An attempt to visit Pancha Kedar and Pancha Badari! Day 2.

Day 2: 31/07/2025 – From the Plains to Dev Bhoomi - Uttarakhand: 

Just a point to note on a few Dhams in Uttarakhand: 

For visiting these Dhams (viz. Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath, Badarinath, and Hemkund Sahib), pilgrims must first register online on the Uttarakhand Tourism website, https://traveltrade.uttarakhandtourism.gov.in/signup, providing all relevant information and uploading Aadhaar details for domestic travellers and Passport details for foreign nationals. The entry pass will be generated, which you can download, and I suggest you take a printout of the same, as networking may be sketchy at times. These entry passes are checked at the relevant checkposts before entering the particular Dham.

Day 2 - 31st July 2025:

Early next morning on the 31/07, Sujata and Vidya had their bath in the River Ganga, and Sujata was ecstatic about her first experience at it. As has been customary, Suma prepared coffee first thing in the morning.

After the bath, we went to the Sri Krishna Madhvacharya temple next door. There is a huge idol of Madhvacharya just below the idol of Sri Krishna. The temple premises were quite calm and peaceful, ideal for meditation. 

Returning to Kashimath, we all went to the banks of the River Ganga and performed pooja to Maa Ganga. There is a Maa Ganga temple here within the premises of Kashimath. 

              

Offering pooja to Ganga Maa

              

Maa Ganga Temple, Kashi Math        Sri Krishna Madhvacharya Temple

We then proceeded to the main temple to see the morning Aarti at 08h00, followed by a simple breakfast of wheat dosa and coconut chutney with coffee. We all had enough dosas to take us up to our lunch.

Proceeding further, we made it to Devprayag around 12h00 and climbed down to the confluence of Rivers Alakananda and Bhagirathi for a glorious view of the merging waters. A rock beside the steps leading down to the river is said to have the footprint of Lord Rama, who did his penance here. We all had a sprinkle of the holy water on our heads and paid our respects to the footprint of Lord Rama. 

      

Boulder with Lord Rama's footprint, at the confluence of the Rivers Alakananda and Bhagirithi

Once done, we proceeded to climb over 100 steps to reach the temple (Sri Raghunath Ram Mandir - believed to be established by Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th Century) housing Lord Rama sans his usual consorts (Maa Sita, Lakshmana, and Hanuman). This is one of the very rare temples. It is believed that Lord Rama did penance here to overcome the sin of Brahma Hatya for killing Ravana, a Brahmin.

Here, we met Pandit Shubranshu, who had helped us in performing Shradda at Badarinath during our previous visit. He was camping at Devprayag and helped us immensely both during this visit and also on our return journey (see the following chapters). We had the privilege of seeing the Aarati. Shubranshu used his clout to request the aarti be done a tad earlier than usual, to accommodate us as we had to go further to our final destination of the day, Gopeshwar.

We had a break for lunch/tea and reached our day’s destination around 17h00. The majestic ancient temple of Gopeshwar Mahadev is a Sankul (complex) of temples. The main deity is Lord Shiva, and there are other temples too. It is customary to have the darshan of Gopeshwar Mahadev before embarking on the trek to Rudranath.

              

                  Gopeshwar Mahadev Temple, Gopeshwar              View of the temple from the top

As is Suma’s practice, we gave the items for abhisheka, a vastra to cover the deity, and a garland of beads made by her to adorn it.

This place has been described in my earlier travelogue of November 2024, when we visited this place https://mycentortwo.blogspot.com/2024/11/my-first-badari-yaatra-part-5-09112024.html. We also visited the Vaitarni Kund, nearby.

          

Vaitarni Kund, Gopeshwar.

As the sunlight faded, Sujata and I could see a few houses on top of the hill opposite the temple complex, wondering what life would be like for them. Little did we know that we would be housed in one of the hotels (Dev Darshan Hotel) on top of the hill, from where we had an excellent view of the temple. All our luggage was hauled up to the first-floor rooms (quite comfy rooms, I must say) as we had to repack for the next couple of days, in our backpacks. This took some time, and in the meantime, Radha, Sujata, and Vidya took turns preparing the dinner in the Hotel’s kitchen. The huge balcony overlooking the town below and the mountain ranges in front was a welcome change.

          

At the entrance of Hotel Dev Darshan, Gopeshwar.

The hotel was almost empty, and therefore we could take the liberty of indulging ourselves in the kitchen. Saaru (thin soup or rasam), along with rice and curds, was our dinner. With the table set up on the huge balcony, we had a great view of the valley and the mountains while eating our dinner. 

Backpacks ready for the trek, we then hit the bed so that we could wake up early the next day.

Synopsis of the day:

Planned sites of Dev Prayag and Gopeshwar were visited. Reaching the hotel in the evening, we started our preparation for the trek to Rudranath. 

Our next day's travelogue is in my Day 3 episode.