Tehri Garhwal
A Family Outing - May 2007
All 4 of us – i.e. my wife Namita, son Abhi, daughter Pankhuri and I- went for this outing to Tehri Garhwal in our Innova. At Rishikes we visited the Lakshman Jhula,
strolled through the bazaars and in the evening we went to see the Ganga Aarti. 
Ganga Aarti at Parmarth Ashram at Rishikesh is held at sunset every day. 
It is a soothing, becalming experience and evokes the images of importance of water in the minds of primal man resulting in such deep reverence. The sunset over the Ganga is spectacular. 
Abhi also performed the Ganga Aarti. 
Next morning we were off to Tehri. We passed through Narendernagar. It was the summer capital of the Kings of Tehri.
The Royal Palace is at the crest of the hill. Almora, Srinagar and Narendranagar are a few of the hilltop towns that predate British by many centuries. Most of the hilltop towns were setup as hill stations by the British to combat the summer heat. The forests around this region and herbal research gardens are a great effort by government and NGOs to preserve the native flora of this region of Himalayas.
By lunch time we reached Tehri. Tehri was the capital of Tehri Garhwal. The town was situated in the valley of River Bhagirathi with the acropolis perched on a hillock in the middle. The Royal Palace occupied the highest point. Then the Tehri Dam was built. From the beginning it was mired in controversy but finally all the concerned people relented. The town was relocated to a hilltop site 10 kms away. All the religious structures have been moved brick by brick and relocated to the new town including the 120 year old clock tower with its clock!
Now the waters have swallowed the old town and all that is visible is the ruins of the Royal Palace, which will also be submerged soon as the reservoir fills up!
After visiting the Tehri Project we started for our destination Ghansyali.
It is an overgrown picturesque village. River Billingana, a tributary of Bhagirathi flows through the middle of this settlement adding to its charm. It is about 55 kms east of Tehri and deeper into the mountains. The road from Tehri is anybodies nightmare but the verdant green forests are teeming with birds and animals. We saw 32 varieties of birds which are not common and our list includes very rare Kestrel, Himalayan Griffon and Bronze winged Dove. We drove through a huge banyan tree which straddles the road!
We also came across many Gujjar camps along the road. A couple of teenagers were taking the ponies for grazing while the grownups had gone off with the buffalos!
At Ghansyali jackals howled outside our rest house for a long time. They venture into the village looking for scraps and rummage through refuse. We were also told that leopards carry away dogs and goats from homes. Only a few days earlier a leopard had carried away and devoured a child from the Rest House roof! There are no hotels in Ghansyali but the market is fairly large as a hydropower project is coming up.
Deopryag is place where Rivers Bhagirathi and Alakhnanda meet to form River Ganga.
This is one of the very sacred spots in Himalayas. Bhagirathi is green while Alakhnanda is grey and at the confluence the two colors are visible for quiet a distance.The hills around this sacred spot are covered with growths of a succulent called Spanish bayonets and aromatic Kewra is extracted from its flowers! Deopryag is the place where Ram Chandra is supposed to have performed penance for killing Ravana, a Brahmin. 
The road from Deopryag to Rishikesh snakes along the shoulder of the ridges along the valley of Ganga. At places it is a few feet above the river while at others a few hundred. Most of the drive is through lush forests but at places it is hairy, especially the areas of frequent landslides!
Shivpuri is the place where all whitewater adventure sports in the form of rafting, canoeing and kayaking takes place.
The road is almost at the same level as the river, so all the banks are dotted with adventure camp. One can drive into some of these camps and reach the river. Some are accessible by very picturesque suspension bridges. 
The river waters are cool and comforting. Being shallow, one can frolic in the waters and beat the heat.
This region has an amazing avian fauna, resplendent both in variety as well as numbers. Barring the common birds like house sparrows, red vented bulbuls, jungle babblers, crows, rock pigeons, egrets, herons and parakeets, we also saw some birds which are found only in this region of the Himalayas.
The names of the birds we saw are:
1. Kestrel 2. Himalayan Griffon 3. Large Cormorant 4. Red Jungle Fowl 5. Pea Fowl 6. Black Partridge 7. Rufus Turtle Dove 8. Large Green Barbet 9. Black Drongo 10. Bank Myna 11. Common Myna 12. Brahmini Myna 13. Common Wood Shrike 14. Verditer Flycatcher 15. Magpie Robin 16. Robin 17. Crested Bunting 18. Bronze Winged Dove 19. Blue Eared Kingfisher 20. Tree Pie 21. Yellow Billed Blue Magpie 22. Tailor Bird 23. Coot 24. Blue Cheeked Bee Eater 25. Swallow 26. Raven 27. Pied Wood Shrike 28. Streaked Laughing Thrush 29. White Cheeked Bulbul 30. Streaked Wren Warbler 31. Grey Tit 32. Black Bird
All 4 of us – i.e. my wife Namita, son Abhi, daughter Pankhuri and I- went for this outing to Tehri Garhwal in our Innova. At Rishikes we visited the Lakshman Jhula,
strolled through the bazaars and in the evening we went to see the Ganga Aarti. Ganga Aarti at Parmarth Ashram at Rishikesh is held at sunset every day. It is a soothing, becalming experience and evokes the images of importance of water in the minds of primal man resulting in such deep reverence. The sunset over the Ganga is spectacular. Abhi also performed the Ganga Aarti. Next morning we were off to Tehri. We passed through Narendernagar. It was the summer capital of the Kings of Tehri.
