OUR ITINERARY AND ITS MAP

.  This blog describes the Yatra by eight of us  to several sacred places in UP and Nepal through a package tour offered by Nepal Pilgrim Travel,Chennai in the month of September 2013; the chart and the map given here shows the places visited;while the tour operator has covered a number of places,the journeys were extremely grueling and tiresome;it is packing and unpacking every day due to shifting of camp and an exacting schedule requiring leaving camp as early as 5.30AM and reaching the night halt often late in the evening;add to it the poor condition of the roads.
    These details are given to guide persons wishing to undertake the Yatra and warn them of its arduous nature!
       Distances chart
Date       September 2013                  Km
9th.    Allahabad to Chitrakoot--       131
10th   Chitrkoot to Nemisaranya via
          Allahabad,Lucknow------ -   -   417
11th  Nemisaranya to Ayodhya        212
12th   Ayodhyato Bhairawa-------      189
13th   Bairawa to Kathmandu------   294
14th   Kathmandu to Pokhara------   203
15th   Pokahra to Jomsom by Air
          and by zeep toMukthinath.
16th   Jomsom to Pokahra by air,and
          halt due to Nepal bandh
17th   Pokhara to Chitwan----------  -135
18th   Chitwan to Janakpur----- ----  246
19th   Janakpur to Gorakhpur---  - -367
         add diversons to Nandigram,
         Ganjendramokshastal etc-      100
  TOTAL- ------------------------------ -2294

TRIVENI SANGAM

on 8th morning we arrived in Allahabad,and visited Triveni Sangam in the evening;the Yamuna was still in flood and inundated the banks a few days back;we could not take a bath in the Sangam and satisfied ourselves by sprinkling the holy  water on our heads.

Triveni Sangam

Hanuman temple gopuram in the background

CHITRAKOOT

On 9th we joined the yatris [arrived from chennai] at2.00AM at the Allahabad station,traveled to Chitrakoot,arriving there at 6.oo AM .We had a holy dip in Mandakini and visited spatikasila,sathi anasuya cave,kamathnath temple,Hanuman dara.

Mandakini

sati Anasuya cave

spatikasila

 kamathnath temple

Hanuman dara

NEMISARANYA

on 10th Sept.it was  a 400km marathan drive of over 12hrsthrough Allahabad,and Lucknow,to reach Nimisaranya from Chitrakoot !!!it was a grueling journey.
 11th started with a holy dip in Gomathi,then visits to Balaji temple, Chakrateerth,Vyasa gaddi,Devarajaswamy temple[shakthipeet],Ahobila mutt,Lalitha devi temple.After lunch weleft for Ayodhya.

River Gomathi at nimisaranya

chakrateerth

Anjaneya idol

NANDIGRAM

On the way to Ayodhya from Nimisaranya we visited nandigram and the temple of  Hanuman and Bharat milap

AYODHYA

on 12th sept. we traveled by autos  to Sarayu,had holy bath,visited kanak Bhavan,karyasala, Ram janmabhoomi, Ammaji temple.[divya desam];it was a long walk through a fenced path and several security checks to see ram Janmabhoomi,and all in hot sun.After lunch we left for Bhairawa;on the way we stopped for two hours in Gorakhpur to collect a second batch of Yatris arriving by train from chennai.We reached Bharawa  at 9.30 in the night and hit the bed tired and with swollen ankles.

RAMA crossing Sarayu[ravi verma painting]

GAJENDRA MOKSHASTALAM

on 13th morning ,after a quick breakfast at 6.30AM,we left for Gajendramokshasthal on the way  to kathmandu.This ia beautiful place on the bank of river  Gandaki,in the middle of a thick forest.we all had a holy dip in the Gandaki.

GANDAKI

PASUPATHINATH

 A very happy event at the Temple as our  batch-mates from Nepal-Biswanath Upreti and Utthar BahadurShresta-met us.

Budhnilkantha[courtesy Wikipedia]
on 14th morning, we visited Budhneelkanta narayan[jalnarayan temple],Guheswari devi shakthipeet,and Pasdupathinath panchmukh sivaling.Rao met his nepal class-mates uprethi and shrestha at the temple.After lunch we left and reached Pokhara at 11.30PM

                                                                                               Pasupathinath temple view[courtesy wikimedia commons]

MUKTHINATH [elevation-3800M]

On 15th september early morning by 7AM we flew to Jamsom;it is 20 minutes flight by TARA airlines 15seater .We had a beautiful view of  the Himalayas in the Annapurna conservation area.Then we traveled by bus for two or three kilometers,then by zeep for 15km on a road along the Gandaki river;then we reached a village at around 10,000';we walked for a kilometer,then traveled by motorcycle,riding on the pillion,for one  kilometer to reach the temple gate;the journey by the Zeep and by the motorcycle was a very  very rough ride comparable to an Italian grandprix!we clasped motorcycle driver tightly to avoid falling off !!some of the yatris trekked the one kilometer;at this elevation of approx. 12000'some breathlessness is experienced by most visitors.
  WE took bath under the 108 springs;the water was ice-cold and our heads became numb !after the bath under the 108 springs,we took bath in the papakund and pynya kund.

Zeep travel

on way to motorcycle stand

Mukthinath Dwar

Yatris taking holy bath at the 108 gomukh springs

a view of the108 gomukh through which Gandaki flows

The mukthinath temple with punyakund in forground

the jamsom airport

A view of the snow-capped Himalyas from Jomsom airport with Siwaliks in foreground.

POKHARA TEMPLES

on the 17th morning we visited Vindhyavasini,Gupteswar mahadev cave,Varahi devi shakthipet and Devi waterfall.and left for chitwan national park

ANNAPURNA

Vindhyavasini temple

Devi falls

MANOKAMNA

On 17th after a visit to several sacred places in Pokhara,we left for janakpuri;on the way we visited Manokamna temple by cable car.

cable car

Manokamna temple

CHITWAN NATIONAL PARK

On the early morning of 18th we went on a brief safari on elephant back into the Chitwan national park for a couple of hours;since the habitat is a closed sal forest we could not sight any wildlife except a small herd of sambhar deer;the resort operator charged an exhorbitant entry fee of R.1600 per person; the habitat here is not suitable for sighting wildlife and it is a waste of money;i suggest that future visitors to this area should not opt for this safari.

some yatris on the safari

a herd of sambhar deer

DHANUSHDHAM

On our way from Chitwan National Park to Janakpuri,we visited Dhanusdham,here fell a piece of Siva Dhanush broken by Sri Rama;it is a sort of a fossil.

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