After a long and forced hiatus of 7 years due to birth of our kid and then Covid break out, we (me and my wife) finally decided to start over our annual ritual of exploring a part of India through self-planned, self-booked long tour. With our 5-year-old kid around we decided to wrap-up this tour in 8-9 days instead of our regular 10-12 days trips and it once again brought to forefront our passion for travel.
We wanted to make it a big family trip with our respective in-laws, siblings, cousins, their kids etc etc so that: 1. our kid is engaged in a company of his cousins and 2. it would be a great mood lifter for the entire family after depressing Covid lock downs. Thus after carefully considering every voice in the family: we changed the destination from Himachal to Kashmir and then to Uttarakhand. But when it came to actually booking tickets, only 7 of us (my family and my cousin’s family - including 2 of his kids) confirmed to visit these sacred lands.
Uttarakhand (or Uttaranchal – as was called in late 1990’s) was carved out as 27th state of India from the northern part of state of Uttar Pradesh in November 2000. It is rightly called as “Devbhumi” (literally – “Land of the Gods”) due to its religious significance and numerous Hindu pilgrimage centers on these lands. Garhwal (Dehradun & Chardham) - western part and Kumaon – the eastern part are 2 broad divisions of this state in terms of people, language and administration. Kumaon region is part of lower Himalayan ranges of Mountains called Shivalik Ranges.
We decided to explore 3 destinations – Jim Corbett, Almora and Nainital – from the Kumaon region in this trip and like most of our earlier trips untimely weather changes accompanied us here too (it was untimely snowfall in North East (you can read the review here - The unknown Paradise – North East India Travel Guide), untimely rains in Rajasthan (you can read the review here - Royally yours! Rajasthan travel guide) and Thanes hurricane in Andamans (you can read the review here - An escape from thanes hurricane - Andaman Nicobar Travel Guide). Gujarat being an exception to this (you can read the review here - Gleaming Gujarat - a Gujarat travel guide)).
Okay! now enough of prologue! Here I go with my destination appraisal:
General Season: October to June (better to avoid rains)
Best season: November – Mid February (if you are eyeing for snow and snow fall)
March –
May (if animal sightings on your cards)
We visited: 08th of May 2022 – 16th of May 2022 (in line with school holidays)
Itinerary at a glance: Pune – (via Delhi) Jim Corbett – Almora – Nainital – (via Delhi) Pune
Approx cost for 1: Rs. 45K/- (hotels, air fare, AC Innova, entry tickets, food etc.)
Mobile N/w: We had Jio and Airtel no.s and faced range / data issues at various places
: Route Map :
Follow the link: Kumaon Uttarakhand Travel Map for actual map.
: Travel Itinerary and Quick Tips :
Ratings Indicate:-
Extremely
Great: A+++, Great: A++,
Good: A+, Nice: A, Okay: B,
Bad: C, Worse: C-, Worst: C--,
Extremely Worst: C---.
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Day |
Origin – Destination |
Travel Time |
Stay |
Airline / Hotel |
Seat / Room Type |
Itinerary |
Cost for 2 (as on Jan 2022) |
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1 |
Pune – Delhi |
2.15 hrs (Early morning flight) |
Vistara |
Economy |
6000 |
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1 |
Delhi – Jim Corbett |
6 - 7 hrs (leave immediately) |
Jim Corbett |
The Corbett View |
Deluxe |
Day1: Jim Corbett Museum, Corbett Falls Day 2: Morning & Evening Safari Day 3: Morning Safari, Girija Devi Temple, Dhangari Museum Day 4: Morning Safari (if needed) |
2800 (* 3 nights – AC rooms) (Inclusive of b/f & taxes) |
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2-3 |
Jim Corbett |
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Ratings: |
Destination: Safaris, Dhangari Museum:A++ Girija
Devi Temple: B | Hotel: A |
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Our experiences: 1. We had rather an eventful start to our journey! By the time we were out of Delhi airport, we already started feeling
the hot stale air of the northern planes and by the afternoon when we were in
UP, we decided to cool ourselves with a pint or two of beer on the go. We
went to one of the beer shops on road and were surprised to find out that beer of none of the well-established brands – not even
kingfisher was in stock. They were only selling a strong beer named ‘BroCode’ which we had
not heard off earlier. We tested it then and there (it was like sweeter
version of Apple Cider) and found it okay. We bought 4 pints of it (we had to
struggle with the shop owner to accept UPI payment) and almost after emptying
one and half pint we were out of our senses. It completely knocked us out so
much so that we thought that this beer was adulterated. Our driver scared us
further by saying we shouldn’t have tried any unknown alcoholic brands in UP.
Thankfully all was well after having food and a prolonged afternoon nap. (I
latter found out that BroCode is the strongest beer available in India with
15% ABV which is massive and will surely lead to drunken mishaps ref: 1 so nothing to be worried about)
2. Uttarakhand welcomed us with lush green mango plantations on both
sides of the road. We could feel the drop in temperature even after seating
in an AC Innova car; whenever we used to pass by these plantations. Tries were
laden with green unripped Mangoes and we couldn’t stop ourselves from requesting
plantation labourers if we could pluck 1 or 2 mangoes. They happily obliged by
giving us half a dozen of them.
3. It was already 5 pm by the time we reached our hotel. So, we did not
visit Corbett Museum and Corbett falls (we were told that being a summer
season it would be okay to skip the falls).
