Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Facts About Malari
Malari : Fast Facts
Location: North East Uttaranchal,Himalayas, IndiaAltitude:Approx. 10,000 Feet from Sea LevelHow to reach there:Dehradun-SrinagarNandprayag-Joshimath-MalariPopulation: 500-1000Acco. Facility: PWD Rest HouseIdeal in: Summer (May to October)Surroundings:Villages of Niti, Bampa, Jelam(Indo-Tibet regions)
Location: North East Uttaranchal,Himalayas, IndiaAltitude:Approx. 10,000 Feet from Sea LevelHow to reach there:Dehradun-SrinagarNandprayag-Joshimath-MalariPopulation: 500-1000Acco. Facility: PWD Rest HouseIdeal in: Summer (May to October)Surroundings:Villages of Niti, Bampa, Jelam(Indo-Tibet regions)
Malari
Malari
In search of the mystiqueIt had been a long time, since the last time, I had ventured out of my place in search of new horizons, new places, to meet people I had not met before and to get an altogether different experience of the world we are living in. With Dusshera holidays falling in between and a weekend, I decided it was the perfect time to move out. At least a few days of traveling and sight seeing in the Himalayas would be tranquilizing, energizing and an educating experience. I spread out the map of Uttarakhand and closely scrutinized the area from Askot to Arakot. Trying to identify, which destination would be the most suitable for this time of the year. Finally my gaze was locked on a road on the map, which led towards further north of Joshimath and then suddenly disappeared and had the comment “To Malari”. As far as I can recall, I had my introduction with Malari almost 25 years back. Had heard that it was very far off and the climate was quite hostile for other than those who actually lived there.
Malari, behind and beyond the scene!Malari, a non-descript village and one of the last outposts on the Indo-Tibet (China) border, lies in the district of Chamoli Garhwal. Lodged in a narrow valley at an altitude of 10,000 feet from mean sea level and surrounded by giant and perennially covered snow peaks. Malari lies beyond the snow covered ridges of the Greater Himalayas as seen from Mussoorie, Pauri, Khirsu, Nainital, Kausani and Choukodi. For most of the people and even among the Uttarakhandis, the general perception is that the ridges of the greater Himalayas are natural boundaries separating India from Tibet. But what they actually do not know that Indian Territory extends far beyond the snow covered peaks, which have been worshipped and revered by the Uttarakhandis and other Indians for almost five thousand years. Malari is approximately 60 kilometers from Joshimath and lies en route to Niti village, the last village on the Indo-Tibetan border. Motor-able road goes all up to the village of Bampa and from there you have to trek 6 kilometers to Niti village. Niti pass is just a few kilometers from Niti village and no one apart from ITBP and Army is allowed to go to Niti pass.
Dehradun to Nandprayag, the tranquil drive!Starting from Dehradun at 9:30 am and negotiating through the Dun roads, choking with traffic with vehicles varying from two wheelers, cars, mini truck, mini bus, trucks, buses, cart (driven by bullock) and tractors. The intersections on both sides of the Raspina bridge are jammed as there are no traffic lights, no policemen to control the traffic during the peak hour. Somehow, after patiently moving through the maddening traffic chaos, I finally get out of the city and traffic starts to flow with relative ease. The travel time between Dehradun and Nandprayag is almost 6 to 7 hours long. The drive was quite uneventful and nothing much was happened except the work currently going on for broadening of New Delhi – Niti Pass National Highway. The story remains the same for most of the part of the journey. Restaurants and dhabas coming up on the NH, in full violation of building bye laws and NH conventions. Almost all the towns of Uttarakhand have one thing in common, unchecked growth and unregulated construction activities going on. Without a proper Town Planning blueprint and getting buildings approved without getting proper permissions and clearances from the various government, the towns of Uttarakhand are fast collapsing into the slums of 21st century. But, I have said enough about this in my previous travelogues and as such I would refrain from this as much as possible. The road widening is still going on at places and Border Roads Organization (BRO) is the one looking after the maintenance and activities. The slip at ‘Kaliyasaun’, between Srinagar and Rudraprayag has stabilized to a great extent and now doesn’t pose much of a problem to the BRO and the commuters. Karnaprayag, which is situated at the confluence of Alaknanda and Pinder (source: Pindari Glacier in Kumaon) is another sleepy town of Uttarakhand. From Karnaprayag one can go straight to Simli, Adi Badri and Gwaldam or one can cross the Alaknanda and go to Nagnath Pokhari. Since neither Simli route nor Nagnath Pokhari was in our travel itinerary, we crossed over the Pinder via the new bridge and went to Nandprayag. After a long day’s drive and feeling completely exhausted, it was decided to have a night halt at Nandprayag. Nandprayag has Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam rest house and they provide good quality of accommodation at fairly reasonable price.
