Travel style · Kumaon
Pilgrimages in Kumaon
Char Dham, Hemkund, Muktinath and the high shrines
The Himalaya is sacred ground for Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs. We plan the Char Dham Yatra, Hemkund Sahib, Muktinath and monastery circuits with registrations, helicopter or pony options and honest notes on altitude and crowds.
Photo: Abhijit Kar Gupta from Kolkata, India · CC BY 2.0 · CommonsPilgrim routes are crowded in their short seasons and almost empty outside them. Kedarnath and Badrinath open in late April or May and close around Diwali, on dates fixed each year by the temple committees, so check current status before you travel.
Kumaon is the eastern half of Uttarakhand: lake towns near Kathgodam, the old Chand capital of Almora, oak sanctuaries like Binsar, the stone temples of Jageshwar and the Johar valley at Munsiyari. Go March to June or September to November. Five to nine nights by train, shared jeep or private car covers the best of it.
Trips
Pilgrimages trips in Kumaon
Photo: Travelling Slacker · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Saver
Almora, Binsar and Jageshwar on a budget
Shared taxis and jeeps, with two shared private-cab legs
3 places
Where to go
Photo: Abhijit Kar Gupta from Kolkata, India · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Chaukori
A quiet ridge facing Panchachuli, near the Patal Bhuvaneshwar cave
Photo: Harsh7284 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Jageshwar
Over a hundred stone temples in a deodar valley
Photo: Skalvanov · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Nainital
An eye-shaped lake, a Raj summer capital and the gateway to Kumaon
Experiences
Days that fit the style
Photo: Original uploader was Tribhuwan at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Panchachuli sunrise from the Chaukori ridge
Wake early and walk to the edge of the Chaukori ridge to watch first light hit Panchachuli's five summits and the long …
Photo: Lalitgupta isgec · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Down into the Patal Bhuvaneshwar cave
A narrow, steep passage leads down into a limestone cave 160 m long and 90 feet deep, where priests guide pilgrims past…
Photo: Parthasarathi Chattopadhyay · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Ridge and village walk from Chaukori
Walk from the Chaukori ridge through oak and pine forest and orchards to nearby hamlets, past terraced fields, naulas a…
Photo: Amritamitraghosh · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Dawn walk through the Jageshwar temples
Walk among about 125 stone temples in the main Jageshwar compound at opening time, as priests begin the day's puja and …
Photo: Mayankthapliyal1988 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
The ASI museum and Dandeshwar temples
See the carved stone figures that the Archaeological Survey of India has moved from the temples into its site museum, t…
Photo: Naman 237 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Hike to Vriddh Jageshwar on the ridge
Climb through oak and pine from the Jageshwar valley to Vriddh Jageshwar, the old Jageshwar shrine on the ridge above, …
Photo: Incorelabs · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
A dawn row to the Naina Devi temple
Start before the town wakes: a hand-rowed boat from Tallital across the still lake, the ridges lit from the east, then …
Photo: 25 Cents FC · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
An early visit to Kainchi Dham
Kainchi Dham is the ashram of Neem Karoli Baba on the Shipra stream, 17 km from Nainital. Its Hanuman temple was consec…
Where to sleep