4. Hotel lies on the banks of a river (all the rivers in and around
Corbett National park are seasonal ones. River channels; though wide were completely
dry). Rooms, bed and toilets were big and clean. Breakfast spread was good.
Food especially chicken was good too. Swimming pool though small was clean.
Only negative point is – there was a peculiar smell at reception and in
room (we either got used to it or we could subdue it with room freshener provided
by the hotel). Hotel lies close to Jhirna and Dhela Zone but far from Dhikala
and Girija Zone.
5. Jim Corbett National park – India’s 1st National park – was
established in 1936 during British occupation and was later renamed in 1956
after a renowned naturalist and a hunter (of man eater tigers) Mr. Jim
Corbett who dedicated his entire life to this forest. (Efforts are being made
by some right wing outfits to rename it after a Ramganga river that passes
through the park – which I feel is utterly unnecessary and ungrateful to Mr.
Corbett who was born and died in India). It is spread across 520.8 km2 and Currently chances of tiger
sightings are more in Jhirna, Girija, Dhikala, Dhela zones and mostly in this
order as per the information we gathered.
6. Next day we visited Jhirna Zone in the morning and Bijrani in the
evening in Gypsy. Except spotted deers, sambhars, monkeys, wild bores,
peacocks and herds of elephants at a distance nothing much on sighting front.
But we fell in love with the evergreen forest of Corbett. We soaked in the soothing aroma of jungle and our city polluted lungs thanked us for the pure fresh air of the forest.
7. 3rd day morning we had booked a canter safari in Dhikala
Zone. If you are not staying in forest guest house – (which is well inside the
forest - where cost of 2 gypsy rides is included in room terrif) - you can
visit Dhikala zone, only in canters. Please make sure you reach at least 15 minutes
before the boarding time at selected pickup point (choose Ramnagar as the
boarding point if you are staying away from dhikala zone. The other pickup
point is Dhangari gate which lies 18-20 kms away from Ramnagar) and grab
front seats in canter. Dhikala zone is the oldest and longest safari route
and most of it passes through hilly terrain. So you are sure to get
uncomfortable in the last seat and might not be able to hear guide’s voice.
8. We reached Ramnagar 5 minutes past our boarding time (in spite of
repetitive advice from guides and drivers of our 1st 2 safaris)
and canter was already gone. We had to chase them in our Innova till Dhangari
gate – an entry point to Dhikala Zone – but thankfully we could board them. (Mine
and my brother's family could only be accommodated in the last rows of 2 different
canters as were late).
9. Safari was quite eventless (except enchanting forest + morning chill but tiresome hilly paths getting worst due to last seat of the canter) till we saw one gypsy reversing on a slope just ahead
of us. And then appeared a majestic, fully grown wild male elephant. Walking in its full glory with long white tusks shinning, exuberating
power but at the same time calm, serene eyes and composed attitude showcasing years of experience and knowledge of inner strength. That animal did not make
any sound. It was just walking with measured steps towards us. Our canter and that gypsy
had to be reversed for almost at least half a kilometer as per forest guidelines,
but I felt, more than that may be, to show our respect to that beast! I couldn’t have
imagined a silent animal would invoke so many emotions in my mind! It was an
experience I would cherish for rest of my life.
 10. Then we halted for a snack and loo break inside the forest. Our empty canters were attacked by a gang of monkeys in search of food and suddenly climate changed. Sky was covered with dark clouds, gusty cyclonic winds brought torrential rain fall for 25 – 30 minutes. Those of us who got back to canter – parked away from the canteen were drenched in rain as canter is open from both sides and back. My city grown kid got frightened with the cyclonic forest showers and shivered with sudden temperature drop caused by it (thankfully with our earlier forest experience we had woolen cloths with us. Next time it seems we will have to carry raincoats too!).
11. Rest of the people started boarding the canters as rains subdued and 2 – 3 canters including my brother’s left for the return journey. We waited as our canter had 2 families with babies who came last and that I guess was blessing in disguise. Because of this delay we had our first tiger sighting after a wait of 10 long years, visits to 6 national parks and 20 odd safaris! This one was seated on a side of the road on a plateau after an ascend; cleaning
its forelimbs that might have got soiled due to unexpected rains. This royal beats knew all too well that eyes of all the humans seated in 2 gypsies on its right and in 2
canters and another gypsy on the left
were upon it and maybe also that, that all of us were in the Jungle just to have a
glimpse of it! Graciously it decided to give us a full-fledged show of its
royalty!! After it cleaned its paws, it looked to its right then to left. Then got up,
crossed the road, walked few steps on the grass, turned back, crossed the
road again and then disappeared in the jungle. My son was tensed and scared all
this while. All of us were speechless for quite some time afterwards. Sighting a tiger is the ultimate salvation – a jungle visitor seeks.
   12. We also spotted pugmarks of another tiger and bunch of other fauna: peafowls (wild cock with
feathers of 7 distinct colours), an owl, Green bee eater, kingfisher, a group
of martens (a mongoose like animal – we were not aware of any such animal),
bee-eater (a migratory bird from Rajasthan) (I am not sure if I got the names
of last two folks accurately). Some of which we could capture in camera while
others escaped or were ignored by the guides.