The Royal Palace is at the crest of the hill. Almora, Srinagar and Narendranagar are a few of the hilltop towns that predate British by many centuries. Most of the hilltop towns were setup as hill stations by the British to combat the summer heat. The forests around this region and herbal research gardens are a great effort by government and NGOs to preserve the native flora of this region of Himalayas.By lunch time we reached Tehri. Tehri was the capital of Tehri Garhwal. The town was situated in the valley of River Bhagirathi with the acropolis perched on a hillock in the middle. The Royal Palace occupied the highest point. Then the Tehri Dam was built. From the beginning it was mired in controversy but finally all the concerned people relented. The town was relocated to a hilltop site 10 kms away. All the religious structures have been moved brick by brick and relocated to the new town including the 120 year old clock tower with its clock!
Now the waters have swallowed the old town and all that is visible is the ruins of the Royal Palace, which will also be submerged soon as the reservoir fills up!After visiting the Tehri Project we started for our destination Ghansyali.
It is an overgrown picturesque village. River Billingana, a tributary of Bhagirathi flows through the middle of this settlement adding to its charm. It is about 55 kms east of Tehri and deeper into the mountains. The road from Tehri is anybodies nightmare but the verdant green forests are teeming with birds and animals. We saw 32 varieties of birds which are not common and our list includes very rare Kestrel, Himalayan Griffon and Bronze winged Dove. We drove through a huge banyan tree which straddles the road!We also came across many Gujjar camps along the road. A couple of teenagers were taking the ponies for grazing while the grownups had gone off with the buffalos!At Ghansyali jackals howled outside our rest house for a long time. They venture into the village looking for scraps and rummage through refuse. We were also told that leopards carry away dogs and goats from homes. Only a few days earlier a leopard had carried away and devoured a child from the Rest House roof! There are no hotels in Ghansyali but the market is fairly large as a hydropower project is coming up.
Deopryag is place where Rivers Bhagirathi and Alakhnanda meet to form River Ganga.
This is one of the very sacred spots in Himalayas. Bhagirathi is green while Alakhnanda is grey and at the confluence the two colors are visible for quiet a distance.The hills around this sacred spot are covered with growths of a succulent called Spanish bayonets and aromatic Kewra is extracted from its flowers! Deopryag is the place where Ram Chandra is supposed to have performed penance for killing Ravana, a Brahmin. The road from Deopryag to Rishikesh snakes along the shoulder of the ridges along the valley of Ganga. At places it is a few feet above the river while at others a few hundred. Most of the drive is through lush forests but at places it is hairy, especially the areas of frequent landslides!Shivpuri is the place where all whitewater adventure sports in the form of rafting, canoeing and kayaking takes place.
The road is almost at the same level as the river, so all the banks are dotted with adventure camp. One can drive into some of these camps and reach the river. Some are accessible by very picturesque suspension bridges. The river waters are cool and comforting. Being shallow, one can frolic in the waters and beat the heat.This region has an amazing avian fauna, resplendent both in variety as well as numbers. Barring the common birds like house sparrows, red vented bulbuls, jungle babblers, crows, rock pigeons, egrets, herons and parakeets, we also saw some birds which are found only in this region of the Himalayas.
The names of the birds we saw are:
1. Kestrel 2. Himalayan Griffon 3. Large Cormorant 4. Red Jungle Fowl 5. Pea Fowl 6. Black Partridge 7. Rufus Turtle Dove 8. Large Green Barbet 9. Black Drongo 10. Bank Myna 11. Common Myna 12. Brahmini Myna 13. Common Wood Shrike 14. Verditer Flycatcher 15. Magpie Robin 16. Robin 17. Crested Bunting 18. Bronze Winged Dove 19. Blue Eared Kingfisher 20. Tree Pie 21. Yellow Billed Blue Magpie 22. Tailor Bird 23. Coot 24. Blue Cheeked Bee Eater 25. Swallow 26. Raven 27. Pied Wood Shrike 28. Streaked Laughing Thrush 29. White Cheeked Bulbul 30. Streaked Wren Warbler 31. Grey Tit 32. Black Bird
As always your skills with the camera are very commendable. The blog is written very well and accurately. I can't believe y'all saw all those great birds. the scenery is just breathtaking.
ReplyDeleteThe 1st photo, on the lakshman jhula is nice.