1838, Sept.—You wish me to send home some sketches from the Hills; I will strive to comply with the request, and in the mean time will forward you a map, copied from a portion of a survey: it will show you the elevation of the Himalaya, and give you a definite idea of the shape of the mountains.

THE GREAT PEAK OF BHADRINĀTH.

The highest peak, that of Bhadrināth, 23,441 feet above the Sea, is a conspicuous object from the summit of Landowr. Some of the mountains of the Snowy Ranges display high, rocky, sharp peaks, covered with snow—smooth, hard, unbroken, and glittering white; others are cut into fantastic shapes. There are no glaciers, because, in all probability, an uniform cold—below the freezing point—prevails in so elevated a region. Bhadrināth is a noted place of pilgrimage, and during my stay in the Hills some of my Hindū servants requested leave of absence to visit it.

“The Hindūs have a way to heaven without dying: if the person who wishes to go this way to heaven, through repeating certain incantations survive the cold, he at last arrives at Himalŭyŭ, the residence of Shivŭ. Such a person is said ‘to go the Great Journey:’ Yoodhist’hirŭ, according to the puranŭs, went this way to heaven; but his companions perished by the cold on the mountain: this forms another method in which the Hindūs may meritoriously put a period to their existence; it is also one of the Hindū atonements for great offences.” The ceremonies performed on visiting holy places are as follows:—“When a person resolves to visit any one of these places, he fixes upon an auspicious day, and, two days preceding the commencement of his journey, has his head shaved; the next he fasts; the following day he performs the shraddhŭ (funeral obsequies) of the three preceding generations of his family on both sides, and then leaves his house. If a person act according to the shastrŭ he observes the following rules:—First, till he returns to his own house, he eats rice which has not been wet in cleansing, and that only once a day; he abstains from anointing his body with oil, and from eating fish. If he ride in a palanquin or in a boat he loses half the benefits of his pilgrimage; if he walk on foot he obtains the full fruit. The last day of his journey he fasts. On his arrival at the sacred spot, he has his whole body shaved, after which he bathes, and performs shraddhŭ: if the pilgrim be a woman, she has only the breadth of two fingers of her hair behind cut off; if a widow, her whole head is shaved. It is necessary that the pilgrim stay seven days at least at the holy place; he may continue as much longer as he pleases. Every day during his stay he bathes, pays his devotions to the images, sits before them, and repeats their names, and worships them, presenting such offerings as he can afford. In bathing, he makes kooshŭ grass images of his relations, and bathes them. The benefits arising to relations will be as one to eight, compared with that of the person bathing at the holy place. When he is about to return, he obtains some of the offerings which have been presented to the idol or idols, and brings them home to give to his friends and neighbours; these consist of sweetmeats, toolŭsee leaves, the ashes of cow-dung, &c. After celebrating the shraddhŭ he entertains Brahmāns, and presents them with oil, fish, and all those things from which he abstained: having done this he returns to his former course of living. The reward promised to the pilgrim is, that he shall ascend to the heaven of that god who presides at the holy place he has visited.”

The mighty Bhadrināth towers far above Chimboraco, although—

At Gangoutrī, the source of the most sacred branch of the Ganges, Mahadēo sits enthroned in clouds and mist, amid rocks that defy the approach of living thing, and snows that make desolation more awful. But although Gangoutrī be the most sacred, it is not the most frequented shrine, access to it being far more difficult than to Bhadrināth; and, consequently, to this latter pilgrims flock in crowds, appalled at the remoteness and danger of the former place of worship. This may pretty fully account for the superior riches and splendour of Bhadrināth. The town and temple of Bhadrināth are situate on the west bank of the Alacknunda, in the centre of a valley; the town is built on the sloping bank of the river, and contains only twenty or thirty huts, for the accommodation of the Brahmāns and other attendants on the deity: the æra of its foundation is too remote to have reached us even by tradition.

A hot spring, issuing from the mountain by a subterraneous passage, supplies the Tapta-Kund; it has a sulphureous smell: Surya-Kund is another hot spring issuing from the bank. The principal idol, Bhadrināth, is placed in artificial obscurity in the temple, and is dressed in gold and silver brocade; above his head is a small looking-glass, and two or three glimmering lamps burn before him, exhibiting the image in a dubious light. This temple has more beneficed lands attached to it than any other sacred Hindū establishment in this part of India. A large number of servants of every description are kept, and during the months of pilgrimage the deity is well-clothed, and fares sumptuously every day; but as soon as winter commences, the priests take their departure, leaving him to provide for his own wants until the periodical return of the holy season. The treasures and valuable utensils are buried in a vault under the temple.