13. We were still wet and cold from the rains by the time we reached Dhangari
gate (exit point of Dhikala zone) and straight headed to the cafeteria for a hot cup of tea. A charming young owner of the place – Mr. Raj Bisht
welcomed us with a warm smile and served us pipping hot tea in kulhads
(earthen pot). When we were about to leave, he requested us to try Dahi Bhalle (Wade) (Deep fried Black Gram Dumplings served in Sweet Curd). As
such Dahi Wade is not amongst my favorite dish and with wet cloths, I was not at all in a mood to try Dahi Wade. When we politely refused
him, he said, "try it and if you don’t like it, I will not charge you".
His confidence and smiling face played the trick. We said yes to try it and
ended up devouring not just 1, 2 but at least 8-9 kulhads of his delicious, mouthwatering,
mushy, sweet, crunchy, flavorful (all of this at once) ‘Madhubani Dahi Bhalle’. Raj
and his awesome chef Mr. Joshi are the creator of this dish. These Bhallas / Wades were made up of Moong Dal (Green Gram) and not of Urad dal (black gram). Bhallas / Wadas had soaked the sweet dahi so well making it a mushy dallop of
deliciousness. They garnished it with crunchy shev, pure desi ghee roasted almond
pieces and soft resins. Trust me when I say this, it was something out of
this world and can easily give any Michelin star restaurant run for it's money! (not that I have eaten at any of these restaurants - just making a
point). Raj and Mr. Joshi won us over with their flavorful taste and infectious simplicity and we asked Raj if they can prepare a simple lunch for us that they normally eat in their houses. Raj readily agreed and we finalized the menu. We told him that we will come back after visiting Girija temple nearby and surprisingly, he did not even ask for any advance from us. He trusted us on our words. A rare thing in these times.
14. Girija / Garjiya Temple was our next stop which is couple of
kilometers away from the Dhangari Gate. (The temple is dedicated to
Goddess Garjiya Devi. Legends believe that Garjiya Devi is the incarnation of
Goddess Parvati, daughter of King of the Mountains also known as Giriraj. The
temple houses a 4.5 feet high idol of Girija Devi along with the idols of
Devi Saraswati, Lord Ganesha and Bhairav Nath. There is also a temple of Laxmi-Narayan
in the temple premises. The idols of this temple were found during excavation
here. It is believed that the prayers here are not complete until the devotee
worships Bhairav after worshipping Girija Devi. Ref: 2 ). Beauty of this temple is that -
it is situated over a giant rock – cut away from surrounding mountains - in
the middle of a Kosi River. Someone also told us this huge rock came floating
in the river and got settled here. Devotees of Girija Devi have tied thousands of temple bells of varying
sizes throughout the temple (right from where the steps start). They believe
that if you tie the bell with a wish in mind (Mannat / Navas), the
Goddess will fulfill your wishes. Try to visit the temple as early in the morning as possible as the temple
starts getting crowded around noon. Problem with most of the non-South Indian temples about lack of
cleanliness is apparent here as well.
15. Then we came back to visit ‘Dhangari Musem’ just adjacent to Raj’s
cafeteria. If there is a power cut then they allow entry only if there are at
least 10 visitors. If you find yourselves in this situation then please do
wait and visit the museum especially if you are with kids. It is a technology
enabled, modern interactive Museum. At least I have not visited any such
museum before. Main attractions are: a) Taxidermically preserved (Stuffed animals) tigers (2 of them as huge
as 8 ft. and 10 ft., few hunted down as they turned man eaters, few who died
of natural causes), Leopards, Civets (world’s most expensive coffee is brewed
from the half-digested coffee seeds pooped out by these animals) etc. b) Real fetuses of deer, tiger etc. stored in formaldehyde. c) Interactive simulation of voices of different animals and birds found
in Corbett. d) A gallery so as to give us a feel of a jungle at night. e) A gallery so as to give us a
feel of a jungle during rainy season (all the national parks in India are
closed for general visitors during Monsoons. Incidentally we just experienced the forest in rains). f) A theater to watch a small 3D animal cartoon clip. Luckily, we got hold of Mr. Bharat (who was managing the Museum) who
acted as our guide in the museum and gave us insightful information. Our
experience would not have been as great as it was without Mr. Bharat’s help.
16. With hungry
tummies we returned to Raj’s cafeteria; and as promised his chef – Mr. Joshi – served us typical
Kumaoni lunch: fresh and hot tawa rotis and rice, Okra / Lady finger subzi
and flavourful pipping hot Horse gram (Gehet / Kulthi / Kulith / Hulga)
dal. We surely ate more than our capacity that day. 17. After delightful sightings of the last day, we did not go for the safari on next day.
18.There are numerous websites offering to book safaris for you in Jim Corbett including your hotel. But mind you all of them charge exorbitantly high commission from you. Best way is to register yourself on official Jim Corbett website and book your safari on your own. You need to upload photograph of one of the group members and need photo-id number of all the adult visitors (above 12 years) to book the safari (once booked, it can not be cancelled / amended / transferred). There is a discount if one of the visitors is a student above 12 years. A gypsy can accommodate 6 adults and / or 2 kids at the max. Per day, 1 safari can be booked with 1 login. Advance bookings open 70 – 65 days prior. Per safari in a gypsy, forest department charges approx. INR 1100/- as their fees (to be paid in advance), gypsy driver fees are INR 2800/- and guide’s fees are INR 800/- (later both to be paid at the time of your visit). For a safari in a canter, forest department charges approx. INR 1300/- per adult and no other fee is payable. Jim Corbett is the only national park in India where visitors are allowed to stay in the official forest guest houses, deep inside the Jungle. So if you can plan your trip at least 2 – 3 months in advance, don’t leave the opportunity to stay in these forest rest houses (FRH as they are officially called). You can book stay in the rest houses by login-in to the above official website of Jim Corbett.
