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Through the Valley of Gods Travels in the Central Himalayas Man Mohan Sharma Vision Books Through the VaHey of Gods UNIVERSITY LIBRARY H. P. KRJSHJ VISHVA VIDYALAYA PALAMPUR 6JS6_9_ H M Ace. No. 1 :?.-4 Class No. ')io· oqS'f.!lBook No._S._ _ Author S k.~, M. H Ti•le _I-~~-·lot. ---k-...c--. -l!\-~ ,~ ~ ~,. · ~w~llt>- t ~.,;; tLC(l...~ . .ps e - I H+ .. ~- A(! 11) E!orrnwer's §:: ~e· tN o · - Due Date Bar Noow. er's 0 ue Date ------+----- ·• \j I.'· .,~) ·~. ;. .J Hirnachal Pradrsh KRISIIl VISHVA VIDYALAY\ LIIH<Al.:Y _ PALAMPtJR.f76062 Call No Cflo · o95?-z~ Ace. No . ..Si 3 r [)ate of rel~Ut! for loan This1>0'0t 51loum be returned on or before tht' date last stamped below. 0VC"rdue c.:barge~ will b<" collected for each aay the b.1olc IS kt:J•I nven1m•· (See Rules Overlrafl. -~--~-·~-~·.:...:I,:····---·--- f. ... ............ .. .... -. T.. .. ......... .. . ! "' .......... ~.~~-h.~ t~. }'v..·'L,I I .................... -· .............. !' -- f; ~~ i \ I -~_.::. .'':. ..( \,··t ... - I ... -~~+:9'/t 1 ~tr-· ~ 000 M •• • .... _ 00 '0 I I ....... .. .. . . . .. i-... ... ~ ... . ·-.... I I I .... I \-+lt-1\ '1 ~ Jo • o ~ S' ~ s lJ .,. CL-CSKHPKV lltllllltllmll 61969 \0 Man Mohan Sharma, 1977 vo 77002 Firat published January 1977 Second edition January 1978 Published by VIsion Books Pri'fate Limited 36 C, Connaught Place, New Delhi 110001. Printed by Pauls Press B·2S8 Naraina Iooustrlal Area Phase-I, New Delhi 110028. For Anjali, Geeta, Anuradha Preface THB CENTRAL Himalayas comprise the region which was called Uttara· khand in the olden days and includes Kumaon and Garhwal hills. This whole area is replete with marvellous beauty of nature. No where are God's attributes and divine manifestations mirrored with greater perfection than here. The holiest of the holy shrines-Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarth, Badrinath and the Gurdwara Shri Hemkunt Sahib -are all located in Uttarakhand. The area finds a mention in the earliest Sanskrit literature. For centuries, it has attracted throngs of people of all shades of faith. Indeed, in the history and evolution of the Hindu religion, no place is as important as is Uttarakhand. During 1970-73, I had the good fortune of being officially posted in Uttarakhand where travelling over the length and breadth of the country side was my job. I got unique opportunities of travelling extensively on foot and ponies and by road and helicopter. The beauty of the magnificent mountains abounding with ftora and fauna, and above all the sterling qualities of the people simply captivated me. I listened carefully to the myths and legends narrated by men who fell in step with me in these remote regions. I read with rising interest books on Uttarakhand, some of which gave briliiant accounts of explorations, expeditions, travels and studies of different aspects of the life and pastimes of the people. The first-hand study, however, revealed a missing link. No existing book provided a com· plete coverage of the large store of mythological legends which have been fondly passed for untold centuries by one generation to the next in Uttara khand. Hence this book. One thing emphatically struck me that the area has been variously referred to as the Deva Bhoomi (or the valley of gods) Devatma, Punya Bhoomi, and so on. The beauty and richness of this region have justifiably made it the dwelling place of most of our gods: Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh, Shakti and Ganesh-the Panch Parmeshwar. Also the nature has given it the pride of place of being the source point of two of our holiest vii PREFACE rivers, Ganga and Yamu na. Deva Bhoomi, thus, is the fittest description of this region and accordingly, I call my book Through the Valley of Gods. The object of this book is to provide a comprehensive guide to the traveller and relate the fascinating myths and legends as they are current among the hill people of this valley. During the ja/ pralaya where was it that Vishnu towed the boat carrying Sapta Rishi? Where did Shiva get married to Parvati? Where did Ganga descend on earth? Where was Laksh man brought after he fell unconscious in the battle with Ravana? Where was sanjivani buti found? Where did Kunti marry the Pandu king and where was it that she begot Karna, her son by Surya? In which ashram did Shakuntala, the immortal heroine of Kalidasa's play, live'! Where did Rishi Vyas write the Mahabharata? Where did Guru Ciobind Singh meditate in his earlier life'! All these and scores of other tales from our rich store of mythology have been narrated here. One thing may be clarified at the outset. Where people's faith is concer· ned, it is not necessary to offer scientific explanations. Faith and folly are as closely related as fact and fancy. In faith, many questions remain unans wered though not always unanswerable. It is pertinent to note that no reli gion in the world is without these scientifically inexplicable fables. Garuda, the wonder-working bird mount of Vishnu, for example, is common to the legends and fables of many people: the rukh of the Arabian Nights, the kimi of Japan, and the sehmurgh of Persia, etc. I have no doubt that bereft of their embellishments, the basic ideas of myths and legends always con tain the memories of events of remote past. There are also other aspects that may interest, the more scientifically in clined readers and those interested in beauty of the nature: How were the Himalayas born out of the Sea of Tethys? Where do we find the sea-life fossils and what link have they with mythology'! What are the highways and byways? Where is the valley of flowers and how do we reach it? I have tried to give detailed information on all such geological and geographical points as well, and thus make the book useful to the tourist and scholar alike. Some historical details that might assist the traveller in seeing the things in their correct perspective have also been added. If this work assists any of the travellers through the valley of gods in a greater and fuller satiation of the wander lust or any scholar to see even the smallest event connected with the valley in its correct historical pcrs· pective, the writer would feel amply rewarded. New Delhi Man Mohan 8 November 1976 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am very grateful to the people of Uttarakhand who provided me with numerous legends forming the very core of this book. I am deeply indebted to Km. Ashima, Km. Anita, Km. Kiran, Km. Usha, Km. Daljit, Smt. Krishua Gupta, Smt. Champa Kappor, SfShri Harish Sah, Mangey Tamang, Vijay Sharma, K.L. Gosain, Om Bhardwaj, Tarsem Gupta, R.K. Gaur, Kulwant Sachdeva, Tribhuwan Joshi, Pt. Madini Prasad Mishra, Bapu Chaman Singh Bisht, Madan Bansal and Major Avinash Arora for their assistance in compilation of this book. I am extremely grateful to Brig. Teg Bahadur Kapur, AVSM, for the gui dance and encouragement given me during the writing of this book. I must also acknowledge my appreciation of my wife Bholi's active (lssocia tion and assistance in drafting and writing of this book. In the end, I am very happy at the association of Shri Krishna Kumar, Managing Editor, Vision Books, with this work of mine. M.M.S.
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