The pilgrims assemble at Hurdwar, and as soon as the fair is concluded they visit Bhadrināth, often to the amount of forty-five to fifty thousand, the greater part of whom are fakīrs.

KEDARNĀTH.

The next remarkable peak is that of Kedarnāth, 23,062 feet above the sea; and the supposed source of the Ganges is placed below it at the elevation of 13,800 feet.

The temple of Kedar-Nāth is situated at the source of the Kalī-Gunga; it is of indefinite antiquity, not lofty, but of some extent, and sacred to Mahadēo, or Shiva, under the name of Kedar. There are several dhrum-salas erected for the accommodation of the pilgrims who resort to the shrine, and who are pretty numerous every year. There are many kunds or springs near it.

The Moira peak is 22,792 feet above the sea.

GANGOUTRĪ

Gangoutrī (Ganga avatari) marked 10,319 feet above the sea, is the celebrated place of pilgrimage, near to which the river Ganges issues; its course has not been traced beyond Gangoutrī, for the stream, a little farther, is entirely concealed under a glacier or iceberg, and is supposed to be inaccessible. The small mandap here is of stone, and contains small statues of Bhagiratha, Ganga, and other local deities: it stands on a piece of rock, about twenty feet higher than the bed of the Ganges, and at a little distance there is a rough wooden building to shelter travellers. Notwithstanding the great efficacy attributed to this pilgrimage, Gangoutrī is but little frequented. The accomplishment of it is supposed to redeem the performer from many troubles in this world, and ensure a happy transit through all the stages of transmigration he may have to undergo. A trifle is paid to the Brahmān for the privilege of taking the water, which the Hindūs believe is so pure, as neither to evaporate or become corrupted by being kept and transported to distant places. The Ganges enters the plains at Hurdwar, flows on to Prāg, where it is joined by the Jumna; and, after receiving various rivers in its course, it passes through that labyrinth of creeks and rivers called the Sunderbands into the sea.

Captain J. A. Hodgson thus describes Gangoutrī:—

“A most wonderful scene: the B’hàgirat’hí or Ganges issues from under a very low arch at the foot of the grand snow-bed. The river is here bounded to the right and left by high snow and rocks; but in front, over the Debouche, the mass of snow is perfectly perpendicular; and from the bed of the stream to the summit we estimate the thickness at little less than three hundred feet of solid frozen snow, probably the accumulation of ages; it is in layers of some feet thick, each seemingly the remains of a fall of a separate year. From the brow of this curious wall of snow, and immediately above the outlet of the stream, large and hoary icicles depend; they are formed by the freezing of the melted snow-water of the top of the bed, for in the middle of the day the sun is powerful, and the water produced by its action falls over this place in cascade, but is frozen at night. The Gangoutrī Brahmin who came with us, and who is only an illiterate mountaineer, observed, that he thought these icicles must be Mahádéva’s hair, whence, as he understood it is written in the sha’stra, the Ganges flows. I cannot think of any place to which they might more aptly give the name of Cow’s Mouth than this extraordinary Debouche.

“We were surrounded by gigantic peaks, entirely cased in snow, and almost beyond the regions of animal and vegetable life; and an awful silence prevailed, except when broken by the thundering peals of falling avalanches. Nothing met our eyes resembling the scenery in the haunts of men; by moonlight all appeared cold, wild, and stupendous, and a Pagan might aptly imagine the place a fit abode for demons. We did not even see bears, or musk deer, or eagles, or any living creature, except small birds. The dazzling brilliancy of the snow was rendered more striking by its contrast with the dark blue colour of the sky, which is caused by the thinness of the air; and at night the stars shone with a lustre which they have not in a denser atmosphere.” “It falls to the lot of few to contemplate so magnificent an object as a snow-clad peak rising to the height of upwards of a mile and a half, at the horizontal distance of only two and a half miles.”