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Shop: |
There is a
souvenir shop at Dhikala gate. We didn’t get time to visit the same. You can
buy Noon (spiced mountain salt available in wide variety of flavors),
Local staple grains etc among other souvenir items there. |
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Eat: |
‘Madhubani Dahi
Bhalle’ at Dhangari Gate without a doubt. |
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Day |
Origin – Destination |
Travel Time |
Stay |
Airline / Hotel |
Seat / Room Type |
Itinerary |
Cost for 2 (as on Jan 2022) |
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4 |
Jim Corbett – Almora |
4.30 hrs |
Almora |
Savoy |
Double Bed Deluxe |
Day4: Zero Point, Govind Ballabhpant Museum, Bright End
Corner Day 5: Kasar Devi Temple, Golu Devata Temple, Jageshwar Dham,
Jageshwar Museum, Bridha Jageshwar Day 6: Sun Temple |
2540 (*2 nights – Non - AC rooms) (inclusive of b/f & taxes) |
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5 |
Almora |
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Ratings: |
Destination: Kasar Devi, Golu Devata, Jageshwar, Museum – A+++,
| Hotel: C- - - |
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Our experiences: 1. We decided to wake up late on 4th day (after early morning
flight and safaris on the previous 3 days) and after a heavy
breakfast left for Almora (Actually name of the town is Almoda and not Almora
as was spelt conveniently by Britishers and then foolishly continued by us).
2. Just before Nainital bypass we accidently stopped few kids picking up berries from a thorny bush. They told us that these are called ‘Asalu’
(Aiselu actually). These berries are rare and are sold at quite a high price in the market. (We actually did not find these berries being sold in the market). We wasted no time in picking up these costly berries. We thoroughly enjoyed sweet soft
yellow flesh of these berries. Interestingly, when you
pluck these berries, only the soft berry comes apart from the hemispherical
bulb of the stem to which it is attached, making a dimple in the berry.
3. We decided to halt at a road side restaurant for
lunch, just few kilometers before Almora. A street vendor at its entrance was selling abundantly
available sweet and sour beeries of the Kumaon region called ‘Kafal’. Till
the time our food was prepared, we enjoyed these tangy little berries having
red flesh and green seed sprinkled with a dash of salt and
chilli powder mixture.
As all of us wanted to eat as much local food as possible thus we ordered ‘Kumaoni
Thali’ served by this restuarant. It had Rice, ‘Kadhi’, ‘Kumaoni dal
of some black lentil’, ‘Eggplant Bharata’ and a dish we loved the most
– ‘Mandawa Roti'(Ragi Roti / Nachanichi Bhakari - Finger Milet Flat
Bread). Mandwa Roti was little hard and thin (here in Maharashtra, we make it quite thick and soft), and was served with pure desi ghee (clarified butter).
4. This restaurant has a beautiful location; with Kosi – Almoda river
flowing in the valley below. The river stream was a welcome break from the dried up river
beds of Jim Corbett. My son insisted on going to the river and in fact, we also wanted to feel the cold waters
of Kosi River and cool breezes of Almoda. It was a quite steep descent till
riverbed. Owner of the restaurant sent two young waiters as our ‘Sherpas’
to guide us on the slope. Seeing my trouble with getting down my kid safely
on the loose soil of the slope, one of our ‘Sherpa’ lifted my kid on
the slope and the other one held him while we were crossing the river. They
(including hotel owner) truly represent the Indian culture, where guests are
treated like a god (Atithi Devo Bhava). We felt alive as much with
being in the river as with their warm hospitality and kindness. Our sherpas
were intrigued with the digi cam I was carrying. So as a token of thanks, I
clicked them at the river and promised them to send their photographs once I
am back home (which I did). I still remember the joy and excitement in their
eyes because of this simple gesture.
5. Zero point in Binsar is around 25 kms from Almoda. It is famous
for Panoramic views of snowclad Himalayan peaks. But as it had just rained
last day, we were informed that we will not get to see the mountains due to
cloud cover / foggy conditions. Same was true for Bright End Corner (a
mountain viewpoint at Almora) so we skipped these 2 points. We also skipped
Govind Ballhabhpant Museum (collections of antiques and art pieces) for lack
of time.
6. Savoy hotel at Almoda was the only and BIIIGGG disappointment in this
entire trip. It is a recently painted old hotel. Rooms and toilets are
specious having a huge common verandah and a nice view of the mountains. But:
a. Few of the electric points don’t work. b. You need to ask for soap, towel
etc and insist again before you actually get it. c. You get smelly worn-out towels,
of different colors, designs and patterns with threads coming out. d. You
need to insist on switching on the DG set on power failure (2nd
time they did it without asking). e. Smelly blankets f. Extra hot noodles
when we ordered normal / medium spicy ones. g. Old uncleaned cupboards. h.
