Sacred forest of Jageshwar, Uttarakhand

Our Pedal the Himalaya tour poised to begin its fourth phase after cycling 1300 kms in the northeast mountains, from the ancient temple and forest of Jageshwar in Uttarakhand. Our plan was to tour Uttarakhand in two parts – Eastern Kumaon and Garwhal. Eastern Kumaon is going to be begin from the famous temples of Jageshwar and then a ride into Pithoragarh, Dharchula, Narayan Swamy Temple and Darma Valley. The second segment of our Uttarakhand tour is planned from Uttarkashi to Gangotri and Harsil Valley.

Jageshwar is one of the most silent, spiritual and holy sites in India and is 40 kms from Almora. A massive deodar or cedar forest surrounds this temple complex with some trees more than a 1000 years old. The ancient temple complex as per ASI (Archaeology Survey of India), dates back to post Gupta and pre-medieval era and said to be 2500 years old. Stone lingams, stone sculptures and carving on altars abound in this 124 temple complex. We visited the temple and also hiked in the forest the whole day, mesmerised by its solitude and energy. This is my third visit to the complex, and Ashim’s first. The rhododendrons are already flowering and the region is dry with no snow or rain this winter. Yet it’s very cold with the night temperature dipping to -3 degrees Celsius here and frost in the fields in the morning. W stayed at a very nice place called Van Serai, and even though it was beyond our budget planned for this tour, we chose to stay here, as it would be the first and last place where we could enjoy extra comfortable lodgings and some really delicious local food.