ELEVATION OF THE HIMALAYA.
“Not vainly did the early Persian make
His altar the high places, and the peak
Of earth-o’ergazing mountains, and thus take
A fit and unwall’d temple, there to seek
The Spirit, in whose honour shrines are weak,
Uprear’d of human hands. Come, and compare
Columns and idol-dwellings, Goth or Greek,
With nature’s realms of worship, earth and air,
Nor fix on fond abodes to circumscribe thy prayer!”
The Great Peak of Bhadrināth—No Glaciers in the
Snowy Ranges—Ceremonies performed on visiting Holy
Places—Kedarnāth—Moira Peak—Gangoutrī—The Jaunti
Peak—Jumnotrī—The Himalaya Range formed by Mahadēo—Palia
Gadh—The Dewtas—Bandarponch—Hŭnoomān—The Cone—Height of the
Himalayas.
_1838, Sept._—You wish me to send home some sketches from the Hills; I
will strive to comply with the request, and in the mean time will forward
you a map, copied from a portion of a survey: it will show you the
elevation of the Himalaya, and give you a definite idea of the shape of
the mountains.
THE GREAT PEAK OF BHADRINĀTH.
The highest peak, that of Bhadrināth, 23,441 feet above the Sea, is a
conspicuous object from the summit of Landowr. Some of the mountains
of the Snowy Ranges display high, rocky, sharp peaks, covered with
snow—smooth, hard, unbroken, and glittering white; others are cut into
fantastic shapes. There are no glaciers, because, in all probability, an
uniform cold—below the freezing point—prevails in so elevated a region.
Bhadrināth is a noted place of pilgrimage, and during my stay in the
Hills some of my Hindū servants requested leave of absence to visit it.
“The Hindūs have a way to heaven without dying: if the person who wishes
to go this way to heaven, through repeating certain incantations survive
the cold, he at last arrives at Himalŭyŭ, the residence of Shivŭ. Such
a person is said ‘to go the Great Journey:’ Yoodhist’hirŭ, according to
the puranŭs, went this way to heaven; but his companions perished by
the cold on the mountain: this forms another method in which the Hindūs
may meritoriously put a period to their existence; it is also one of
the Hindū atonements for great offences.” The ceremonies performed on
visiting holy places are as follows:—“When a person resolves to visit
any one of these places, he fixes upon an auspicious day, and, two days
preceding the commencement of his journey, has his head shaved; the next
he fasts; the following day he performs the shraddhŭ (funeral obsequies)
of the three preceding generations of his family on both sides, and then
leaves his house. If a person act according to the shastrŭ he observes
the following rules:—First, till he returns to his own house, he eats
rice which has not been wet in cleansing, and that only once a day; he
abstains from anointing his body with oil, and from eating fish. If
he ride in a palanquin or in a boat he loses half the benefits of his
pilgrimage; if he walk on foot he obtains the full fruit. The last day of
his journey he fasts. On his arrival at the sacred spot, he has his whole
body shaved, after which he bathes, and performs shraddhŭ: if the pilgrim
be a woman, she has only the breadth of two fingers of her hair behind
cut off; if a widow, her whole head is shaved. It is necessary that the
pilgrim stay seven days at least at the holy place; he may continue as
much longer as he pleases. Every day during his stay he bathes, pays his
devotions to the images, sits before them, and repeats their names, and
worships them, presenting such offerings as he can afford. In bathing,
he makes kooshŭ grass images of his relations, and bathes them. The
benefits arising to relations will be as one to eight, compared with that
of the person bathing at the holy place. When he is about to return, he
obtains some of the offerings which have been presented to the idol or
idols, and brings them home to give to his friends and neighbours; these
consist of sweetmeats, toolŭsee leaves, the ashes of cow-dung, &c. After
celebrating the shraddhŭ he entertains Brahmāns, and presents them with
oil, fish, and all those things from which he abstained: having done this
he returns to his former course of living. The reward promised to the
pilgrim is, that he shall ascend to the heaven of that god who presides
at the holy place he has visited.”