The entire hotel is managed by one person (with some experience) and few teens who barely understand the business. We did not complain at all during our entire stay as somehow, we had a
feeling that its useless. There is nothing that they could / would do. I
would have still not complained here and on the net but the smelly towel and
blankets was too much to bare.
7. On our 2nd day in Almora we headed to Kasar Devi
Temple. It is a cave temple, situated on a small hillock near Almora. This
site is said to be under the influence of Van Allen Belt (doughnut-shaped
zones of highly energetic charged particles trapped at high altitudes in the
magnetic field of Earth) which (according to NASA – as displayed on the site)
generates powerful electromagnetic field of immense positive energy due to
cosmic rays and solar wind. There are only 3 such spiritual sites on the
Earth – Machu Pichu in Peru and Stonehenge in England being the other two.
Thus it is a site where lot of Buddhist monks, sages and yogis including
Swami Vivekanand have meditated, making it even more powerful I believe than
the other 2 sites. There is a space beneath the cave where you can sit and meditate. All 4 of us (adults) were already in love with this place, with its serenity, certain stillness emanated from the forests sarounding it and with overall positive vibes of those hills. We couldn’t stop ourselves (from trying) to meditate there. Everyone’s experience was different, but all of us surely felt some sort of stillness / calmness enveloping our minds. I guess I also felt vibrations for a brief moment in my Crown / Sahsrar Chakra (said to be located on top of your head) but soon we got disturbed because of the noises our kids were making. Who knows, it could have been a little deeper experience sans noise? This hillock also has a Shivalaya (Shiva Temple). In all the Shiva
Temples I had visited so far; Shiva Linga is positioned pointing towards North
whereas the entrance of the sanctum sanctorum is East – West Facing. But the
peculiarity of this temple is that Shiva Linga is positioned in the same
direction as that of entrance (i.e. either entrance is North – South facing
or Shiva Linga is positioned in East – West direction). I tried enquiring
with a temple priest and one of the old regular temple visitors about this
intrigue. But did not get any satisfactory answer to it except a vague story told by that old visitor that a devotee of Lord Shiva got frustrated as Lord
Shiva was not appearing in person to meet him and that devotee stepped on the Shiva Linga
rotating it. Soon after, Lord Shiva appeared before him. (I could not find anything
about it on net to confirm this story).
8. Our next stop was Chitai / Golu Devata (said to be incarnation
of Lord Shiva) temple at village Chitai. Like Girija temple at Jim Corbett,
here too we saw thousands of temple bells tide in the temple in the
belief that God will fulfill their wishes. But astonishing part was lakhs
and lakhs of papers with something written on it tide in the temple premises,
many of these papers were actually court stamp papers. Devotees believe that
Golu Devata grants you justice. So devotees tie their case papers if their
case is pending in the court of law; in the hope that courts will deliver the
justice sooner and in their favor. Except my brother (who felt this is a temple of hope), me, my wife and my sister-in-law felt some depressing vibe in the temple. I strongly felt an unease to an extent that I didn’t allow my inquisitive kid to touch any of the bell or the paper tied in the temple with the fear that he might carry some negative energy from them. We felt that, the burden of unfulfilled wishes (attached to these bells and papers) is bogging down the whole premises. Something in that
temple was quite unsettling and I was not able to exactly pinpoint it. For
quite some time after we left, I was thinking about it and then it dawned
upon me that this temple is nothing but my (our) mind and those papers are my (our) desires
– unending, innumerous desires – bogging down the life that I am (we are). (With this
revelation I just hope Sadguru gives me (us) strength to exercise little more
control over my (our) desires). I was amazed once again with the thoughtfulness of Hindu traditions.
9. So in short, these two temples viz Golu Devata and Kasar Devi Temple epitomize what a human mind is capable
of – utter chaos at one end and blissed out stillness at the other. May all our minds eternally become
blissfully still.
10. Jageshwar Dham is a temple complex of 125 temples, most of them
dedicated to Lord Shiva. These ASI protected 125 – lot of small and few
medium sized – temples built within a small area are an architectural marvel.
Sacred forests around the site and a narrow stream of Jataganga river
add to the spiritual touch of these temples. Nageshwar, Mrityunjay,
Kedareshwar, Lakulish, Tandeshwar are the main Shiva Temples here besides
Navagraha, Pushtidevi, Annapurna devi, Dakshinmukhi Hanuman, Batuka
Bhairav and Kuber temples. A trained guide is a must on this site
but we could find none like rest of the tourist sites we visited in this trip.
(None of the sites we visited in Uttarakhand had guides. Uttarakhand government
should seriously think of establishing a robust network of guides across its
tourism circuits. This will also give an income source to locals). So whatever
little information I have is sourced by prodding the temple
priest (who was ready to speak) and search on net (Ref: 3): a. Temples not dedicated to shiva (like Navagrah,
Kuber, Lakulish etc) just have a panel on the top of the entrance with a
craving of that deity (few of the temples don’t even have that) but inside the
sanctum sanctorum sits Shivalinga. b. Kedareshwar temple has a Svayambhu
(self-manifested / self-existed) Linga with three distinct protrusions –
depicting Lord Shiva, Lord Parvati and Lord Ganesh. c. Adjacent to this
temple is an Ardhanarinateshwar (conjoined) tree. d. Lakulish
is the 28th and last incarnation of Lord Shiva. Idol of Lakulish
(and temple plate here) is shown with an erect penis depicting Urdhvaretas
(ascent of vital energies or fluids) i.e. the upward flow of energy in
spiritual pursuits, contrary to fertility or release of vital fluids; which is primarily achieved by practicing brahmacharya (celibacy). Ref: (4).
e. 3 faced craving on few of the temple plates is Lord Shiva (and not Brahma
Vishnu Mahesh). f. there is a Svayambhu (self-manifested /
self-existed) Ganesha head formed on one of the nearby tree. g. Tandeshwar
plate shows Lord Shiva performing Tandav Nrutya (Celestial dance of Lord
Shiva). h. These temples offer tilak of Deodar (Himalayan Cedar) wood paste
instead of Sandel wood paste generally used. i.
