Rishikesh to Pauri Garhwal via Devprayag

यह लेख हिंदी में पढने के लिए यहाँ क्लिक करे.

Yesterday I reached Rishikesh and today morning I left for a beautiful off-beat touristy village named Khirsu, a hill station in a Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand.

In Rishikesh I woke up early in the morning to take a stroll along river Ganga; then hurried to check out from Hotel Indira Nikunj so that I could reach Khirsu before sunset. Rishikesh-Khirsu is a 5-hour journey (133.7 km).

There are a lot of scenic places and temples on this route. Why not, you are in devbhoomi!

My final destination of this trip is Badrinath temple and Mana, "the last village of India". But before I get to pay my obeisance at Badri-vishal, I have stoppages at Khirsu (Basa Homestay) and Joshimath (Ajay Bhatt's Himalayan Abode). I will write about these places in my subsequent travelogues.

As I was traveling during COVID-19 lockdown, hardly any eatery was open on the highway. My excitement was to see the mesmerizing (sangam) confluence of rivers Alaknanda and Bhagirathi. This is an important junction of two rivers as hereafter the combined river flow as the highly revered, the holy river Ganga.

Photo of Rishikesh to Pauri Garhwal via Devprayag 2/5 by Bee The Musafir — Two rivers **Alaknanda** (seen flowing down at the center of pic) and **Bhagirathi** (joining as left-bank tributary) clubto form the majestic river Ganga. It is believed that a third river, the mythical **Saraswati** is underground and meets these two rivers at the confluence.

Photo of Rishikesh to Pauri Garhwal via Devprayag 3/5 by Bee The Musafir — Another pic taken from the road above. I did not go down as I had to reach Khirsu before sunset. I took this photograph at around 2 pm. People were not seen (Corona lockdown). All I could experience was the sound of river, breaths of fresh air and a breathtaking view.

A famous temple at the confluence is Raghunath ji mandir. Along with it there is a famous Nakshatra Vedh Shala (an observatory) established in the year 1946 by Pandit Chakradhar Joshi (a scholar in astronomy and astrology). One can spend time there understanding Indian astronomy and astrology. There are telescopes installed and a large number of books on the subject.