Shrikhand Mahadev is situated at an height of 18,700 ft. above sea level in the Great Himalayan National Park of Himachal Pradesh, India. Trek for Shrikhand mahadev starts from Jaon village in Nirmand region of Kullu district (Himachal Pradesh)
RAMPUR-NIRMAND:
Related blogpost about Shrikhand Mahadev Trek in Himachal Pradesh : Shrikhand Mahadev Trekking : A wonderful journey through clouds (25th - 30th July 2008)
Satluj river view from roadside between Rampur & Nirmand.
Those planning a trip can take the route from Nirmand or from the other side from Asru. The trek from Jaon Village takes about 38 kilometres to reach the Shrikhand Peak. Meticulous planning as well as prior advice from few adventure clubs will come in handy. To make your trek more comfortable and enjoyable, carry few energy bars, glucose or biscuits, water, walking stick, essential medicine as well as a torch. A guide or a coolie is also advised.
JAON VILLAGE: Jaon village is in Nirmand region of Kullu District from where this trekking starts. Don't expect that you can buy few things from this place. So its better to buy the important/useful stuff from Shimla. If you haven't contacted any adventure club for planning this trek for you, then give it a second thought at this place. You can hire a coolie here who can also help you to complete this trek in better way. (Ask for a person called Dhola Ram who can help you for the same)
There were three dogs in this house to take care of an apple orchid near Jaon village.
SINGH-GHAT
Shrikhand river flowing near Singh Ghat
En route you will come across small rickety bridges over gushing mountain streams near Barahati and an almost seven hours trek from here will take you to Thachru. Apple orchards between Jaon Village and Singh Ghat are inviting as you can always have a bite, of course taking permission from the owners. Though this stretch is quite steep through the forest followed by a long and a wide plateau with wild flowers, you can see the astounding views of the mountains among the clouds and the valley of flowers especially known for its rich herbal and medicinal plants. As you trek through the dark, eerie forests, guzzling waterfalls you may find yourself out of breath while climbing the final stretch to Shrikhand Mahadev as it is almost a vertical climb over the rocks. Other notable stops include the Kali Ghati, Bheem Dwari, Nain Sarovar and Parvati Bag, which finally takes you to the rocky mountain climb and into the clouds. There were no tree between Thacharu and Kaali Ghati and as you move forward all you can see are the snow covered hills. As there are no water sources beyond Nain Sarovar, be sure to pack lots of water. This place is also famous for its rare and magnificent Brahmkamal flowers, and it is also said that the glacial lake was formed from a teardrop from Goddess Parvati’s eyes. Bheem Paudi or steps as the name suggests is full of huge rocks with various kinds of markings. View of the early morning Shrikhand Shivlingam is just striking and ifyou happen to reach on a full moon night the whole area glimmers in moonlight, hence enriching your experience of being there.
Barahati:
A bubbly and frothing mountain stream on way to Shrikhand Mahadev (Near Barahati)
Devotees of Lord Shiva would love to witness this natural marvel but those into adventure and trekking will be equally thrilled to visit this awesome as well as wondrous miracle.
Thacharu : Singh-Ghat to Thacharu is steep stretch
A pitched tent on way to Shrikhand Mahadev (Thachru)
Devoid of any form of grass, flowers, plants or tress all you will witness is lots of snow and huge rocks. Despite the fact that there are heavy snowfalls during the year the Shivalingam is never covered in snow. The heavy cloud movement around the hills is amazing and as visibility reduces you will find yourself engulfed with it, like some special effects had just been used. But then this is natural beauty at its best.
Valley of Flowers:
Beautiful view of Clouds moving around mountains on the way to Shrikhand Mahadev (Near Valley of Flowers)
Beautiful view of mountains and clouds from Valley of Flowers on trek to Shrikhand Mahadev
Mountain in shadow on way to Shrikhand Mahadev. You can also see full moon in this pic. This is early morning. Most of the pictures here are shot between 6:00 am & 8:00am. After that it becomes very difficult to see things due to clouds. But its a great feeling to walk through clouds...
Shadow of one mountain on top of another on way to Shrikhand Mahadev
Kaali Ghati: This is a hill top, where we reach by crossing 4 hills after Thachru. All are 75 degree steep hills.
View of Shrikhand Mahadev from Kaali Ghati: Shrikhand shivalingam can be clearly seen from Kaali ghati before 7:30 am. After that clouds cover the whole area and visibility radius reduces to 15 meters.
Bheem Dwari: Bheem Dwari is a beautiful valley on the way to Shrikhand Mahadev. It surrounded by lot of waterfalls from hills covered with snow.
Related Blogpost from Shrikhand Mahadev Trek in Kullu - Old photographs of Shrikhand Mahadev Trek in new look || Black & White photographs of Shrikhand Mahadev Trek in Himachal Pradesh, INDIA
Wonderful waterfall view from Bheem Dwari..
A covers of clouds with emerging sunlight greets you early morning with open arms sending you to a blissful world, forcing you to leave your worries behind and just emerge yourself in this heavenly scenery. Mahadev as the name suggests is the abode of Lord Shiva, at almost 19,000 feet above sea level in the Great Himalayan National Park in Banjar, Kullu and the awe inspiring natural rock-made Shivalingam which is almost 72 feet high is out of this world and mostly surrounded by a snowfield. Devotees of Lord Shiva can be seen trekking through the mountains to reach this hilly terrain all through July and August just to pay their respect as it is a famous pilgrimage for Hindus. Legend goes that Lord Shiva meditated here and the Pandavas used to visit this peak. It is also said that Bhim ki Bahi or the huge stone tablets with hieroglyphics were once noted by Bhim himself as he kept an account Pandava’s adventures.
