Hemkund Sahib is the highest Sikh shrine in the world and has a setting of a glacial lake surrounded by seven peaks. It is famous for a Gurudwara, known as Hemkund Sahib, associated with Guru Gobind Singh ji, the 10th Sikh Guru, and is located in the Himalayas at an elevation of over 15,200 ft (4,600 m) in Uttarakhand state of India, and accessible only by foot from Gobind Ghat on Rishikesh-Badrinath highway. Adjacent to the lake, there is also a Lakshman temple. Earlier this place was known as Lokpal Hemkund. Here many sages have meditated in the ancient times. It is said that younger brother of Lord Rama, Lakshman ji in his past birth as Vasuki Nag (Sheshnag), meditated over here. In the earlier times, people from the adjacent villages used to come to this spot for pilgrimage. However, in 1930, Havaldar Modan Singh of Bengal Sappers and Miners regiment, a part of the survey team, found Hemkund as he was trekking through this region. He found this place to be fitting in the description given in the poem “Bachittar Natak” that Guru Gobind Singh ji had meditated in his past birth at a place having a lake surrounded by seven snowclad peaks. Later, with the help of another devotee Sant Sohan Singh, he laid the foundation of a Gurudwara in 1937 at present location. Now this place is recognised worldwide as one of the most famous Sikh shrines and every year, lakhs of Sikh pilgrims visit this place for pilgrimage.
On trekking route to Hemkund Sahib, there is a diversion for the Valley of flowers, also called as “Nandan Kanan” in the Hindu mythology and considered as playground of fairies. This valley is world renowned and is a world heritage. It is renowned for its meadows of hundreds of varieties of endemic alpine flowers which blossom for few months from July to September. According to one legend, when Lakshman ji in his previous incarnation of Sheshnag, successfully completed his meditation in the Lokpal Hemkund area then angels showered flowers over him and the flowers fell down in the adjacent valley too which later came to be known as the valley of flowers. As per another legend, angels showered flowers on Guru Gobind Singh ji on successful completion of his meditation during his previous incarnation as Dushta Daman and these flowers fell down in the adjacent valley as well and subsequently started growing there. While Hemkund Sahib is mainly important for the Sikhs, the valley of flowers is visited mainly by the tourists interested in seeing natural beauty.
In the year 2008, authorities of our institute (Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dehradun, India) decided to arrange for free medical services for the pilgrims of Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib and opened a small hospital at Gobind Ghat, the base camp of journey to Hemkund Sahib. The institute authorities asked for volunteers among the doctors and I volunteered for 10 days’ stay at Gobind Ghat. After completion of my tenure there, I payed a visit to Hemkund Sahib. At that time, I had thought of visiting the valley of flowers during my return journey from Hemkund Sahib, but due to shortage of time, I wasn’t able to do so. Next year too, I volunteered for free medical service at Gobind Ghat Gurudwara. I opted for the period of last one-third of July as the flowering season of the valley of flowers was from mid-July till mid-September.
While sitting in the clinic at Gobind Ghat, an interesting thing happened. A patient came to me and told that he was a drug addict and was trying to get rid of his drug addiction. He was a taxi driver and had brought some passengers for pilgrimagae to Hemkund Sahib. As he had not taken drugs for the last two days, he was feeling restless and had developed tiredness and bodyaches. Initially, I prescribed some tranquillizers for him and sent him away but immediately as an afterthought, I called him back and offered to help him in his de-addiction through hypnosis. He agreed and I made him sit in front of me on a chair. I hypnotized him easily and started giving some suitable suggestions to him. I thought of taking him into the past and explore the facts about Hemkund Sahib. On giving him suggestions in this regard, he was able to delve into past easily and started seeing Guru Gobind Singh ji sitting on a slab adjacent to Hemkund Sahib lake. He was engrossed in meditation and his face was different from the one in his birth as Guru Gobind Singh. He was wearing a dastar (turban) and had covered his body with yellow sheet. He was able to see seven snowclad peaks around that lake but didn’t see any Gurudwara there. There was no habitation there but behind a hill, there was a hut with idol of Lord Shiva inside it. There was a red flag outside the hut. On enquiry, he confirmed that present Gurudwara at Hemkund Sahib had been built at the same place where Guru Gobind Singh ji had meditated in his past birth. He also said that at that time there was Lakshman temple in that area adjacent to the lake but inside the sanctum sanctorum, he could see only idol of Lord Shiva. He could see some bear and deer in that area. He couldn’t tell the name of Guru Gobind Singh ji in his past birth. However, he confirmed that Lakshman ji in his past birth had meditated at the same place. On asking him the name of Lakshman ji in his past incarnation, he suddenly opened his eyes and said “Your magic didn’t work”. I was taken aback but then he asked what had happened to him as he didn’t remember anything but was feeling numbness in his hands and that his legs were rising up. He was totally refreshed and said that all his restlessness and bodyaches had disappeared. I asked him to come again for a repeat session and for further guidance to manage his addiction problem as I was getting late for dinner but he didn’t turn up. Anyhow, I was happy that God had given me some glimpses of past through my subject.