After all, it's Himalayas! Reaching Joshimath.After taking a rather heavy breakfast we started from Nandprayag at around 07:00 hrs towards Chamoli. We were soon greeted with sights of mighty mountains with their peaks, coated with perennial snow, thus indicating the start of the snowline area. Situated down at the abdomen of the mountain was the town of Gopeshwar, which is becomes visible just a few kilometers from Chamoli. Chamoli is not much to talk about as it is situated in a narrow valley and there is nothing special worthy of mention apart from the fact that it is a district headquarter. A few kilometers from Chamoli is a place called Birhi, which is just another place on the route that does not deserve any mention except that years ago there was lake, called ‘Birhi Taal’. The lake was formed when the falling rocks and debris obstructed the flow of one of the tributaries of Alaknanda. The lake remained in existence for several years and then in the late 1970’s, a cloud burst knocked off the barriers and the lake caused inundation and devastation along the Alaknanda valley. Now no trace of the lake remains today, but still I watched a group of Bengali tourists on their way to Birhi Taal. Since it was only the second week of October, there was not much traffic on the road. With the onset of winters and the date of temple closure approaching fast, the volume of pilgrims had lessened down to a great extent. Though, one could still see buses carrying pilgrims to and from Badrinath, there was not much traffic as one would see in May-June. Just when we were about 10 kilometers from Joshimath, where the road starts its climb, one is greeted with an unadulterated view of ‘Haathi Parvat’. I must confess, I feel some inclination, nostalgic though. It reminds me of the days gone by or rather years, almost 25 years back, when I was told about the name of the peak. This particular peak and ‘Chaukhamba’ peaks have since been hard burned in my mind. I had always gazed at these peaks with awe. I always harbored the dreams of observing them from a close distance. Though Haathi Parvat is not the tallest and mightiest peak of the greater Himalayas, still it looks massive and daunting. It was well past 10 ‘o’ clock in the morning, when we reached Joshimath. Though the day had clear skies, it was quite cold. I went to the SDM‘s office, as I was advised that anyone going to Malari has to procure a permit first. The SDM, however informed me that going to Malari as such would not require a permit, but if one has to go to Niti village, then a permit must be procured. Issuance of permit takes no time and one has to carry his/her identification proof along with him. While waiting for someone at the bus stand, I saw a stray Himalayan Shepherd Dog (HSD) sleeping peacefully under the carriage of a truck, unmindful of the prevailing noise, hustle-bustle and chaos in sheer yogic calm. I really envied his peaceful sleep and wished if I had the same peace of mind. But anyway, some of our earthy companions are luckier than us, the human beings.
Malari, behind and beyond the scene!Malari, a non-descript village and one of the last outposts on the Indo-Tibet (China) border, lies in the district of Chamoli Garhwal. Lodged in a narrow valley at an altitude of 10,000 feet from mean sea level and surrounded by giant and perennially covered snow peaks. Malari lies beyond the snow covered ridges of the Greater Himalayas as seen from Mussoorie, Pauri, Khirsu, Nainital, Kausani and Choukodi. For most of the people and even among the Uttarakhandis, the general perception is that the ridges of the greater Himalayas are natural boundaries separating India from Tibet. But what they actually do not know that Indian Territory extends far beyond the snow covered peaks, which have been worshipped and revered by the Uttarakhandis and other Indians for almost five thousand years. Malari is approximately 60 kilometers from Joshimath and lies en route to Niti village, the last village on the Indo-Tibetan border. Motor-able road goes all up to the village of Bampa and from there you have to trek 6 kilometers to Niti village. Niti pass is just a few kilometers from Niti village and no one apart from ITBP and Army is allowed to go to Niti pass.
