Kedarkantha Trek

Kedarkantha, as the name suggests, is been derived from two words Kedar- meaning Lord Shiva and Kantha- meaning neck. So Kedar Kantha is the temple which is been built by Lord Shiva till his neck but it was not completed.
The mythological story of Kedarkantha goes back to many years. There was a demon named Bhasmasura, he wanted to rule the world. He performed severe prayers to please Lord Shiva so as to get the blessings from him. Impressed by Bhasmasura penance Lord Shiva appeared and granted him his wishes. He asked Shiva to grant him the power to burn anyone into ashes by just touching anyone's head. Being blessed with the wishes Bhasmasura wanted to try his power. He couldn't find any better person than Lord Shiva to try his power. Lord Shiva ran, trying to save himself.

KedarKantha Summit

During this time he reached the Kedarkantha peak where he started building his temple. No sooner did the temple was started than Bhasmasura arrived at the place so Lord Shiva left the temple as such and ran away to another place. Thus the temple was created till the neck of Lord Shiva, hence this peak is known as Kedarkantha.

I started my journey for the trek from Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The trek was organised by Indiahikes- a trekking community in India. We were around 22 people grouped together. I reached Dehradun from Delhi early in the morning. Transportation arrangement from Dehradun were organised by Indiahikes. Our first point of halt was at Kempty Fall, Mussoorie. We had our breakfast there and started on the journey ahead. The route is quite serene and beautiful. Once you move ahead Purola, Garwhal region you can see the Tons river. The scenic beauty is breathtaking.

Tons River

After having lunch at Purola we moved to Kotgaon, starting point of the trek. The stay was arranged by Indiahikes. We stayed at the GMVN guest house for one night. The next day we started our trek from the village. Kotgaon is a small village with many small houses. You can find children playing outside in open.

The village was snow-covered in the morning. Our next point was Khujey. Khujey was around 4km from Kotgaon and at a height of 94000 ft. The walk to Khujey was amazing. We could see snow-laden mountains. The snow was very soft and clean. We started from Kotgaon at 9 am and reached Khujey at around 2:00 pm. The campsite was exquisite. There was no one other than the 22 people with whom I was trekking.

Village House

 

Children playing

 

Snow covered trails

The next day was a small trail to Bhuja Dadi which was 4 km from Khujey at a height of 10,800 ft. Bhuja Dadi is a beautiful campsite with a terrific view of the Himalayas. The rest of the day was spent in acclimatizing and getting ready for the summit the other day.

Campsite

Hot tea with a view

The next day we started our journey early morning. We started from Bhuja Dadi at 5 am. It was already dark outside. We had our torch lights lit up for the trek. The climb to the summit was fabulous. We had many moments of merry and joy during our trek towards the summit. Gaiters and spikes were provided by Indiahikes so that we can move comfortably on snow. The view from the summit was amazing. We were able to see a clear view of many mountains from up there. We were able to reach the summit before sunrise. The sunrise from the summit looked beautiful. On the summit there is a small temple with a "Trishul"- Lord Shiva's weapon. 

Chandrashila Summit

Tungnath temple

PS: I have done 3 treks with Indiahikes and I find it one of the best trekking community. If you ever plan to trek, do check their website. The website contains a detailed version of the treks and how to do it. The services provided by them is outstanding and if you are a first timer do go with them to make your trek memorable.

The one with the team