ABOUT UTTARKASHI DISTRICT

Manjira Devi > ABOUT UTTARKASHI DISTRICT

 

Smt. Manjira Devi Group of Institutions is situated at Hitanu Dhanari, Dunda – Uttarkashi.

It includes – Smt. Manjira Devi Ayurvedic Medical College & Hospital

  • Manjira Devi Nursing & Paramedical College
  • Manjira Devi Shikshan Avam Parshiksahn Sansthan
  • Manjira Devi International School

For Smt. Manjira Devi, the year 2005 was a year of achievement as it was establishment year of Smt. Manjira Devi Shikshan Avam Parshikshan Sansthan. Today, this college has completed over 18 years of its useful existence dedicated to the cause of Medical Education and Research and in the service of suffering humanity the college motto being ‘EQUALITY OF EDUCATION’. This Institute is in a very peaceful & green natural surroundings. It is situated in Uttarkashi District, which is also a Tourist place because of Gangotri & Yamunotri Dham.

 

ABOUT UTTARKASHI DISTRICT – Uttarkashi, meaning Kashi of the north, is a town located in Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand, India. Uttarkashi town is headquarters of the district. Uttarkashi is also known as Somya Kashi. Uttarkashi is a Hindu religious place for spiritual and adventurous tourism. Uttarkashi town is also called as Shivnagri. The town has number of temples and ashrams. Uttarkashi is known for its religious people, weather, education.

Places to Visit Here –

  1. Gangotri
  2. Yamunotri
  3. Nelang
  4. Sem Mukhem Nagraja Temple
  5. Harshil

 

GANGOTRI DHAM

ABOUT GANGOTRI – Gangotri is one of the four sites in the Chota Char Dham pilgrimage circuit. It is also the origin of the Ganges river and seat of the goddess Ganga. The river is called Bhagirathi at the source and acquires the name Ganga (the Ganges) from Devprayag onwards where it meets the Alaknanda. The origin of the holy river is at Gaumukh, set in the Gangotri Glacier, and is a 19 km trek from Gangotri. The original Gangotri Temple was built by the Nepalese general Amar Singh Thapa. The temple is closed from Diwali day every year and is reopened on Akshaya Tritiya. During this time, the idol of the goddess is kept at Mukhba village, near Harsil. Ritual duties of the temple are supervised by the Semwal family of pujaris. These pujaris hail from Mukhba village.

 

YAMUNOTRI DHAM

ABOUT YAMUNOTRI – Yamunotri, also Jamnotri, is the source of the Yamuna River and the seat of the Goddess Yamuna in Hinduism. It is situated at an altitude of 3,293 metres (10,804 ft) in the Garhwal Himalayas and located approximately 150 kilometers (93 mi) North of Uttarkashi, the headquarters of the Uttarkashi district in the Garhwal Division of Uttarakhand, India. It is one of the four sites in India‘s Chhota Char Dham pilgrimage. The sacred shrine of Yamunotri, source of the river Yamuna, is the westernmost shrine in the Garhwal Himalayas, perched atop a flank of Bandar Poonch Parvat. The chief attraction at Yamunotri is the temple devoted to the Goddess Yamuna and the holy thermal springs at Janki Chatti which is 7 km away.

The actual source, a frozen lake of ice and glacier (Champasar Glacier) located on the Kalind Mountain at a height of 4,421 m above sea level, about 1 km further up, is not frequented generally as it is not accessible; hence the shrine has been located on the foot of the hill. The approach is extremely difficult and pilgrims therefore offer puja at the temple itself.

 

NELANG

Nelang – Nelang or Nilang is a river valley of the Himalayas, containing a small eponymous village, in the Uttarkashi District of the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is close to the disputed Sino-Indian Line of Actual Control (LAC), and hence is also claimed by China as part of Zanda County of Ngari Prefecture of Tibet.

Some of the nearby villages are Dhumku in the west, and Jadhang (Sang) and Pulam Sumda in the northeast, all of which lie in the Jadh Ganga valley.

HISTORY – Indo-Tibetan silk route

Salt and silk were historically traded on this silk route. Pathan traders supposedly paid for the construction of this stairway in the 17th century. It was also a lesser known secret route of Hindu-Buddhist yatra (pilgrimage) to Mount Kailash.

 

Gartang Gali stairway

The Gartang Gali cliff-side hanging-stairway or Gartang Gali bridge, a 500-metre-long narrow wooden stairway hanging on the side of a vertical ridge at a height of 11,000 feet, lies in the narrow Nelang river valley of Jadh Ganga river canyon. After cutting a narrow horizontal U-shaped passage on the side of the monolithic cliff, the wooden structure was built inside it in the traditional native style. It offers great views of the Nelang valley and its ecology. It was initially supposedly constructed by the Pathan traders from Peshawar. Gartang Gali, a narrow and steep gorge, was once used as a Silk Road trade route between Tibet and India. After the 1962 Sino-Indian War, access to the area was prohibited by the Indian military, and consequently the bridge fell into disrepair. In 2015, after India opened these areas for tourism, the wooden stairway was repaired in the native traditional style and reopened in August 2021 after a gap of 59 years.

 

 

 

 

 

Sem Mukhem Nagraja Temple

Sem Mukhem Nagraja Temple, Uttarakhand

The Sem Mukhem Nagraja is an ancient temple dedicated to Lord Krishna (who is also known as Nagraja) and is located in Tehri Garhwal of Uttarakhand. The Sem Mukhem Nagraja or the temple of the king of snakes is one of the famous Nagatirthas or snake pilgrimage sites in the whole of Indian sub continent. According to the followers this is the original layer of the Nag raja. The temple complex is very sturdily built and quite old. The style used in the architecture of Sem Mukhem Nagraja temple is very familiar with the style adopted to build the revered seat of Lord Shiva, the Kedarnath Temple. The door of the temple is very religiously built. It portrays the mythological scenario in which the Nag raja is spreading out his fan while the great proprietary god, Lord Vishnu is playing his flute atop the Nag raja.

After entering the sacred sanctum through this grand gate the travelers will see the self appeared or swambhu idol of the Nag raja. The natural beauty around the temple is very alluring. It pleases the travelers and the devotees alike. The verdant natural garden and the high mountain peak all around the temple valley making the sacred temple an embodiment of peacefulness and spirituality. On the way to Srinagar from Uttarakhand there is a little town named Godalia and for here only the visitors can travel up to New Tehri from where the road to Lambgaon Lake opens up. It from this juncture onwards, the travelling to Sem Mukhem Nagraja sacred temple and religious shrine begins. The visitors from all across the country come and visit the Sem Mukhem Nagraja for offering prayers and receiving blessings.

 

 

HARSHIL

 

HARSHIL – Harsil, the Himalayan paradise, is a village, tourist hill station and army area located on the banks of the Bhagirathi River, on the way to Gangotri, a Hindu pilgrimage site in Uttarkashi district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand.

Situated at an altitude of 9,005 ft (2,745 metres.) from sea level, Harsil lies 78 km. from Uttarkashi, and 30 km away from the Gangotri National Park which is spread across 1,553 square km. The hill station is well- known for its natural environment and apple production.

Etymology

According to the local legend, the Harsil got its name from the rivers Bhagirathi and the Jalandhari as once they had an argument over their significance. Lord Vishnu, also known as Hari, was asked to intervene. He turned himself into a great stone, a shila, and absorbed their anger. Even today, after Hari-shila (or Harsil), the waters of the two rivers have become a little less turbulent.