The mighty Bhadrināth towers far above Chimboraco, although—
“⸺Andes, giant of the western star,
With meteor-standard to the winds unfurl’d,
Looks from his throne of clouds o’er half the world.”
At Gangoutrī, the source of the most sacred branch of the Ganges,
Mahadēo sits enthroned in clouds and mist, amid rocks that defy the
approach of living thing, and snows that make desolation more awful. But
although Gangoutrī be the most sacred, it is not the most frequented
shrine, access to it being far more difficult than to Bhadrināth; and,
consequently, to this latter pilgrims flock in crowds, appalled at the
remoteness and danger of the former place of worship. This may pretty
fully account for the superior riches and splendour of Bhadrināth.
The town and temple of Bhadrināth are situate on the west bank of the
Alacknunda, in the centre of a valley; the town is built on the sloping
bank of the river, and contains only twenty or thirty huts, for the
accommodation of the Brahmāns and other attendants on the deity: the æra
of its foundation is too remote to have reached us even by tradition.
A hot spring, issuing from the mountain by a subterraneous passage,
supplies the Tapta-Kund; it has a sulphureous smell: Surya-Kund is
another hot spring issuing from the bank. The principal idol, Bhadrināth,
is placed in artificial obscurity in the temple, and is dressed in gold
and silver brocade; above his head is a small looking-glass, and two
or three glimmering lamps burn before him, exhibiting the image in a
dubious light. This temple has more beneficed lands attached to it than
any other sacred Hindū establishment in this part of India. A large
number of servants of every description are kept, and during the months
of pilgrimage the deity is well-clothed, and fares sumptuously every
day; but as soon as winter commences, the priests take their departure,
leaving him to provide for his own wants until the periodical return of
the holy season. The treasures and valuable utensils are buried in a
vault under the temple.
The pilgrims assemble at Hurdwar, and as soon as the fair is concluded
they visit Bhadrināth, often to the amount of forty-five to fifty
thousand, the greater part of whom are fakīrs.
KEDARNĀTH.
The next remarkable peak is that of Kedarnāth, 23,062 feet above the sea;
and the supposed source of the Ganges is placed below it at the elevation
of 13,800 feet.
The temple of Kedar-Nāth is situated at the source of the Kalī-Gunga; it
is of indefinite antiquity, not lofty, but of some extent, and sacred to
Mahadēo, or Shiva, under the name of Kedar. There are several dhrum-salas
erected for the accommodation of the pilgrims who resort to the shrine,
and who are pretty numerous every year. There are many kunds or springs
near it.
The Moira peak is 22,792 feet above the sea.
GANGOUTRĪ
Gangoutrī (Ganga avatari) marked 10,319 feet above the sea, is the
celebrated place of pilgrimage, near to which the river Ganges issues;
its course has not been traced beyond Gangoutrī, for the stream, a
little farther, is entirely concealed under a glacier or iceberg, and
is supposed to be inaccessible. The small mandap here is of stone, and
contains small statues of Bhagiratha, Ganga, and other local deities: it
stands on a piece of rock, about twenty feet higher than the bed of the
Ganges, and at a little distance there is a rough wooden building to
shelter travellers. Notwithstanding the great efficacy attributed to this
pilgrimage, Gangoutrī is but little frequented. The accomplishment of it
is supposed to redeem the performer from many troubles in this world,
and ensure a happy transit through all the stages of transmigration he
may have to undergo. A trifle is paid to the Brahmān for the privilege
of taking the water, which the Hindūs believe is so pure, as neither to
evaporate or become corrupted by being kept and transported to distant
places. The Ganges enters the plains at Hurdwar, flows on to Prāg, where
it is joined by the Jumna; and, after receiving various rivers in its
course, it passes through that labyrinth of creeks and rivers called the
Sunderbands into the sea.