Tin and wood roofs on temple tops is just to avoid rainwater / ice flowing /
accumulating on the temple tops. j. Carpets on the temple floor are to avoid
skidding on the wet stone floor. k. Don’t even dare to touch the core of the
linga in any of the main temples here otherwise be ready to get scolded by
temple priests. They are fiercely protective about the purity of the lingam. l.
Like Kasar Shivalay, many of the shiva lingas (or the temple entrances) here
are not north facing (or east-west facing) and again I could find no
information on this either from the priests or on the net.
11. There is a small but well-maintained ‘Archaeological Museum of Jageshwar’
near the temple complex. Mostly well-preserved idols of Ashta Vasus, Surya, Uma
Maheshwar, Vishnu Laxmi, Ganesh, Navagraha etc recovered from the Dham and
the sites in and around it are kept here. Entry is free (visitor list was
full of Maharashtrians than the other ones), open form 10 am to 5 pm and
closed on Fridays.
12. There is a nice KMVN (Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam) guest house nearby
this site and if you are not hell bent on staying in Almoda (like I was) this
could be a better option to stay plus you would get a chance to live in this
pristine serene environment.
13. Lane leading to the Temple Complex welcomes you with a mouthwatering
fragrance of hot food coming from small food stalls lined up there. Even
before entering the temple complex, we had decided to have our lunch on the
first stall (while entering) here. Plates and stall were clean. Food was kept
in mud layered metal utensils (to avoid blackening) on slow burners. We had
ordered Puris with Chole (chickpea) gravy and Potato gravy and Kadhi-chawal
(thick buttermilk preparation and Rice). The chef surely was blessed by
Goddess Annapurna (Goddess of food) herself as though food prepared by him was
way too simple – without much of oil and spices – but way too tastier. My
cousin who absolutely hates eating rice was giving tough competition to a
rice hoarder like me in finishing the kadhi-chawal served by
the stall.
14. One can also cover Bridha Jageshwar temple 7 kms ahead of this
site (we skipped it) and if one has one more day at Almoda, one can add Sun
Temple and Ranikhet to one’s itinerary. (I heard from our fellow
travelers in hotel that there is nothing particularly extra ordinary in
Ranikhet, Sun Temple is worth the visit though).
15. Just after we reached hotel from Jageshwar Dham, it poured like cats and dogs and intermittent rains
continued throughout the night. A temperature drop forced us to be indoors and
not enjoy the open verandah of the hotel. |
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Shop: |
Net lists Angora cloth (Rabbit
wool) on to buy list at Almoda but we found no shop selling it. Bal Mithai (imagine an extra sweet
Milk cake covered with homeopathy like sugar pills) – it has shelf life of 8
– 10 days. You can buy it on Mall Road. Singodi sweet
(imagine an extra sweet and extra moist kunda) – just couple of days shelf
life. You can buy on the Mall Raod. Devdar wood for your pooja offerings at Jageshwar Dham. |
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Eat: |
Kumaoni Thali with Mandwa Roti, Simple food at Jageshwar stalls, Aisalu
and Kafal berries (refer point nos. 2, 3 and 13 above) |
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|
Day |
Origin – Destination |
Travel Time |
Stay |
Airline / Hotel |
Seat / Room Type |
Itinerary |
Cost for 2 (as on Jan 2022) |
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|
6 |
Almora – Nainital |
2 hrs |
Nainital |
Sterling’s |
Deluxe |
Day1: Naini Lake, Naina Devi Temple, Gurudwara, Dashavatar Temple,
Hanuman Garhi, Thandi Sadak, Mall Road Day 2: Tibetan Monastry, Naini Peak, Snow View Peak, Eco Cave Garden,
Tiffin Top, Dorothy’s Seat, Land’s End, AC Point, Khurpiatal View Point, Day3: Sattal – Butterfly Museum & Methodist Ashram, Bhimtal – Fish Aquarium at its center, Cactus Nursery, Water Sports, Hidimba Parbat, Stargate Observatory Naukuchiatal |
7000 (*3 nights – Non - AC rooms) (inclusive of b/f & taxes) |
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|
7,8 |
Nainital |
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Ratings: |
Destination: Mall Road, AC Point – A++, Naini Lake,
Khurpiatal viewpoint – A+, Naina Devi Temple, Tibetan Monastry, Gurudwara
– A, Rest of the points – C, | Hotel: A+ |
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Tips: 1. We checked into sterling’s once we were in Nainital. This hotel is 5 –
6 kms away from Mall Road, overlooking mountains. Rooms are specious and
clean with a balcony, mini refrigerator and all standard offerings except AC
(which was quite a surprise to us but thankfully even though it was a peak
summer month of May and we had occupied the hotel room during daytime –
we did not feel the need for an AC). Though all the rooms have mountain view,
the ones on the left-hand side of the hotel are directly in front of the
mountains. Food is tasty too. We especially loved their Hakka Noodles – veg
and nonveg both. They have quite an impressive spread for breakfast. The reason we had selected this hotel by paying 7000 / day room rent was that it has a Spa (for us; at least one spa session is a must have ritual of long trips) but upon arrival to the hotel, the staff was non-committal about the spa timings and other details. Couple of times they told us that spa guys will get in touch with us but no one did. Then we unofficially found out (on prodding a staff) that their only masseur was on leave. Again, the hotel management was non-committal on the day she was supposed to resume the duty. We even told them our reason of selecting this hotel is Spa but except sorry they did nothing to assuage our disappointment. We raised the issue with their employee who had booked our stay and requested him to take it up with the management but no action was taken on that too. On our last day, as Spa was exactly opposite our room, we found out that the Spa was finally open, but again, none of the hotel staff took any efforts to inform us about it. Anyways, we did enjoy a nice massage session on last day of our trip –
all thanks to a well-trained masseur at sterling’s. Even though it was a
hectic day for her (she had 4 back-to-back massage sessions), all of us felt
extremely relaxed and rejuvenated after the session.