“She is called Ganga on account of her flowing through Gang, the earth: she is called Jahnavi, from a choleric Hindū saint: she is called Bhagirathi, from the royal devotee Bhagiratha, who, by the intensity and austerity of his devotions, brought her from heaven to earth, whence she proceeded to the infernal regions, to reanimate the ashes of his ancestors: and lastly, she is called Triputhaga, on account of her proceeding forward in three different directions, watering the three worlds—heaven, earth, and the infernal regions,—and filling the ocean, which, according to the Brahmanical mythology, although excavated before her appearance, was destitute of water.”

Hurdwar, at which place the Ganges issues on the plains, is put down on the map.

The impracticable deserts of snow and rocks in these lofty regions alone prevent the pilgrim from going directly from one place to another. Thus, eleven days’ journey are spun out from Gangoutrī to Kedarnāth; while seven or eight days are expended in reaching Bhadrināth from the latter place.

On the map a beautiful range of mountains now appear, crowned with the Jaunti Peak, 21,940 feet; next is Sir Kanta, and then the pass of Bamsera.

JUMNOTRĪ.

Bandarponch is 23,916 feet above the sea, and the Peaks of Jumnotrī, 20,120. Jumnotrī itself, the source of the Jumna, is marked below in the map at the elevation of 10,849 feet.

At Jumnotrī the snow, which covers and conceals the stream, is about sixty yards wide, and is bounded to the right and left by mural precipices of granite; it is forty feet five and a half inches thick, and has fallen from the precipices above. In front, at the distance of about five hundred yards, part of the base of the Jumnotrī mountain rises abruptly, cased in snow and ice, and shutting up and totally terminating the head of this defile, in which the Jumna originates. Captain Hodgson says, “I was able to measure the thickness of the bed of snow over the stream very exactly, by means of a plumb-line let down through one of the holes in it, which are caused by the steam of a great number of boiling springs which are at the border of the Jumna.” The range of springs, which are extensive, are in the dark recesses, and in the snow caverns. The following is related concerning the origin of these hot springs:—“The spirits of the Rikhs, or twelve holy men, who followed Mahadēo from Lunka to the Himalaya (after the usurpation of the tyrant Rawan), inhabit this rock, and continually worship him. Here the people bathe, the Brahmān says prayers, receives his dues, and marks the pilgrims with the sacred mud of the hot springs. The people, out of respect, put off their shoes long before they reach Jangotrī, and at this place there is no shelter for them during the night. Jumna prefers simple worship at the foot of her own and natural shrine, and has forbidden the erection of temples to her honour.”

Noble rocks of varied hues and forms, crowned with luxuriantly dark foliage, and the stream foaming from rock to rock, form a foreground worthy of Jumnotrī. When Mahadēo retired from Lunka, disgusted with the rebellion of his son Rawan, the tyrant and usurper of Lunka, he formed Kylās, or the Himalaya range, for his retreat; and Soomeroo Purbat, or Roodroo Himālā, with its five peaks, rugged and inaccessible as it is, for his own dwelling. The Bhagiruttee and Alacknunda are there said to have sprung from the head of Mahadēo. Twelve holy Brahmāns, denominated the twelve Rikhs, left Lunka in search of Mahadēo, and penetrated to Bhyramghattee, where the J’hannevie meets the Bhagiruttee, but could not find him. Eleven of them, in despair, went to Cashmire, but the twelfth, named Jum-Rekhī, remained at Bhyramghattee, sitting on a huge rock in the course of the stream Bhagiruttee, which, instead of flowing on as usual, was absorbed in the body of the saint and lost, while the J’hannevie flowed on. The goddess of the stream (Bhagiruttee) herself was at Gungotrī, worshipping Mahadēo, and making her prostrations on the stone on which the present temple is founded. When she felt the course of the stream was stopped, she went in wrath to Bhyramghattee, clave Jum-Rekhī in two, and gave a free passage to the river. One-half of the Rekhī she flung to the westward, and it became the mountain Bandarponch: from his thigh sprang the Jumna, and from his skull arose the hot springs of Jumnotrī. They still show the large rock which the Rikh sat upon, and which was divided in two by the same fatal cut. It is a very large block of granite, which appears to have fallen from the cliff, above the point of union of the two rivers, and is curiously split in two.

The name of Bandarponch applies properly only to the highest peaks of this mountain. Jumnotrī has reference to the sacred spot, where worship is paid to the goddess and ablution performed.

