Journey to heaven

Where shall we go this summer? was the question that came up last summer. Manasi,my daughter and I decided to make it to the mountains to cool off after the hectic time we had, organising Radhika(my younger daughter's)wedding.So off the two of us went in search of some peace and tranquility to the Kedarnath mountains.We moved on, quite fast;taking in all the breath taking beauty of the garhwal hills, the small towns and villages we passed by and reached the crowded and small town of a million ponies and some horses.We felt as though we were characters in Gullivers "Land of the Hunims".We stayed in a 6x6ft room with barely any space to move about and rendered speechless by the deafening roar of the Mandakini cascading down a gorge close to our tiny window.The pony man was fixed, and we were to get up and move at three in the morning on our 16km journey to kedarnath. it was dark,there was a constant drizzle and the ground was a pile of horse/pony dung! well never realised that one has to journey thru hell to get a glimpse of heaven!At 8 we were at Rambada a sort of midway camp where we had steaming hot chai and fat aloo parathas.Manasi wanted to take the goat track on foot and it was fun to see her catching up with us;suddenly she would appear out of nowhere and surprise me! The first breathtaking view of the snow covered mountains gave us an idea of what was in store, and by the time we reached Kedarnath town, we were surroundede by snow covered moutains from all directions;it was like entering the King's palace!Kalidasa hailed Himalaya as "Nagadhiraja" the king of mountains,and one has to see the granduer to believe it!A long wait,barefeet in the cold drzzle to visit the shrine was made exciting by the number of sadhus who stayed there and were quite a curious sight with their ash smeared bodies and long beards and constant demand for pot!the carvings of pandavas and various deities on the wall made the wait worthwhile and the main idol was a magnificent hump believed to be that of the disappearing Nandi,the celestial mount of Shiva.We went around the small town of kedarnath and then decided to take a trip to the Gandhi sarovar glacier.Off the two of us went on our ponies on a long winding path decorated with Ranunculus, Primula, Berberry, Periwinkle and many other bright and colorful angiospermic flora! Bravely we moved on;ducking under icey cold water falls, jumping wide chasms,and slipping thru frozen snow. Little did we know that a real scary event was lurking in the mist...suddenly the drizzle got heavy, a thick mist enveloped us and the path just vanished from under our feet; the ponies refused to move on and then we realised it was no time to stretch our luck. So,with a heavy heart we made an about turn;with a promise to return,better prepared, some day..
As we approached the town back again the sun was out and the mountains were awash in a golden hue, the stairway to heaven resplendent in its golden glory! No wonder the Pandavas abandoned everything and just went on moving up! such was the mesmerising beauty of the exquisite Kedarnath peak! We trekked up again; this time to a secluded shrine of Bhairon Nath. The view of the mist slowly enveloping the Kedarnath town and then leaving it, was like living a dream! Manasi made a short film of the entire scene. We met a little friend, a tiny mountain dog, a female pup, she was so annoyed with us because we had no biscuits to give,and we were too busy clicking piuctures!
As we rolled down the hill we could here the preparations for the evening arathi at the temple. The town was lit up like fairy land and the last glow of the setting sun made the snow cowered mountains appear like ethereal sentinals; witness to millions of years of prayer, penitence, reverence and awe!