On completion of my posting in Gobind Ghat clinic, Gurudwara management arranged a horse for me to go upto Hemkund Sahib. I started from Gobind Ghat at 5 a.m. It was an arduous journey of 19 kms upto Hemkund Sahib. Distance was 13 kms upto Gobind Dham from where it was a steep ascent of 6 kms upto Hemkund Sahib. I met Mr. Surinder Singh in Gobind Ghat who was manager in Gobind Dham Gurudwara. He already knew me as I had met him last year during my visit to Hemkund Sahib. He was very courteous. I apprised him of my intention to stay there at night while returning from Hemkund Sahib. I had my breakfast and then started for Hemkund Sahib. In between, it was raining which made things all the more worse. I reached Hemkund Sahib at 12.30 p.m. The Gurudwara staff was very cordial. Mr. Karnail Singh, the manager, already knew me and extended hospitality to me. I had a bath in the chilling waters of Hemkund lake and proceeded for Ardas (prayers) at 2 p.m. After attending the prayers, I saw Mr. Gangwar, the nursing supervisor who had come to Gobind Ghat with me. He was trembling with cold as he had walked all the way from Gobind Ghat upto Hemkund Sahib. He had earlier served in Army Medical Corps at difficult terrains but appeared to be badly shaken by cold. Mr. Karnail Singh presented us Saropas in Shri Darbar Sahib and I was very happy to receive it. Subsequently, I visited Lakshman temple and had some interaction with the priest. Fog was appearing quite frequently, making the surrounding mountains invisible. At 5 p.m., we started our backward descent and reached Gobind Dham at 7.45 p.m. Beautiful Brahma Kamal flowers (state flower of Uttarakhand) were seen in the vicinity of Hemkund Sahib and were a treat to the eyes.
Next day, I started for the valley of flowers from Gobind Dham. About 300 yards from the entry gate, there was an area covered heavily with landslides which was quite scary. In the beginning itself, there was an ascent which continued upto 1 km. Subsequently, one had to go down for crossing Pushpawati river on which a bridge had been built. It was a 3 km walk upto the entry to the main valley. The furious river was flowing down the abyss and we were slowly ascending the mountainous path. Wild flowers were blooming with thick vegetation around the track. At places, the glacier was visible at the base of the mountain. In the distance, Rathowan peak was shining and at times, got covered with the clouds. On the way to the main valley, we had to pass through two more very risky points covered with landslides from the mountains. We passed through these areas, remembering the name of God. After 3 kms, we had to again cross the Pushpawati river to enter the main valley. The valley was surrounded by mountains and extended upto 8 kms. Small flowers were blooming on both sides of the pavement which was covered with uneven stones. Many tourists were visiting the place. It was not a full bloom season for the valley but still the flowers present over there lent charm to the view. I was moving slowly as I was tired due to previous day’s adventure. After moving for about one and a half kms, we encountered another stream. We had to again climb down to cross it and then climb up. By that time, I was very tired. As I could get a good view of the valley from that high point, I decided to return as it was already 12 noon. We had to return to Gobind Ghat the same evening and had to cover another 13 kms in order to do that.
I could see the memorial of an English lady, Miss Margaret Legge, a botanist who died in the valley of flowers way back in 1939. I took snaps of surrounding areas and returned to Gobind Ghat.
Later, on analysing the photographs taken at Hemkund Sahib, I found that energy orbits had appeared in some photographs, particularly in the photograph of Guru Gobind Singh ji (Please, look for the photographs in the photo gallery section).
