Ensconced four kms above the Gomukh, in the cradle of greenery in the middle of milky snow is the Himalayan beauty, Tapovan. The word is derived from the Sanskrit script, to mix up straight with the jungle of nature, where not all can enter. It is the preserve of the hermits, who would venture into arduous, self-negating, and unique search for Lord Shiva, the protector particularly in the evening of their lives.
Nestled in the absolute aloofness, they pray and carry out hard penance, which is indeed an advanced form of Yoga. It’s the Lord who is their protector there and it’s He only who is their destroyer. Tapovan, as the name of the place would gest, breaks up two wholesome Sanskrit words, “Tapah’ and ‘Vanah’ meaning ‘penance’ and ‘forest’ — ‘Tapah’ means sug”Tapasya’ or penance or advanced Yoga, ‘Vanah’ means green beautiful garden where wher grown an eco-system which only nourishes life. ‘Vanah’ also implies the wilderness where human habitation is nil or very rare. The word “Tapovan’, therefore, translates into an expression which means a forest for spiritual search in the environment of green. As the place is atop the ice-rocks of Gomukh, the green there is in the backdrop of snow all around and over. Austerity is in the ernvironment there, as normal life of the plains would not be possible.
Tapovan reflects the basic Hindu concept of penance amid auterity. The mighty Himalayas is the sole example to show how this enormity of perseverence and inner strength can both sustain and reject. The hermits who forsake the mundane pleasures of life, and seriously pursue spiritual truths, retreat at Tapovan, in the absolute recluse of the austrere Himalayas. The caves, such as Gomukh, are aplenty atop the source of the river Ganga, and there live the hermits, sadhus and sages who do not want to be noticed by the mundane worlds of seven sins.
The region spans in the western bank above the northerly flowing Ganga off Gomukh upto the Rishikesh reaches is known as Tapovan. There are greenery amid the snow, as is the wilderness. This traditionality apart, from the source area atop the glacier the barren elevation of about 4,400 metre stretch touching the foot of the Shivling range, is the seasonal recluse of the hermits. The massive sky with clouds of varjous colours stoop down to kiss the snow white of the expanse, generating the feel enormity of the vagaries of the mystique of Nature.
Tapovan is thus not indeed a small cosy place, like we would have in normal gardens. Flowers and plants grow there in abundance, most of them of rare species and families, hitherto not accessible to man easily.
At an altiutude of 4463 metres above the sea level, Tapovan is an ideal location for tourists and pilgrims who seem peace and trabnquillity of the eloquent Nature. There is a meadow in the expanse, which provides a massive view of the Bhagirathi Range of glaciers and a background of milky white wonders of the Bhrigupanth mountain range. The cliffs and the crevices are all made of ice-rocks, which might dislocate at any given point without the slightest warning. Occasional boom-booms are just natural there, which indicate cutting and falling of ice-rocks from certain heights. Probably for such innate adventurism the Tapovan is a popular spot for the adveturous mountaineers.
Tapovan is far away from the hustle and bustle of Joshimath. The state government’s efforts to maintain air cleanliness at Tapovan has largely been successful because of an important reasons, the exclusivity of the reach. That has just not been possible at Joshimath, though the difference between the two small places is only 15 kms. Near Tapovan are two very exquisite sites, Bhavishya Badri (only 3 kms away), which is one of the five Badrinaths (‘Pancha Badri’) and Nandanvan a stretch just beyond Tapovan site from Gangotri.
FACTS A PILGRIM MUST KNOW
● Trek only if you are physically strong. be a place to stay for the night, though
● There may not some said there is one.
● If Tapovan is in the itinerary of pilgrimage, then don’t wait long at Gomukh, go ahead up the snow-hills until you reach 4-kilometre trek in time. Trekking in this stretch is shorter than that 3-kilometre from Bhojbasa to Gomukh. The base camp should be at Rishikesh.
● Avoid any interaction with tapasyis, if one accosted. They feel irritated and the intrusion. Don’t go for wild vegetation, that might disturb the eco-system and even an undiscovered living object may harm you.
● Take enough warm clothes, as nature is unpredictable there.
HOW TO REACH THERE
● Altitude
4463 metres
● Best time of the year
May to July, September to October By Bus/Taxi/ Car Upto Rishikesh
● On Foot
From Rishikesh
● Guide/Porters
Possible
