{"id":875,"date":"2015-06-20T10:00:44","date_gmt":"2015-06-20T04:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/promarktravels.com\/blog\/?p=875"},"modified":"2015-06-20T10:00:44","modified_gmt":"2015-06-20T04:30:44","slug":"valley-of-flowers-and-hemkund-sahib-trek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/promarktravels.com\/blog\/2015\/06\/valley-of-flowers-and-hemkund-sahib-trek\/","title":{"rendered":"Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib Trek"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hemkund Sahib<\/h4>\n

Hem Kund <\/strong>or Hemkunt<\/strong> is one of the holiest Sikh pilgrim place<\/strong> in Uttrakhand<\/strong>, it has a mention in the Bachitter Natak<\/strong> authored by the Tenth Guru,\u00a0Gobind Singh Ji<\/strong> that he meditated in his previous birth at a lake of ice \u00a0surrounded by Sapt Spring<\/strong> mountains and where the King Pandu<\/strong>\u00a0ancestor\u00a0of Pandavas of Mahabharata , \u00a0practiced yoga.
\nUntil nineteenth century the geographical location of this place was not known, it was the efforts of Pandit Tara Singh Narottam<\/strong>, Sikh scholar Bhai Vir Singh<\/strong>, Sohan Singh,<\/strong> a retired Granthi and soldier Havildar Modan Singh<\/strong> from Indian Army<\/strong>, located this place and laid foundation of\u00a0this pilgrimage site, at a height of 15,200 feet , it \u00a0opens during the summers from May till September<\/strong>, rest of the year it is covered under the snow and becomes inaccessible.
\n

\"Lokpal

Lokpal Lake<\/p><\/div>
\n 
\nStarting point to this pilgrimage\u00a0is Hardiwar\/Rishikesh<\/strong> about 275\u00a0km drive to Gobind Ghat<\/strong>, it is advised to stay at Joshimath<\/strong> where there are good hotels, camps and rest houses which are easily available, next morning\u00a0travel by bus or car 22 km up to Gobind Ghat\u00a0situated at the confluence of River Alaknanda<\/strong> and Laxman Ganga<\/strong>, a\u00a0gurudwara<\/strong> is situated at the right bank of Laxman Ganga<\/strong>, \u00a0a small market with restaurants, guest houses, shops for trekking equipment, one can get porters and mules, \u00a0vehicles can be parked here \u00a0till their return from the trek, there is a helipad and \u00a0Helicopter service is also\u00a0available up to Ghangharia.
\nFirst stop on this trek is Ghangaria<\/strong> also known as Gobind Dham<\/strong>\u00a0it is 13\u00a0km\u00a0rocky path and unclear road,\u00a0a base camp for two treks at a height of 3050 meters,\u00a0one trek\u00a0leads to Hemkunt Sahib<\/strong> and the other leads to Valley of Flowers<\/strong>. There are no arrangements for overnight stay at Hemkunt Sahib<\/strong> therefore pilgrims have to\u00a0leave early to return the same day, there are open ground tents<\/strong> with\u00a0mattresses, gurdwara, guest houses and dhabas(small restaurants) to take care of basic needs,\u00a0it is here the river Pushpavati<\/strong> coming from Valley of Flowers<\/strong> and Laxman Ganga<\/strong> from Hemkund Lake<\/strong> meets. Pilgrims leave early morning on a 6 kms rocky trek which takes about 5-6 hours crossing the glacier\u00a0to reach the Hemkund Lake<\/strong>, it is also known as Lokpal lake<\/strong>, there is a,\u00a0Lord Ram<\/strong>‘s younger brother’s,\u00a0Laxman\u00a0temple<\/strong> on the banks of lake, it is believed that after the battle with Meghnad<\/strong> when Laxman got wounded, came here to take rest and regain his health.
\n

\"\"

Gurudwara Hemkund Sahib and Lokpal Temple<\/p><\/div>
\nA\u00a0star shaped\u00a0Gurudwara<\/strong>\u00a0which is designed and \u00a0constructed under the supervision of\u00a0Major General\u00a0Harkirat\u00a0Singh<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Architect\u00a0Siali<\/strong>\u00a0from\u00a01960AD\u00a0onwards. Situated at the height of 4240 meters on the banks of lake surrounded by seven\u00a0snow capped\u00a0mountains. One has to return to\u00a0Ghangaria<\/strong>\u00a0as there are no arrangements for night stay at Hemkund Sahib .<\/p>\n

