India has big number of exceptionally stunning valleys of flowers across its peninsular region, and top among them is definitely the ‘valley of flowers’ in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district inside the Nanda Devi Biosphere reserve. It is so popular that whenever you talk about Valley of Flowers, it is presumed that you are talking about it. But there are many other valleys of flowers and a handful of them are in the Himalayan region itself. They might not be as popular as the Valley of Flowers in the Nanda Devi Biosphere reserve but they are equally beautiful and worth a visit. Yumthang in North Sikkim Har Ki Doon valley in Uttarakhand Well, here I am not talking about all the valleys of flowers. That isn’t the purpose of the post. I am loking at what we have missed this season due t...
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Valley of Flowers National Park — a World Heritage site — will remain closed this year even as the yatra to Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri, and Hemkund Saheb has been resumed. The national park opened on June 1 this year and closed on June 16 after incessant rains triggered landslips and destroyed a bridge near the national park. The bridge — across the Pushpawati river — connected the Valley of Flowers and Ghangaria. The three-kilometre stretch between the bridge and the national park was also destroyed after heavy rainfall triggered landslips in the area. Sarvesh Kumar Dube, Sub Divisional Officer, Nanda Devi National Park, Joshimath, said, “Had everything been fine, the national park would have remained open till October end.” “The Public Works Department (PWD...
Read MoreThis is a good news. The pilgrimage to famous Sikh shrine, Hemkund Sahib in Uttarakhand in Himalayan India, suspended since the June 16 natural calamity, resumed on Saturday with Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna flagging off a batch of nearly 100 pilgrims from Govindghat. The flag-off took place after “bhog” and a ceremonial recitation of Akhand Path. The portals of the shrine located at a height of 15,200 ft will reopen on Sunday when the first batch of pilgrims arrives there. Now the pilgrims and trekkers alike will be able to make most of whatever season is left to go to Hemkund and world Heritage site of Valley of Flowers. Though damage to the shrine devoted to the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh was not as extensive as in Kedarnatah, a 6 km stretch of the trek route to the high...
Read MoreLocated in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand in Himalayan India, Hemkund Sahib gurudwara is among those rare places which provide an excellent mix of adventure and pilgrimage. Hemkund Sahib (also spelled Hemkunt) is a Sikh place of worship Gurudwara, known as Gurudwara Sri Hemkunt Sahib Ji, devoted to Guru Gobind Singh Ji (1666–1708), the tenth Sikh Guru, which finds mention in Dasam Granth, a piece of work believed to be narrated by Guru Gobind Singh Ji. It is situated at one end of a glacial lake surrounded by seven mountain peaks and each peak adorned by a Nishan Sahib on its cliff, it is located in the Himalayas at an elevation of 4632 meters (15,200 ft). Just like Valley of flowers (read: http://vagabondimages.in/2013/09/11/valley-of-flowers/) approach to Hemkund is also via Joshimat
Read MoreValley of Flowers is one of those places which one has to visit atleast once in lifetime. Located at varied height of more than 3200 metres, this UNESCO world heritage site (for natural biosphere) is in Uttarakhand state of India. On way to Badrinath from Rishikesh is famous temple town of Joshimath. Another 12 kilometres from there is Govindghat. From here is a trek to Ghangharia along the Laxman Ganga river. From Ghangharia, there are two route- one takes uphill right to Hemkund and another one left to Valley of Flowers, one of the most beautiful places on this earth, known for high altitude valley carpeted by a rare mix of natural flowers, herbs and shrubs. This is actually the time of the year, August-September, when valley is at its full bloom. Cloudburst in June this year, made mo...
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