A small part of longest waterfall in Shrikhand Mahadev Trek...
Parvati Bag: Parvati Bag is a place where you see grass last time durin the trek to Shrikhand, the final destination. After this place Rock hills starts with clouds at ground level. So we were literally in clouds after Parvati Bag.
Clouds, and sunlight over a mountain on trek to Shrikhand Mahadev (This is morning view from Parvati Bag, when we started third say trek for our final destination: Shrikhand Mahadev)
Shrikhand Mahadev trek starts during the time when it's rainy around these hills. Clouds play hide and seek with you. So be prepared with following things - A good rain suit, nice trekking shoes (should not be slippery), avoid shorts (there can be dangerous insects or even snakes on your way), a cap or a hat to ensure that your head is covered. Something to tie around your head would be very helpful to save your head from windy weather in late evenings.
Pitched tent on way to Shrikhand Mahadev (We spent two nights in Parvati Bag)
Be extremely careful about carrying enough food material. Because of a bad plan, 2 of us were down with bad health. One of us was not eating well and other person got very tired. It's equally important to plan your days, so that you don't stretch unnecessarily. It's ok to spend 1-2 extra days, but move at a pace which suits your body. Because if you get stuck halfway because of bad health, that would be an extremely bad situation.
Sunlight coming through hill top : Wonderful view from Kali ghati.
Kali Ghati looks beautiful with cloud-play all around. There are multiple Shrikhand posts on this blog, so go ahead and check out more details about planning and things to avoid.
Long time back we published about Shrikhand Mahadev Trek in Times of India and it was very popular print article, which lead to 10x increase in blog-views.
Long time back we published about Shrikhand Mahadev Trek in Times of India and it was very popular print article, which lead to 10x increase in blog-views.
Sun light crossing though hills...
While going through this post, I am sure you would have more questions like how to reach base of Shrikhand Mahadev?, What stuff to carry? How is the arrangement to stay and eat ? Is there a way to get porter ? Weather condition ? Difficulty level of different stretches? . Do check out our old posts or drop a comment under this post. We shall try to respond as quickly as we could.
Nain Sarovar
Mountain shadow convering Nain sarovar on the way to Shrikhand Mahadev...
Since it's a difficult trek and you need to spend few nights on the hills on your way, it's important to understand the stay arrangements and what you need to do to ensure that you take proper rest during the nights. It will be bone chilling weather on the hills. During the day it will be fine and most of the times you will feel comfortable with single layer of clothes, because of bright sun on these mountains. But during evenings you would need 3-4 layers of cloths and a cozy tent to spend the night. The good part is that you can find tents on rent at various places on the way. So you need not carry tents with you. The only condition is to figure out places where you can rent tents and then ensure that you reach that place by 4pm to reserve your place. Usually everyone starts the day trek early in the morning by 4-5am and concludes the day by 4-5pm. The first half of the day is most productive and usually there is high probability of rains in the second half, when clouds cover the sky.
DHOLA RAM JI Porter enjoying a cigarette break on way to Shrikhand Mahadev
One good thing which we did during our trek was to hire a porter from Jaon village, who was carrying 3 of our bags. So 4 of us were only sharing 2 bags. And believe me, carrying a small bag on these hills is a big deal. So try if you can simply trek without any baggage. If you have baggage, plan your days well in terms of distance to be covered per day. Fortunately we got a nice guy, who was very helpful throughout the trek.
If you are in a good group of 6-8 people, I recommend you carry your own stuff and hire 3 porters. Have tents, sleeping bags & some basic utensils to make food. That will give you lots of flexibility to trek. You need not set targets for the day to reach a camping site. Wherever you find a good place around water, you can put your tents and enjoy the relaxing trek. And at times, it would be ok to not use the infrastructure and get rented shelter.
Cloud Store @ Bheem Paudi (Strains to heaven)
I don't know what it is about these treks but they are immensely emotional experiences. By the time we reached the summit, all of us were overflowing with emotions. I tried and blinked fast to fight them, but at last I had to gave in and the tears flowed. Once they started, I couldn't stop and soon I was sobbing. No one asked me why. Because all of them were experiencing something unique. And I wasn't the only one crying.
And let me now treat you to some ethereal sights from the trek...
Fellow trekkers climbing rock hills between Nain Sarovar and Shrikhand Mahadev
At times the next step felt as if it could be my last, and at times I felt as if I had transcended mortality. Reality and dreams merged and I seemed to be slipping in and out of reveries. Being one with nature does this to you. There are no more questions. Amidst such pristine surroundings, it is just the Truth, The Ultimate Truth.
Glaciers between Nain Sarovar and Shrikhand Mahadev...
During this trek we had some exceptional experiences which are hard to describe through words. I would recommend you to see photograph above, as it is very difficult to explain what we were experiencing. We were walking on the clouds and I do not mean metaphorically. It was surreal, though day dreaming was very risky owing to the steep gorges just one misstep could lead us to fall into.
Rock-made shivalingam on the great heights of mountains. The shivalingam is 72 feet high and stands still at the mountain top, above 18,000 ft altitude.
Shrikhand Mahadev Trekking was an amazing experience for us and hope we will again go to this place with better planning...
If you liked this post and found it helpful, I would request you to follow these things when traveling -
- Manage your waste well and don’t litter
- Use dustbins. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin.
- Avoid bottle waters in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem.
- Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits.
- Don't play loud blaring music in forests of jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite
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