The Valley of Flowers<\/h2>\n

Next day one can take a trek to Valley of Flowers<\/strong> which is 3 km from Ghangaria<\/strong> after crossing the bridge over River Pushpawati<\/strong>, which takes about 2-3 hrs, no mules are allowed, at check post one is to make entry in register and a nominal fee is charged,\u00a0one can feel the exotic scent in the atmosphere from here as trek to Hemkund<\/strong> is full of smell of\u00a0Mules\u00a0dung, this valley is 5 km. long, it was known as Bhyunder Valley<\/strong>, In 1931 mountaineer Mr. Frank S. Smithe<\/strong>, lost his way after successful expedition of Kamet<\/strong>, by chance reached here, he was so impressed he authored a book “The Valley of Flowers<\/strong>” and wrote about the beauty and flora, thus giving its present name, \u00a0until\u00a0then this valley was not on a tourist map, legend has it, that Lord Hanuman <\/strong>came in search of Sanjivani Buti (herb)<\/strong> after Laxman<\/strong> got injured in battle with Meghnaad<\/strong>. This valley has mostly the orchids<\/strong>, poppy<\/strong>, marigold<\/strong>, daisies<\/strong> and anemone<\/strong> looking like a carpet on the ground and many medicinal plants, besides flowers there is a variety of wild life and commonly found animals are Snow Leopard<\/strong>, Musk Deer<\/strong>, Red Fox<\/strong>, Langur<\/strong>, Himalayan Black Bear<\/strong> and Brown Bear<\/strong> over 100 types of Butterflies<\/strong> are found here, among the birds are Snow Partridge<\/strong>, Himalayan Monal<\/strong>, Himalayan Golden Eagle<\/strong>, Snow Pigeon<\/strong>,\u00a0Griffin\u00a0Vulture<\/strong>, Sparrow Hawk<\/strong> etc. there are no tall plants, everywhere there is some grass, berries, shrubs, flowers, what to see and what to leave one gets so exited about the beauty. Rain is quite unpredictable and one is not allowed to stay in the valley at night and just one day is not sufficient if one is really\u00a0interested in plants will\u00a0like to come again and again.
\n

\"Valley

Valley of Flowers<\/p><\/div>
\n 
\n

\"Flowers

Flowers in Wild<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

\u00a0The return journey starts from Ghangaria\/Gobind Dham to Gobind Ghat and then to Joshimath, one can stay for one day\u00a0to explore the\u00a0Ski slopes of Auli and views of Himalayan mountains or trek to lakes and meadows\u00a0above\u00a0Auli .<\/h5>\n

For more information and trek arrangements contact +91 9810506646<\/span><\/strong>
\nOffice Contact 011 45725562, 45725563, 45725564<\/span><\/strong>
\nCallers from Outside India contact +44 7700093414<\/span><\/strong>
\nWebsite : http:\/\/promarktravels.com<\/span><\/strong>
\nEmail: promark@promarktravels.com<\/span><\/strong>
\nBlog: promarktravels.com\/blog<\/span><\/strong>
\n <\/p>\n

About the Author<\/h2>\n

[author]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[author_image timthumb=’on’]wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/authors\/anil-rajput.jpg[\/author_image]<\/td>\nAnil Kumar Rajput<\/strong> is well known\u00a0in the travel trade since 1980. Worked in India and abroad. A boxer, Rifle Shooter and Para Jumper. As a Boy Scout and NCC Cadet, attended Adventure camps, trek in Himalayas which developed \u00a0interest in traveling and to explore new places, loves driving to adventurous places and photography. (promarktravels.com<\/a>) \u00a0Connect with him on Facebook (htttp:\/\/www.facebook.com\/anil.k.rajput<\/a>) and Twitter (@PromarkTravels<\/a>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

[\/author]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hemkund Sahib Hem Kund or Hemkunt is one of the holiest Sikh pilgrim place in Uttrakhand, it has a mention in the Bachitter Natak authored by the Tenth Guru,\u00a0Gobind Singh Ji that he meditated in his previous birth at a lake of ice \u00a0surrounded by Sapt Spring mountains and where the King Pandu\u00a0ancestor\u00a0of Pandavas of … →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,19,21,25,26],"tags":[128,133,134,193,210,211,288,342,393,565,794,849,863,864,865,907,929,947,979,982,1004,1016,1020,1021,1023,1026,1027,1040,1041,1042,1043,1044,1119,1209,1259,1394,1511,1525,1567,1747,1781,1825,1927,2071,2109,2169,2302,2332,2337,2354,2451,2460,2575,2598,2599,2644,2646,2648,2649,2668,2990,3011],"class_list":["post-875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-pilgrimage","category-religious-belief","category-trekking","category-uttarakhand","tag-anemone","tag-anil-kumar-rajput","tag-anil-rajput","tag-auli","tag-bachitra-natak","tag-bachittr-natak","tag-bhai-vir-singh","tag-bhyunder-valley","tag-brown-bear","tag-daisies","tag-frank-s-smithe","tag-ghangaria","tag-gobind-dham","tag-gobind-ghat","tag-gobind-singh-ji","tag-griffin-vulture","tag-guru-gobind-singh","tag-gurudwara","tag-haridwar","tag-harkirat-singh","tag-havildar-modan-singh","tag-hem-kund","tag-hemkund","tag-hemkund-lake","tag-hemkund-sahib","tag-hemkunt","tag-hemkunt-sahib","tag-himalayan-black-bear","tag-himalayan-golden-eagle","tag-himalayan-monal","tag-himalayan-mountains","tag-himalayas","tag-indian-army","tag-joshimath","tag-kamet","tag-king-pandu","tag-langur","tag-laxman-ganga","tag-lokpal-lake","tag-major-general-harkirat-singh","tag-marigold","tag-meghnad","tag-musk-deer","tag-orchids","tag-pandit-tara-singh-narottam","tag-poppys","tag-red-fox","tag-rishikesh","tag-river-alaknanda","tag-river-pushpawati","tag-sanjivani-herb","tag-sapt-spring","tag-shri-guru-gobind-singh-ji","tag-sikh-maharaja-ranjit-singh","tag-sikh-pilgrim-place","tag-snow-leopard","tag-snow-partridge","tag-snow-pigeon","tag-sohan-singh","tag-sparrow-hawk","tag-uttarakhand","tag-valley-of-flowers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/promarktravels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/promarktravels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/promarktravels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/promarktravels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/promarktravels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/promarktravels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/promarktravels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/promarktravels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/promarktravels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}