2. Our 2nd stop at Nainital was the famous restaurant of ‘Sakley’s’. An array of 15 – 20 varieties of pastries neatly lined up in a showcase at the
door welcome you to the restaurant. All the dishes ordered by us – Salad,
starter, Veg Margherita Pizza, Mutton, Chicken and Paneer Sizzlers and
Australian fish – were top notch yummy. And then we concentrated our entire efforts on devouring as many pastries as we can. We must have tried 7 – 8
different pastries and absolutely enjoyed each one of it. Their cinnamon pastry was
especially noteworthy. We loved these pastries so much that we got another 5 – 6 pastries to our hotel on 2nd day.
3. Then followed a boat ride on Niani Lake. Lake is mostly clean and thankfully
they have banned motorboats in the lake. We first rented a ride with a
boatman and then rented one peddle boat for an hour which can sit 4 pax at a
time. All of us took turns in peddling the boat. Club owner though little
annoyed, didn’t say anything on our stinginess.
.jpeg)   4. Gurudwara is a Shikh temple. For most of us it was our first visit to a Gurudwara. It is just before
the Naina Devi temple / Tibetan Market. If I am not wrong, recitation of Guru
Granth Sahib (the holiest book of Sikh religion) was going on. We sat there
sometime on thick carpet laden floor and just soaked in the vibe.
5. Luckily, by the time we reached the Naina Devi Temple, evening Aarati
had just started. Energized atmosphere of Aarti on the beats of temple bells and other musical instruments, clapping devotees, sublime flame of the
diya and cool breeze flowing from the Naina Lake was a nice experience. It is said to be one of the 52 Shakti Peethas of Godess Sati (1st
cohort of Lord Shiva) where an eye (Nain means eye in Sanskrit language) of
Goddess Sati was fallen when Lord Shiva was carrying her burned corpse (each
of the Shakti Peetha is believed to be a place where 52 different body parts and ornaments of
Godess Sati had fallen). Unlike the Shakti Peetha of Kamakhya at Guwahati,
Aasam we had visited, (link shared in the introduction of this blog) this temple felt like a normal city temple and not a Shakti Peetha. Here Devi is not in the form
of a linga or swayambhu form (as I was expecting) but a manmade idol. Maybe I
was expecting something different when I initially read that it is a Shakti Peetha. (Upon
searching the net, I did not find this temple in the list of Shakti Peethas).
6. Just when Aarti started at Naina Devi Temple, my kid fell fast asleep
on my lap and thus I couldn’t visit Dashavatar temple (dedicated to 10
incarnations of Lord Vishnu) located in the same temple complex (it closes at
8 pm). I also had to skip a walk on thandi sadak (literally – ‘Cold Street’)
behind the Naina Devi Temple. My wife told me that it is a beautiful walkway
lined with trees on both sides and interspersed with small temples. Against what it's name was suggesting, there was hardly any temperature drop on this road.
7. Next day we came to Mall Road and booked a tour of 11 view points of
Nainital. A driver of the tour agent takes you in his car across a steep, narrow,
winding mountainous road. (Trust me when I say this – do not try driving on
these roads even if you have got a driver. At quite a few locations, it gets extremely dangerous to navigate
on these roads). I strongly recommend skipping this 2 hour long tour as it gets repetitive and boring after seeing a typical
mountain view from different corners of the hill. Also, we learned that it
always gets foggy during Summer and Rainy seasons resulting in drop in visibility.
Thus, it makes the whole purpose of going to these viewpoints futile
as what you only see is fog at a distance and no mountain or valley or city is visible from these points as is actually expected. (Winters is a season that guarantees best view from points like these). To
make the thing worse, we were
stuck in traffic snarls and traffic jams delaying our return by another 1 – 2
hours as it was a Saturday - a weekend which sees heavy crowd . Out of these 11 points only following points were worth our efforts: a.