Dehradun to Nandprayag, the tranquil drive!Starting from Dehradun at 9:30 am and negotiating through the Dun roads, choking with traffic with vehicles varying from two wheelers, cars, mini truck, mini bus, trucks, buses, cart (driven by bullock) and tractors. The intersections on both sides of the Raspina bridge are jammed as there are no traffic lights, no policemen to control the traffic during the peak hour. Somehow, after patiently moving through the maddening traffic chaos, I finally get out of the city and traffic starts to flow with relative ease. The travel time between Dehradun and Nandprayag is almost 6 to 7 hours long. The drive was quite uneventful and nothing much was happened except the work currently going on for broadening of New Delhi – Niti Pass National Highway. The story remains the same for most of the part of the journey. Restaurants and dhabas coming up on the NH, in full violation of building bye laws and NH conventions. Almost all the towns of Uttarakhand have one thing in common, unchecked growth and unregulated construction activities going on. Without a proper Town Planning blueprint and getting buildings approved without getting proper permissions and clearances from the various government, the towns of Uttarakhand are fast collapsing into the slums of 21st century. But, I have said enough about this in my previous travelogues and as such I would refrain from this as much as possible. The road widening is still going on at places and Border Roads Organization (BRO) is the one looking after the maintenance and activities. The slip at ‘Kaliyasaun’, between Srinagar and Rudraprayag has stabilized to a great extent and now doesn’t pose much of a problem to the BRO and the commuters. Karnaprayag, which is situated at the confluence of Alaknanda and Pinder (source: Pindari Glacier in Kumaon) is another sleepy town of Uttarakhand. From Karnaprayag one can go straight to Simli, Adi Badri and Gwaldam or one can cross the Alaknanda and go to Nagnath Pokhari. Since neither Simli route nor Nagnath Pokhari was in our travel itinerary, we crossed over the Pinder via the new bridge and went to Nandprayag. After a long day’s drive and feeling completely exhausted, it was decided to have a night halt at Nandprayag. Nandprayag has Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam rest house and they provide good quality of accommodation at fairly reasonable price.
After all, it's Himalayas! Reaching Joshimath.After taking a rather heavy breakfast we started from Nandprayag at around 07:00 hrs towards Chamoli. We were soon greeted with sights of mighty mountains with their peaks, coated with perennial snow, thus indicating the start of the snowline area. Situated down at the abdomen of the mountain was the town of Gopeshwar, which is becomes visible just a few kilometers from Chamoli. Chamoli is not much to talk about as it is situated in a narrow valley and there is nothing special worthy of mention apart from the fact that it is a district headquarter. A few kilometers from Chamoli is a place called Birhi, which is just another place on the route that does not deserve any mention except that years ago there was lake, called ‘Birhi Taal’. The lake was formed when the falling rocks and debris obstructed the flow of one of the tributaries of Alaknanda. The lake remained in existence for several years and then in the late 1970’s, a cloud burst knocked off the barriers and the lake caused inundation and devastation along the Alaknanda valley. Now no trace of the lake remains today, but still I watched a group of Bengali tourists on their way to Birhi Taal. Since it was only the second week of October, there was not much traffic on the road. With the onset of winters and the date of temple closure approaching fast, the volume of pilgrims had lessened down to a great extent. Though, one could still see buses carrying pilgrims to and from Badrinath, there was not much traffic as one would see in May-June. Just when we were about 10 kilometers from Joshimath, where the road starts its climb, one is greeted with an unadulterated view of ‘Haathi Parvat’. I must confess, I feel some inclination, nostalgic though. It reminds me of the days gone by or rather years, almost 25 years back, when I was told about the name of the peak. This particular peak and ‘Chaukhamba’ peaks have since been hard burned in my mind. I had always gazed at these peaks with awe. I always harbored the dreams of observing them from a close distance. Though Haathi Parvat is not the tallest and mightiest peak of the greater Himalayas, still it looks massive and daunting. It was well past 10 ‘o’ clock in the morning, when we reached Joshimath. Though the day had clear skies, it was quite cold. I went to the SDM‘s office, as I was advised that anyone going to Malari has to procure a permit first. The SDM, however informed me that going to Malari as such would not require a permit, but if one has to go to Niti village, then a permit must be procured. Issuance of permit takes no time and one has to carry his/her identification proof along with him. While waiting for someone at the bus stand, I saw a stray Himalayan Shepherd Dog (HSD) sleeping peacefully under the carriage of a truck, unmindful of the prevailing noise, hustle-bustle and chaos in sheer yogic calm. I really envied his peaceful sleep and wished if I had the same peace of mind. But anyway, some of our earthy companions are luckier than us, the human beings.
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