shri Mad Bhagwat Maha Puran. It is also believed that Lord Vishnu lived in Adi Badri during the Satyug, Treta, and Dwapar eras.
The temples are known for their architectural
beauty and historical significance and are dedicated to various Hindu deities. This main
temple is flanked by Ganesha, Annapoorna, Hanuman, Kali, Ram Lakshman and Sita, Surya, Shiva and other temples. Our
ritual of pooja continued but we couldn’t perform abhisheka.
On the way to our next stop, Katarmal Sun Temple, a distance of around 130 km but took us over 5 hours to reach there due to the mountainous terrain. Midway, we stopped for a cuppa and had delicious aloo tikkies at a roadside thela, in Dwarahat. Suma Aunty was under the weather and rested the whole way to the Sun Temple.
We crossed over from Garhwal to Kumaon hill ranges and reached the Sun Temple around 17h45 We thought the Sun Temple was open till 18h00 as mentioned in Google Maps. Unfortunately, it was closed and we were told that the temple follows Sunrise and Sunset for its opening and closing times. All of us were exhausted and we were advised by the locals to stay overnight, have darshan and then depart from there.
As luck would have it, we found a homestay, a cozy one at that (run by the couple Mr and Mrs Gopal and Kamala Bisht), for our night stay. After a bit of a climb with the host and his son tugging our luggage, we made it to the main house. There were six rooms of which we occupied three and the owner's family stayed in two rooms. The rooms were very comfortable, spacious and well-appointed. Very reasonable per-head tariff included breakfast and dinner - it was a steal!
Surprising dinner of Ragi Rotti (😲😋!), sarson ka saag, rice, dal, followed by curds. Wow! We couldn’t have asked for more. I hogged on the Rottis as if there was no tomorrow!
After dinner, we sat outside on the porch for some time looking at the lights that lit up the mountains and valleys. We could see the lights of Almora town at a distance and were shown some other institutions lit up at night, by our wonderful host Gopal Bisht.
Plan vs. Actual:
Rudra Prayag (holy dip in the confluence of rivers), Aadi Badari, Katarmal Sun Temple - Adheli Sunar, Almora. Unexpected night halt at a homestay in Katarmal. However, the visit to the Sun Temple happened only on Day 8. We rescheduled the rest of the planned activities, to day 8.
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Camp coordinates: Home Stay of Mrs. Kamala Bisht. Contact: Mr. Gopal Bisht - +91 94121 69491
https://maps.app.goo.gl/mJazPJsAfTVr5EvMA
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Continued .... in Part 8
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