Tibetan Monastery – group of monks were reciting hymns from their holy book when we were there. It was nice to here those hymns. Circumambulating the monastery while rotating
the prayer drums is an experience I always enjoy (right from our Arunachal
tour (link in the intro of this blog) and so did my kid. b. AC point –
is a tiny opening in the rocks at 15 – 20 feet above the level of the road
from which chilled stream of air flows. There is hardly a space for 2 – 3 adults
to stand near this opening and with que of tourists waiting for their turn, you just get couple of minutes to enjoy this natural
phenomenon. But without a doubt, it is still better than a long stroll on Thandi Sadak. c. Khurpiatal
(Tal = Lake; in the shape of Khurpa = hooves of cow) viewpoint has some
amazing views of the lake in the valley below. We were told that color of
the water changes from deep blue to blue to green to dark green to pitch
black from morning to night. d. A ropeway from Mall Road takes you directly
to the Snow Viewpoint (said to have breathtaking views of snow caped
Himalayan peaks of Kanchanjunga, Nandadevi etc – but fog is what we saw
there). Just at the drop off point of ropeway is a small dinosaur
park. Nothing remarkable about it but if you are with kids, do
visit here. A man dressed in dinosaur costume walks and suddenly comes
attacking the viewers scaring them. e. Don't forget to enjoy the Plums, Apricots, Corns, Maggie
Instant Noodles etc. you can buy at various points.
8. Our tired kids were hell bent on not stepping out from the hotel on
last day of our trip and no amount of persuasion from our end worked. We had to skip our
visits to Sattal, Bhimtal and Naukuchiyatal. We should have gone to these
lakes on 2nd day in stead of visiting Nainital points. (Spa at Sterling’s
came as a savior). 9. We headed out to Zooby’s kitchen on Mall Road for diner on our last day at Nainital. Butter chicken
is their justifiably appreciated dish along with variety of shakes and mocktails.
We also enjoyed Mutton Kabab (served in flat round tikki form) from their menu. 10. You also get fried Ice cream in a small stall below Zooby’s. I am
not at all a fan of fried food, plus they only had Vanilla fried Ice Cream - a flavor I am not fond of. But my wife was excited to try it out so I
went along. With initial reluctance they agreed to heat up oil in return of
10 -15 minutes of patient wait from our end (plus money off course). Two deep
fried dallops of Vanilla Ice Cream covered in cornflakes and some chocolate flavored batter were served along with chocolate brownie. I am happy that my wife insisted on we trying it out as it was innovative and flavorful (an improvement in presentation part would have gone a long way in making this dish even more attractive).
11. General: a. You can rent out baby strollers, two wheelers or regular /
double paddle bicycles at Mall Road. b. There are only couple of wine shops and
bars on mall road. c. Notice the healthy furry stray dogs there.
12. Thankfully, we had left Nainital early in the morning on the day of our return journey with an aim to try out chat items at Haldiram’s in Delhi. But we got stuck in a 2 hour traffic jam and long detour on our way back to Delhi. We had to skip our Haldiram's visit. Thus if you have a flight / train to catch from Delhi, plan your journey considering this. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here we come to the end of our enthralling journey of 8 nights and 9 days covering 3 destinations from Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. This trip has awoken a travel enthusiast in me which was fast asleep due to birth of my child and covid lockdown. It also gave us a confidence that we can surely travel with our kid (true, he was tired in the last leg of the journey, but over all he enjoyed the trip especially because he had his cousins to play with). And now, we have already started shortlisting the destinations
for our next year’s long trip….
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Shop: |
Rhododendron & other syrups, Plum, Apricot & other jams and
Murabbas, Bamboo and Jack fruit pickles at a shop on a walkway leading to
Naina Devi Temple. Night dresses for women and kids at Tibetan Market near Naina Devi
Temple. |
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Eat: |
@ Sakley’s :Continental, Mutton & Paneer Sizzler, Autralian Fish,
Honey Chicken, Thai Curries, Cinnamon Pastry, Chocolate Truffle, Lava Cake, @ Zooby’s: Butter chicken, Mutton Kabab, Milkshakes, Mocktails @ Machaan: Fried Prawns @ Al Kareem: Kali Mirch Chicken, @ Café Chica, hotel Abottsford: croissants, pasta, soups, salads @ Sonam Fast Food: Momos, Thukpa Also try: Embassy Restaurant, Sher-e-Punjab, |
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|
Day |
Origin – Destination |
Travel Time |
Stay |
Airline / Hotel |
Seat / Room Type |
Itinerary |
Cost for 2 (as on Jan 2022) |
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|
9 |
Nainital - Delhi |
8 hrs |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
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|
Delhi - Pune |
2.15 hrs |
- |
Indigo |
Economy |
- |
50000 |
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|
Travel cost for 2 by AC Innova (Innova shared between 4 adults and 1 kid) |
19200 |
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11 Nights 12 Days |
Total Cost (for two): |
61880 |
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P.S.: 1. If you are in Uttarakhand, be prepared to visit lot of temples. After all it is a Devbhumi.
2. 2. The most lacking thing in
the entire travel circuit is authentic / government approved guides. It is best
so far in Rajasthan in India.
3. UPI payments might not be accepted.
You can check out rest of
the snaps here: Kumaon Uttarakhand
If you would like to get
your trip planned /booked by me, kindly get in touch with me at sagargogate@gmail.com. I charge 1000 / day of
trip planned. You can also get in touch with me @ 9011021602.