Captain J. A. Hodgson thus describes Gangoutrī:—
“A most wonderful scene: the B’hàgirat’hí or Ganges issues from under
a very low arch at the foot of the grand snow-bed. The river is here
bounded to the right and left by high snow and rocks; but in front, over
the _Debouche_, the mass of snow is perfectly perpendicular; and from the
bed of the stream to the summit we estimate the thickness at little less
than three hundred feet of solid frozen snow, probably the accumulation
of ages; it is in layers of some feet thick, each seemingly the remains
of a fall of a separate year. From the brow of this curious wall of snow,
and immediately above the outlet of the stream, large and hoary icicles
depend; they are formed by the freezing of the melted snow-water of the
top of the bed, for in the middle of the day the sun is powerful, and
the water produced by its action falls over this place in cascade, but
is frozen at night. The Gangoutrī Brahmin who came with us, and who is
only an illiterate mountaineer, observed, that he thought these icicles
must be Mahádéva’s hair, whence, as he understood it is written in the
_sha’stra_, the Ganges flows. I cannot think of any place to which they
might more aptly give the name of Cow’s Mouth than this extraordinary
_Debouche_.
“We were surrounded by gigantic peaks, entirely cased in snow, and
almost beyond the regions of animal and vegetable life; and an awful
silence prevailed, except when broken by the thundering peals of falling
avalanches. Nothing met our eyes resembling the scenery in the haunts of
men; by moonlight all appeared cold, wild, and stupendous, and a Pagan
might aptly imagine the place a fit abode for demons. We did not even
see bears, or musk deer, or eagles, or any living creature, except small
birds. The dazzling brilliancy of the snow was rendered more striking by
its contrast with the dark blue colour of the sky, which is caused by the
thinness of the air; and at night the stars shone with a lustre which
they have not in a denser atmosphere.” “It falls to the lot of few to
contemplate so magnificent an object as a snow-clad peak rising to the
height of upwards of a mile and a half, at the horizontal distance of
only two and a half miles.”
“She is called Ganga on account of her flowing through Gang, the earth:
she is called Jahnavi, from a choleric Hindū saint: she is called
Bhagirathi, from the royal devotee Bhagiratha, who, by the intensity and
austerity of his devotions, brought her from heaven to earth, whence
she proceeded to the infernal regions, to reanimate the ashes of his
ancestors: and lastly, she is called Triputhaga, on account of her
proceeding forward in three different directions, watering the three
worlds—heaven, earth, and the infernal regions,—and filling the ocean,
which, according to the Brahmanical mythology, although excavated before
her appearance, was destitute of water.”
Hurdwar, at which place the Ganges issues on the plains, is put down on
the map.
The impracticable deserts of snow and rocks in these lofty regions alone
prevent the pilgrim from going directly from one place to another. Thus,
eleven days’ journey are spun out from Gangoutrī to Kedarnāth; while
seven or eight days are expended in reaching Bhadrināth from the latter
place.
On the map a beautiful range of mountains now appear, crowned with the
Jaunti Peak, 21,940 feet; next is Sir Kanta, and then the pass of Bamsera.
JUMNOTRĪ.
Bandarponch is 23,916 feet above the sea, and the Peaks of Jumnotrī,
20,120. Jumnotrī itself, the source of the Jumna, is marked below in the
map at the elevation of 10,849 feet.
At Jumnotrī the snow, which covers and conceals the stream, is about
sixty yards wide, and is bounded to the right and left by mural
precipices of granite; it is forty feet five and a half inches thick,
and has fallen from the precipices above. In front, at the distance of
about five hundred yards, part of the base of the Jumnotrī mountain rises
abruptly, cased in snow and ice, and shutting up and totally terminating
the head of this defile, in which the Jumna originates. Captain Hodgson
says, “I was able to measure the thickness of the bed of snow over the
stream very exactly, by means of a plumb-line let down through one of the
holes in it, which are caused by the steam of a great number of boiling
springs which are at the border of the Jumna.” The range of springs,
which are extensive, are in the dark recesses, and in the snow caverns.
