the clouds came to rest alongside the flowing alaknanda as dusk took over the valley - at Karnaprayag to Devprayag, Uttarakhand

Dusk comes up quite suddenly in the Himalayas, and there does not seem to be any difference between winter or summer at night. We were driving back, from Karnaprayag to Rudraprayag, to go ahead to Devprayag and on to Rishikesh, some years back. Barely 4.30 pm at Karnaprayag, a traffic jam delayed us as we crossed across the Alaknanda River. And by 5.15 pm, it was beginning to darken, and a drizzle had started fogging up the road. The vehicles in front of us were our only guide to understanding the dimension of the road, and the dangerous slopes to the valleys below. 

The Alaknanda River goes all alongside the road from Karnaprayag to Rudraprayag, and then keeps going away and coming back up to Devprayag. As we drove slowly alongside the river, a beautiful panorama was playing out. All the clouds seemed to come down the higher slopes of the mountains, and by 6 pm, they were below the road. A bit later, and some kilometres further, one could see the clouds coming to rest all over the river, and soon enough, the river was not to be seen. We could only guess that it was the river, because of the clouds resting over it. 

It is said that Parvati, is thus known, because she is forever the Goddess of the Parvat, ie the Himalayas, and she would never want to leave the embrace of the mountains, who are her parents. And as I watched, it seemed like the Goddess came down silently, etherally, gently descending, and came to embrace her sister, the river, and that they rested peacefully at dusk within the valleys of the Himalayas. I looked above, the peaks shone in the moonlight, and one could be assured that Maheshwara, or Gangadhara himself, looked down and was pleased. 

Snow and rain proof multi-storeyed houses at Kharsali village, near Yamnotri, District Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand

We had gone up to Yamnotri as part of the Great Himalayan Bird Count in November 2009. The route was - briefly - Dehra Dun to Mussoorie to Barkot to Hanuman Chatti to Yamnotri. The route from Dehra Dun to Mussoorie to Barkot took us a day, and the next day's drive brought us to Yamnotri by late noon. I took the help of the local forest staff to hire a mule and rode up to the Yamnotri temple on the same post-noon daylight that was left. After a quick darshan, since the temple had been shut for the winter, we returned barely before darkness engulfed the path and made it dangerous. 

Next day, we walked across the just born Yamuna river, by an age-old suspension bridge, and went up to Kharsali Village. Some sages at the Yamnotri temple and the forest guards had told us that the Goddess was kept in safe keeping for the winter at the Kharsali Village. The head priest of the temple up at Yamnotri, stayed at Kharsali, and was conducting daily prayers. So we walked up a mud embankment and went to meet the priest. 

The Kharsali village looked like one had stepped back in time. The architecture, materials, wood, design, and the methods adopted for snowproofing their houses, and protecting against heavy rainfall was quite unique. Possibly most of the upper Himalaya areas were similar but I had not seen such house design before. Some houses were multi-storyed, some at least five storeys tall, with the bottom two for domestic livestock and storage space for hay and firewood. 

This one particular house was impressive. It was in a courtyard of at least 3-4 houses, each one quite different from each other, and possibly built at different times. But, all houses seemed to be very ancient. I hope this village does not get to become modern very soon and one is able to return and visit the place with more time at hand. 

women grass-cutters near Karnaprayag, Uttarakhand

From sometime in September 2009, on the road near Karnaprayag, in Uttarakhand. These are the lower Himalayas, and on the Char Dham route (= the four pilgrimage location route). They are a regular sight and reflect on the dependence of the local women on biomass. They seem to work through the day, traveling further and about, harvesting fodder and journeying back with a heavy headload. I had a number of questions to myself, for I could not bring myself to stop them and ask them or delay them. 

We were traveling from Haridwar by road through Rishikesh, Devprayag, Karnaprayag and Rudraprayag to Adi Badri. It was a most fascinating route, complete with surprises on every blind turn. Nowhere else in India would one come to such a limitless bounty of diversity and convergence. 

Hats off, salaam and respects to the hill-women of the remote villages of Uttarakhand for having struggled to just live out their lives in the rugged Himalayas. The strongest of Indians.