Binsar : Travelogue
At the outset, I start with
pranams to Jagadguru Sankaracharya His Holiness Sri SriSri Bharathi
Theertha Mahaswamigal, the ruling and 36thPontiff and His successor
designate Jagadguru Sankaracharya His Holiness Sri Sri Sri Vidhu Shekhara Bharathi Swamigal the
37th Pontiff of Sri SringeriSaradhaPeetham for everyone’s welfare
and continued prosperity.
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| Himalayan snow capped peaks - A picture perfect setting |
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| Mrigthuni peak |
To live in the world without becoming aware of the
meaning of the world is like wandering about in a great library without
touching the books.”
-Dan Brown in ‘The Lost Symbol’
From Nainital we moved into the 2nd leg of our tour
covering Binsar. Binsar is located in Almora district. Our stay was in ‘Grand
Oak Manor’ inside the Binsar wild life sanctuary. Binsar wild life sanctuary is
located in central Himalayan region. Tourists need to get permission for entry
into the sanctuary and there are time restrictions.
The Kumaon region was under the control of Chand Kings and they used
the Binsar region as their summer capital. During the colonization the nearby Raniketh
town became a cantonment and the Almora district ( also known as Kumaon) was a
key administrative town and the commissioner of Kumaon operating from Almora
district. Sir Henry Ramsey moved the administration to Binsar during the summer
months in 1866. He built a residential bungalow in Binsar which served as his
office and residence. Sir Henry Ramsay endeared himself to the people of Kumaon
through his affable and compassionate style of functioning winning the hearts
and minds of the local population. Almora remained loyal to British and Sir
Henry Ramsay administered the region for 26 years. He wanted to settle in
Binsar post retirement and however, was called back to England by the British.
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| Grand Oak Manor nestled in the mountain ranges |
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| A Grand oak tree |
His residential home changed hands and is now converted to a heritage
hotel namely ‘Grand Oak Manor’ .
Binsar mainly consists of Oak, Cedar and Pine trees with an amazing
variety of flora and fauna. The area was declared wild life sanctuary in the
year 1988 for the conservation of forests and wildlife. Within the sanctuary
there is no electricity (as wild animals like elephants and leopards may get
electrocuted). Power is provided for 2-3 hours in the grand oak manor via
gensets in the evening. When we lose a comfort-zone, the power of the human
mind to adapt and plan to the availability of resourceis amazing.
On our day of landing in Binsar, there were dark clouds and the wind
was howling. The net impact brought down the temperature further down and all
of us scurrying for extra protection. The rains sheeting against the mountainous
backdrop was amazing to watch.
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| Nanda Devi and Nanda Devi East peaks |
Next day morning, when we sat in the break-fast table a look outside
the windows was breath taking. The clear sky show cased the snow-capped
Himalayan peaks. Imagine having break-fast with the grand and magnificent
‘Himalayan peaks’ in front of you as the setting. Awesome and overwhelming
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| Trek to Zero point - Himalayan peak -Trishul Parvat |
I did an early morning trek to
a place called ‘Zero point’ to have a closer look into the Himalayan peaks. It
is suggested to this early morning to get a clear view of the peaks in the
morning sky.
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Sher Singh and Sundar enjoying the Trek
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On the way, we saw Wild boars, Deer, mountain goats and different
species of birds namely Chestnut bellied rock thrush, Rufous Sibia, Himalayan Bul-Bul, Red billed Blue Magpie etc. I repeated this along with Sanjay the next day using a
different route and we saw many species of Himalayan birds. The guide Mr Sher
Singh was very knowledge and adept and adroit in maneuvering tourists in the
rough mountain terrains.
We did a 1 day trip to
Jageshwar, Pre-historic cave painting of Lakhudiyar, Chitai temple and Kasardevi temple.
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| Cedar tress in the Jageshwar temple complex |
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| Jageshwar temples |
Jageshwar has been an important pilgrimage center and consists of a cluster of
125 temples built during the 7th and 18th century AD. Jagadguru Adi Shanakaracharya ( 790 to 822 AD) has visited this place and has re-established the sanctity of many of the temple. The area has served as the main transit center or 100+ years when spiritual seekers were visiting the holy Manasarovar in the Tibetan plateau by foot across the Himalayan Mountains.
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| Lord Mrithunjaya |
The temples are dedicated to Lord Shiva ( Yogeshwar, Jageshwar, Mrithyuanjaya, Lakulish, Surya, Kedarnath, and Goddess Navadurga, Prushti Devi, Kalikamba, . Special mention needs to be made for Lord Lakulish as the the statue is an exact replica of Buddha and one can see the integration of cultures between Buddhism and Hinduism . This statue is available in the museum. Do
visit the museum opposite the temple, wherein ASI has preserved the rare stone
sculptures for preservation and safe-keeping from Jageshwar temple. The 2 huge
imposing Cedar trees in the temple complex standout.
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| Pre-historic cave painting in Lakhudiyar |
In Lakhudiyar, the cave paintings captures the images of the daily
life-style of the pre-historic people with drawing of animals, lizards, deer
and hunting patterns.
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Dev and family in Chitai temple
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We visited Chitai temple ( A temple of bells) where one can find tens of thousands of bells being offered by devotees to fulfillment of their wishes and prayers. A statues of the Chand dynasty ruler is found in the temple as guardian of Justice.
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| Kasar Devi temple |
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| Shiva Temple atop Kasar devi hills |
An interesting fact of the
Kasardevi temple is that it dates back to the 2nd century AD. Swami
Vivekananda has meditated and has captured his experience in his diaries. The
Shiva temple atop the Kasar Devi hills is built by a person from the south
named as ‘Rudra’ son of ‘Vaithi or Vaithili’. The stone epigraph in the temple
captures the details.
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| Group photo with Sindhoor and Shikka |
The stay in Grand oak manor
was pleasant. The current owners
Mr Sindhu and Mrs Shikka Sindhu are very friendly and their suave
mannerisms automatically attract people towards them. They and their team have
imbibed the statement of belief ‘Hospitality
is our creed”. The team treats the guests as their family and makes you
feel at ease. We were treated to authentic ‘Kumaoni food’ with a variety of
local spices for dinner and the taste buds relished it and craved for more.
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| Floara @ its best |
We
left Binsar with a vow and resolve that we would come back to enjoy the Nature
and the Nurture of the team in Grand Oak Manor J
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