The following is related concerning the origin of these hot springs:—“The
spirits of the _Rikhs_, or twelve holy men, who followed Mahadēo from
Lunka to the Himalaya (after the usurpation of the tyrant Rawan), inhabit
this rock, and continually worship him. Here the people bathe, the
Brahmān says prayers, receives his dues, and marks the pilgrims with the
sacred mud of the hot springs. The people, out of respect, put off their
shoes long before they reach Jangotrī, and at this place there is no
shelter for them during the night. Jumna prefers simple worship at the
foot of her own and natural shrine, and has forbidden the erection of
temples to her honour.”
Noble rocks of varied hues and forms, crowned with luxuriantly dark
foliage, and the stream foaming from rock to rock, form a foreground
worthy of Jumnotrī. When Mahadēo retired from Lunka, disgusted with the
rebellion of his son Rawan, the tyrant and usurper of Lunka, he formed
_Kylās_, or the Himalaya range, for his retreat; and Soomeroo Purbat, or
Roodroo Himālā, with its five peaks, rugged and inaccessible as it is,
for his own dwelling. The Bhagiruttee and Alacknunda are there said to
have sprung from the head of Mahadēo. Twelve holy Brahmāns, denominated
the twelve Rikhs, left Lunka in search of Mahadēo, and penetrated to
Bhyramghattee, where the J’hannevie meets the Bhagiruttee, but could
not find him. Eleven of them, in despair, went to Cashmire, but the
twelfth, named Jum-Rekhī, remained at Bhyramghattee, sitting on a huge
rock in the course of the stream Bhagiruttee, which, instead of flowing
on as usual, was absorbed in the body of the saint and lost, while the
J’hannevie flowed on. The goddess of the stream (Bhagiruttee) herself
was at Gungotrī, worshipping Mahadēo, and making her prostrations on the
stone on which the present temple is founded. When she felt the course
of the stream was stopped, she went in wrath to Bhyramghattee, clave
Jum-Rekhī in two, and gave a free passage to the river. One-half of the
Rekhī she flung to the westward, and it became the mountain Bandarponch:
from his thigh sprang the Jumna, and from his skull arose the hot springs
of Jumnotrī. They still show the large rock which the Rikh sat upon, and
which was divided in two by the same fatal cut. It is a very large block
of granite, which appears to have fallen from the cliff, above the point
of union of the two rivers, and is curiously split in two.
The name of Bandarponch applies properly only to the highest peaks of
this mountain. Jumnotrī has reference to the sacred spot, where worship
is paid to the goddess and ablution performed.
Frazer, speaking of a glen about three days’ journey from Jumnotrī, says,
“Having reached the top of the ascent, we looked down upon a very dark
and deep glen, called Palia Gadh, which is the outlet to the waters of
one of the most terrific and gloomy valleys I have ever seen. It would
not be easy to convey by any description a just idea of the peculiarly
rugged and gloomy wildness of this glen: it looks like the ruins of
nature, and appears, as it is said to be, completely impracticable and
impenetrable. Little is to be seen except dark rocks, wood only fringes
the lower parts and the water’s edge: perhaps the spots and streaks of
snow, contrasting with the general blackness of the scene, heighten the
appearance of desolation. No living thing is seen; no motion but that of
the waters; no sound but their roar. Such a spot is suited to engender
superstition; and here it is accordingly found in full growth. Many
wild traditions are preserved, and many extravagant stories related of
it. On one of these ravines there are places of worship, not built by
men, but natural piles of stones, which have the appearance of small
temples. These are said to be the residence of the _dewtas_, or spirits,
who here haunt and inveigle human beings away to their wild abodes. It
is said that they have a particular predilection for beauty in both
sexes, and remorselessly seize on any whom imprudence or accident may
have placed within their power, and whose spirits become like theirs,
after they are deprived of their corporeal frame. Many instances were
given of these ravishments: on one occasion a young man, who had wandered
near their haunts, being carried in a trance to the valley, heard the
voice of his own father, who some years before had been thus spirited
away, and who now recognized his son. It appears that paternal affection
was stronger than the spell that bound him, and instead of rejoicing
in the acquisition of a new prey, he recollected the forlorn state of
his family deprived of their only support: he begged and obtained the
freedom of his son, who was dismissed under the injunction of strict
silence and secrecy. He, however, forgot his vow, and was immediately
deprived of speech; and, as a self-punishment, he cut out his tongue with
his own hand. This man was said to be yet living, and I desired that he
should be brought to me; but he never came, and they afterwards informed
me that he had very lately died. More than one person is said to have
approached the spot, or the precincts of these spirits, and those who
have returned, have generally agreed in the expression of their feelings,
and have uttered some prophecy. They fall, as they say, into a swoon,
and between sleeping and waking hear a conversation, or are sensible of
certain impressions, as if a conversation were passing which generally
relates to some future event. Indeed, the prophetic faculty is one of
the chiefly remarkable attributes of these spirits, and of this place.
