A Journey to the Mystic Mountains - Part 2

Followed from here.

We were all seated for dinner and we were served rotis, subzi and aloo jeera. A combination which I would be eating for days to come.

I got introduced to the group and came to know that one of the guys was from Chennai. He was a chartered accountant from Mylapore. I didn’t know about the other people. There were 2 ladies, one kid and the kid’s father.

The Chennai guy (traveller) asked me what are my plans for tomorrow and I said I want to visit Tungnath. They also had the same plan and asked if I wanted to join.

I didn’t have any second thoughts. I said 'Yes'.

We headed to sleep and I woke up at 5 am to see crystal clear skies. I decided I will skip the bath for now. Bath means taking buckets of water from the lake and pouring on yourself. We packed bags and started downhill at 8 am.

I went along with the traveller and was talking with him. Apparently he back packs every 4 months. He gave me tips on what shoes to wear, what bags to carry, what places to visit etc. It was a good experience.

We came down at 9.30 am and had a little breakfast. After a lot of hassle we got a car to Chopta, which was an hour journey. We were again escorted by splendid views. Since we were a group, booking rooms was easy and I took bath over there. 

Time was 3 pm and the other lady was sitting on the grass and watching the mountains. She was aged 30 and was a PhD in philosophy. I was surprised when she asked me if I follow zen philosophy. I said I knew a bit and shared some stories with her. She told that she is following Sri Aurobindo and that he has attained even bigger than Buddha and Adi Sankaracharya. She told me that she was surprised to see me travelling alone and said may be I am in search of something. I laughed.

The other lady was a retired army colonel who had served for 22 years. I was amazed at her discipline and her trekking abilities. She even cleaned our table after we had food. I was humbled by her discipline.

After a while I took my kindle and sat on a stone downhill. I found there was lot of energy in the mountains. It was lifting my spirits. May be that is what spirituality is all about. Tapping energy sources from small small things around you so that you are always afresh. The understanding dawned upon me. Spirituality is about being yourself and enjoying it. It is difficult to attain. You may attain it in spurts but sustaining it is one of the biggest ever challenges. You lose to build again. That is what many people are after. Only a handful achieve it.

By being spiritual, you help transfer energy to people who are down. And you not lose energy in the process because you know ways to refill yourselves fast. You have the mindset to not be carried away by emotions and see everything as one. Nothing is bigger than the other. Success and failure are just two sides, the coin is still the same. It is not different.

That moment made me calm. I didn’t want to walk, I didn’t want to talk, I didn’t want to eat. I was just looking at the vanilla mountains. I thought I saw a cloud somewhere near the sun. How mistaken I was. It was the Himalayas and not the clouds. Man!! I can’t imagine the size of it. I smiled. The evening was getting dark. My hands were shivering. There was voices at the back calling me. I turned back to see the kid calling me. They had started a bonfire. I headed to it.

And forgot to mention, a few days 'Sada' became 'Shiv'. That was how I was called by the group. 

The time was 7.30 pm. The clouds were devoid of stars. I thought it will rain and told the dad the same. He said 'Wait for 15 minutes'. After which, I had to eat my words. The sky was  exploding with stars. They were all so cramped. Oh when did the sky had so many stars????

The people from my group were singing and chatting. I just kept quiet looking at them and the fire. What should I do? What to take and what to leave?

Just then the dad called me ‘Shiv. Come here.’

I went.

Dad: See the stars up above. See the 7 stars there. It is called sapta rishi. The stars give you answers. See what they are telling you.

Me: Oh.. Which 7 stars?

Dad: See that 7 stars in the shape of 7?

Me: Oh yeah.. I will see and tell you.

I looked up at the sapta rishi. I couldn’t see the shape of 7. All I saw was a ? (question mark). And it didn’t seem to give answers. Just kept throwing more questions. I told the same thing to the dad.

Dad: I will talk to you tomorrow.  

The cold night went off in a cushy bed and a blanket. A luxury I was happy to take. I was tired.

We woke at 5 am. The clouds are clear only in the morning during summers. I took a cold bath and was afresh. After having tea and biscuits, we started our 3.5 km trek to Tunganth.

It was a strenuous walk strewn with beautiful colorful flowers, ice capped mountains, mules, people, trekkers etc.

Let’s keep it as a photo journey so that the message is conveyed.

The steep climb to the top

Some familiar sights on the way to Tungnath

Boys, the top most tip is Chandrashila for you!!

Since we didn’t carry the bags it was a lot easier to climb. Again I related that to the baggage which people carry. I climbed 2 km stretch of Deoria Tal in 2 hrs with big baggage. I climbed 3.5 km steep trek in 1.5 hrs with no baggage. A point to note.

Tungnath Temple

We reached Tungnath, the highest Shiva temple in the world, at 7.30 am. The temple was closed and was due to open a week later. We knew that. We started our trek to Chandrashila. It is another 1 km walk and took 40 min to reach there.

Now a short note about Chandrashila. The place is famous because it gives 360 degree view of Himalayas. 180 degrees snow capped. 180 degrees green capped. And you are bang right at the center. When you read about such places, you have an opinion in your mind. I had one too.

The 180 degree snow capped mountains

The 180 degree green capped mountains

I thought that the place will have a small temple on top as customary in any place in India. What more can you expect on top of a big mountain? Debris, may be we can walk 10 steps here and there. Highly prone to falling down. And some splendid views. These were my thoughts about Chandrashila before heading there.

First view of Chandrashila temple

But what I saw there was a sight beyond belief. I was welcomed by a temple and beyond the temple is a big stretch of uneven land. Certainly cannot be covered in 10 steps. And most important was I didn’t see any debris. Instead I saw creation!! I saw a lot of ‘Chinna Chinna Karkovilgal’ or ‘Small small temple like monuments’ or Cairns. Yes I saw a lots of them over there. They all looked so beautiful to me. I was overwhelmed.

Imagine at a height of 4000 m or 13500 feet above sea level, you are surrounded by mountains on all sides, a temple nearby, 100s of cairns all around you, the mild cool breeze, the energy atop the place.. You become humbled by nature and bow to it. There are a few things which are ineffable. It was one such moment.

The 100s of Cairns on top

Well what I do there?

First of all, I created my own Karkovil. I created my own monument. I found the best of stones, of different sizes, shapes, texture and built a monument. It looked the most beautiful. A creator’s delight!!

With my own beautiful monument

After that I meditated for 20 min. I had not been able to close my eyes for the last 6 months. But that day I did without any efforts. The mountains started talking to me and I listened to it. We had a good discussion. The mountains told me to let go and it is all for good and there is nothing wrong. I felt light.

The View from the top is scintillating

This is view from the back. Such a big area

The way down from Chandrashila to Tungnath

We stayed atop for 90 minutes and headed down at 10 am. Had maggi at Tungnath and headed down. We reached the base at 11 am. I had not trekked to many places but this would be among the toughest, back breaking ones. I was not enervated but energized.

Dad: Shiv, are you free now?

Me: Sure. Why not?

Dad: So tell me what did the stars tell you? And by the way, you look a lot clearer now than the last 2 days.

Me: The climb was good sir. And the stars.. They just threw more questions at me. I don’t have any answers to it.

Dad: Ok I know astrology. Shall I see for you?

I was stunned. India works in mysterious ways. The mystical mountains even more. I was just about to go mad in solitude when I was introduced to a group. The group consisted of people with atleast one trait that I share with them. Sometimes you cannot ask any questions. Because you won’t get the answers. You just have to accept some higher power exists and keep walking.

Once you visit the mountains, you cannot resist going again. That is the Himalayan magic for you.