Chandak Hills : A Gateway to Mini Kashmir of Uttrakhand
‘We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us’ —– Anonymous
By COLONEL SATISH SINGH LALOTRA
The humdrum of everyday life with its myriad nuances to include rising from the bed, getting over our ablutions, a hurried breakfast and off to the office has been a clockwork type of routine for most of us in our working life. The above rote type of life does blunt and extinguish the embers of vivacity in a human being’s existence, so very essential to fire the creativity side of us. The 1936 American silent comedy film ‘Modern times’ written and directed by the evergreen ‘Charlie Chaplin’ in his iconic ‘Little tramp’ role though a satire on the ‘Great depression’ of early 20TH century is equally a telling comment on the mechanical way of life we humans have become accustomed to .
This logjam in our fresh thinking can be broken if we step back for a while from the humdrum of our existence and heed to the call of outdoors and open spaces. For a common Indian the oft repeated escape to fire his creative self, matters more on his pockets rather than the bounties of nature this sub-continent has to offer. Off late there has been a decisive shift in Indian traveller’s touristambitions, selection of places of visit as also his spending spree on such jaunts. No longer is he/she hidebound in his or her travel plans which often sees him at very off beat places like Jauljibi, Munsyari, Askot or Chandak hills of Pithoragarh in the far flung Uttrakhand’s Kumaon region.
Self and wife both were first hand witnesses to such tourist behaviour in all its gaiety at Chandak hills of Pithoragarh in the year 2019 when I decided to go on a wide mountainous circuit ascending on way from Kumaon region of Ranikhet /Almora going up all the wayup to Pithoragarh and thereafter hitting the northern most extremity of Garhwal at Badrinath in Chamoli district. Having served in Pithoragarh in the early 90s in the services, I was awestruck by the similarity of landscapes, and its all-encompassing beauty to the Kashmir valley. Like Kashmir, Pithoragarh too is fed by seasonal and perennial rivers/rivulets full of aquatic life to include the world famous ‘Trout fish”, the gentle slopes of ‘Soar valley” interspersed with countless hamlets precariously hanging from these slopes, the simple but energetic Kumaoni folk dressed in all their finery going about their daily routine. But these bounties of nature pass as a blur while in service, since one is bound to multifarious of activities /responsibilities by virtue of one’s rank and position. None of these trappings were for me in 2019 when we both trudged up the heights of Kumaon as a mark of reviving the ‘Deja vu’.
The imposing ‘Chandak hills’ is a famous range of ‘Soar valley’, Pithoragarh that offers a stunning view of the gorgeous landscape of this place. Situated about 8 kms from Pithoragarh town, Chandak is a small valley that later on broadens itself reaching all the way up to Nepal. The kaleidoscopic ‘Chandak’ hills providing an arresting panorama of the widely extending ‘Soar valley’ is quite a rage among the tourists for offering an exhilarating uphill climb. The tourists usually stay at Pithoragarh and come to trek for 3 to 4 hours here and then go back. If one visits this place in winters, then a tourist might experience snow fall too. But between the months of December to March, you can see the peaks shrouded in snow with the entire area bathed in a white hue. The tourists can also see a magnetic mining factory here which is now closed.
These hills combine in themselves a veritable hue of spiritualty, trekking, sight-seeing, history all rolled into one for a discerning traveller out to draw the last of his bang for the buck he has spent in this remote corner of India. An avid traveller can satiate his spiritual side by visiting the famous ‘Mostamanu temple’ which is just right at ‘Chandak center’. Dedicated to ‘Lord Mostamanu’ this temple is worshipped as ‘Rain God’ all, over the ‘Soar valley’, Pithoragarh.
There is a huge stone kept in the midst of the temple premises which as the legend goes, if picked up by any devotee or tourist will have his life’s wishes fulfilled. The annual fair at the ‘Mostamanu temple’ witnesses hundreds of youth struggling with all their four limbs to heave this stone. While some are successful, most of them after huffing and puffing resign to come next year to try their luck.
Hardly 1.5 kms away from this famous temple lies the only icon by which this ‘Soar valley was known to all and sundry, i.e the Pithoragarh fort or the Gorkha fort as called by the locals. Built during the ‘Chand period’ by regional ruler ‘Prithvi Gussain’ this fort was built by the Gorkhas in the year 1789 after invading the town of Pithoragarh. Presently the fort is in ruins.
Thal-Kedar temple is another famous and sacred worshipping place for the Shiv Bhakts situated on top of a hillock near Pithoragarh and has a direct trekking route from ‘Chandak hills’. Though this trekking route is quite an attractive one for it totally skirts the Pithoragarh town but not without giving some very anxious moments to the trekkers as such. Hence only the stout hearted trekkers are advised to follow this trekking route.
Several generations like Dhondu Pant aka Nana sahib, Peshwa Baji Rao tried to build it again and again. It defies sheer logic that these Maratha Generals during those testing times of revolt of 1857 devoted so much time for keeping the flag of Hinduism high aloft at a remote location in the Kumaon hills. Last time when I went to Pithoragarh in 2019 work was in full swing to construct a guest house and a dormitory at a distance of about 200 yards from the temple premises so that devotees can stay there, especially during the occasion of ‘Maha Shivratriparv’. Thal-Kedar can be reached by trekking from another equally interesting temple premises, the ‘Nakuleswar temple’ and from Aincholiside too which is just about 16 kms from Pithoragarhtown.The travellers have to go through a narrow path surrounded by dense forests which entails a 8 kms hazardous motor ride and thereafter an equally difficult walking route of 8 kms. The temple has another surprise in store for most of the visitors in the form of a ‘Dolomite rock’ (shiv linga) dating back to approximately 1000 million years equal to that of Mata Vashino Devi.
Last but not the least is the star attraction of the famous ‘Nainisaini” airport of Pithoragarh which is very clearly visible from the Chandak hills’ with aircrafts taking off and landing on the narrow air strip surrounded on all sides by the bowl of mountains of Pithoragarh. The town of Pithoragarh offers a range of decent hotels and homestays suiting everybody’s pocket.
The route to Pithoragarh being single road (now being widened under the Char Dhamyatra) is never the less well maintained by the authorities concerned with a range of facilities also being catered enroute. The place as such has a well maintained interstate bus depot serviced by all India bus routes as also government and private taxis which add to a traveller’s delight in touring to his heart’s content unlike in the early 90s when these services were far and few. As has been said that travelling is an education, but with places like Pithoragarh thrown in as a part of a traveller’s itinerary the education becomes more wholesome to be treasured for posterity.
