|
Gangotri is a
town and a Nagar Panchayat (municipality) in Uttarkashi district
in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is a Hindu pilgrim town on
the banks of the river Bhagirathi. It is on the Greater Himalayan
Range, at a height of 3,042 m. Gangotri, the source of the river Ganga
and seat of the goddess Ganga, is one of the four sites in the Char Dham
pilgrimage circuit. The river is called Bhagirathi at the source and acquires
the name Ganga from Devprayag onwards where it meets the Alaknanda. The origin
of the holy river is at Gaumukh, set in the Gangotri Glacier, and is a 19 km
trek from Gangotri.
The holy shrine of Gangotri (3,140 m) situated in the high
Himalayas, is dedicated to goddess Ganga. According to
legend, King Sagar, after slaying the demons on earth
decided to stage in Ashwamegh Yagya as a proclamation of
his supremacy. The horse which was to be taken on an
uninterrupted journey around the earth was to be
accompanied by the King's 60,000 sons born to Queen Sumati
and one son Asmanjas born of the second queen Kesani.
Indra, supreme ruler of the gods feared that he might be
deprived of his celestial throne if the 'Yogya' (worship
with fire) succeeded and then took away the horse and tied
it to the ashram of Sage Kapil, who was then in deep
meditation.
|
|
The
sons of the King Sagar searched for the horse and
finally found it tied near the meditating sage. Sixty
thousand angry sons of King Sagar stormed the ashram
of sage Kapil. When he opened his eyes, 60,000 sons
had perished by the curse of sage Kapil. Bhagirath,
grand son of King Sagar, is believed to have meditated
to bring down the Ganga which brought back sixty
thousand sons into life. The Bhagirathi, 'Shila' is
located near the temple of Ganga where the holy Ganga
first descended on earth trom heaven. Hence the place
is known as Gangotri. The temple of Bhagirathi was
erected by the Gorkha General, Amar Singh Thapa in
18th Century at the source of Ganga.
|
|
The
other places of pilgrimage are Surya Kund, Vishnu Kund
and Brahma Kund located in the vicinity of Gangotri.
Bhaironghati (2743 m) is a halting place if one wants
to reach upto the height of Gangotri. Gangotri
glaciers (4238.6 m) starts trom Chaukhamba cluster of
snowpeak and extends upto Gaumukh which is connected
by a track trom Gangotri. Whether one believes in
these legends or not, the properties of Ganga water
are well known all over the world. The water of Ganga
contains no impurities and remains uncontaminated even
after being kept over several years. Scientists
attribute this to secretion of herbs, geologists to
its mineral content and the Hindus to its holiness. |
 |
| |
| |
Hotels in
Gangotri... |
|