The awe, however, which the natives feel of this place is great and
remarkable. The moment that Bhisht and Kishen Sing came in sight of the
place, they commenced prostrations, and the forms of worship, with many
prayers and much apparent fervency, to the spirits of the glen. They
assert that no man ever ascended the valley to any considerable height;
and that natural, as well as supernatural, obstacles are too great to be
overcome; that of the few who have attempted it, none ever returned, or
ever enjoyed his reason again: and I believe that the former of these
obstacles may be nearly paramount, for a survey with the glass showed the
difficulty to be at least very great; and certainly, ascending the hill
to the top would be altogether impossible.”
There are said to be four peaks which form the top of Bandarponch, and
in a cavity, or hollow, contained between them tradition places a lake
or tank of very peculiar sanctity. No one has ever seen this pool, for
no one has ever attempted to ascend any of these prodigious peaks.
Bandarponch signifies “monkey’s tail.” It is said that Hŭnoomān, after
his conquest of Lunkā, or Ceylon, in the shape of a monkey, when he had
set that island on fire by means of a quantity of combustible matter tied
to his tail, being afraid of the flame reaching himself, was about to dip
it in the sea (sumunder) to extinguish it; but the sea remonstrated with
him, on account of the probable consequence to the inhabitants of its
waters: whereupon Hŭnoomān plunged his burning tail into this lake, which
has ever since retained the name. The Zemindars aver, that every year,
in the month P’hagun, a single monkey comes from the plains, by way of
Hurdwar, and ascends the highest peak of this mountain, where he remains
twelve months, and returns to give room to another; but his entertainment
must be very indifferent and inhospitable, as may be inferred from the
nature of the place; for he returns in very bad plight, being not only
reduced to a skeleton, but having lost his hair and a great part of his
skin.
_Nalāpanī_ and the level of the Dehra Dūn are marked in the map below the
source of the Jumna.
The Cone is a most remarkable peak; the elevation of Parkyal and Kaldung
is conspicuous among the lower mountains over which they tower. The
Nulgoon Pass is marked below them in the map.
_Extracts from the papers._
“Height of the Himalayas.—The Great Trigonometrical Survey has
determined the elevations of the great peaks of the Himalaya
range. The highest (supposed to be the highest spot on the
surface of the globe) is Kunchinginga, West Peak, 28,176 feet;
the East Peak is 27,825 feet. The following are the elevations
of other peaks:—Junnoo, 25,311; Kabroo, 24,004; Chumalari (in
Tibet), 23,929.”
“At a meeting of the Asiatic Society on the 6th November, a
paper by Col. Waugh, surveyor-general, was read, giving the
result of that officer’s operations to determine the height of
several Himalayan peaks in the neighbourhood of Darjeeling.
Col. Waugh appears to have satisfactorily ascertained that the
western peak of Cutchinchinga was 28,176 feet high, and the
eastern 27,825—thus claiming for that mountain the greatest
altitude on the earth yet known. 1848.”