Frazer, speaking of a glen about three days’ journey from Jumnotrī, says, “Having reached the top of the ascent, we looked down upon a very dark and deep glen, called Palia Gadh, which is the outlet to the waters of one of the most terrific and gloomy valleys I have ever seen. It would not be easy to convey by any description a just idea of the peculiarly rugged and gloomy wildness of this glen: it looks like the ruins of nature, and appears, as it is said to be, completely impracticable and impenetrable. Little is to be seen except dark rocks, wood only fringes the lower parts and the water’s edge: perhaps the spots and streaks of snow, contrasting with the general blackness of the scene, heighten the appearance of desolation. No living thing is seen; no motion but that of the waters; no sound but their roar. Such a spot is suited to engender superstition; and here it is accordingly found in full growth. Many wild traditions are preserved, and many extravagant stories related of it. On one of these ravines there are places of worship, not built by men, but natural piles of stones, which have the appearance of small temples. These are said to be the residence of the dewtas, or spirits, who here haunt and inveigle human beings away to their wild abodes. It is said that they have a particular predilection for beauty in both sexes, and remorselessly seize on any whom imprudence or accident may have placed within their power, and whose spirits become like theirs, after they are deprived of their corporeal frame. Many instances were given of these ravishments: on one occasion a young man, who had wandered near their haunts, being carried in a trance to the valley, heard the voice of his own father, who some years before had been thus spirited away, and who now recognized his son. It appears that paternal affection was stronger than the spell that bound him, and instead of rejoicing in the acquisition of a new prey, he recollected the forlorn state of his family deprived of their only support: he begged and obtained the freedom of his son, who was dismissed under the injunction of strict silence and secrecy. He, however, forgot his vow, and was immediately deprived of speech; and, as a self-punishment, he cut out his tongue with his own hand. This man was said to be yet living, and I desired that he should be brought to me; but he never came, and they afterwards informed me that he had very lately died. More than one person is said to have approached the spot, or the precincts of these spirits, and those who have returned, have generally agreed in the expression of their feelings, and have uttered some prophecy. They fall, as they say, into a swoon, and between sleeping and waking hear a conversation, or are sensible of certain impressions, as if a conversation were passing which generally relates to some future event. Indeed, the prophetic faculty is one of the chiefly remarkable attributes of these spirits, and of this place. The awe, however, which the natives feel of this place is great and remarkable. The moment that Bhisht and Kishen Sing came in sight of the place, they commenced prostrations, and the forms of worship, with many prayers and much apparent fervency, to the spirits of the glen. They assert that no man ever ascended the valley to any considerable height; and that natural, as well as supernatural, obstacles are too great to be overcome; that of the few who have attempted it, none ever returned, or ever enjoyed his reason again: and I believe that the former of these obstacles may be nearly paramount, for a survey with the glass showed the difficulty to be at least very great; and certainly, ascending the hill to the top would be altogether impossible.”

There are said to be four peaks which form the top of Bandarponch, and in a cavity, or hollow, contained between them tradition places a lake or tank of very peculiar sanctity. No one has ever seen this pool, for no one has ever attempted to ascend any of these prodigious peaks. Bandarponch signifies “monkey’s tail.” It is said that Hŭnoomān, after his conquest of Lunkā, or Ceylon, in the shape of a monkey, when he had set that island on fire by means of a quantity of combustible matter tied to his tail, being afraid of the flame reaching himself, was about to dip it in the sea (sumunder) to extinguish it; but the sea remonstrated with him, on account of the probable consequence to the inhabitants of its waters: whereupon Hŭnoomān plunged his burning tail into this lake, which has ever since retained the name. The Zemindars aver, that every year, in the month P’hagun, a single monkey comes from the plains, by way of Hurdwar, and ascends the highest peak of this mountain, where he remains twelve months, and returns to give room to another; but his entertainment must be very indifferent and inhospitable, as may be inferred from the nature of the place; for he returns in very bad plight, being not only reduced to a skeleton, but having lost his hair and a great part of his skin.

Nalāpanī and the level of the Dehra Dūn are marked in the map below the source of the Jumna.

The Cone is a most remarkable peak; the elevation of Parkyal and Kaldung is conspicuous among the lower mountains over which they tower. The Nulgoon Pass is marked below them in the map.