Hemkund Sahib, Uttarakhand

Hemkund Sahib is the highest Gurudwara of the Sikhs, located at an altitude of 4329 meters in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. This holy shrine got its name from the glacial lake Hemkund, adjacent to the Gurudwara whose literal meaning is the ‘Lake of Snow’.

This pilgrimage place of Sikhs is dedicated to the tenth Sikh Guru, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji (1666-1708), and also finds its mention in Dasam Grant, a work dedicated to Guru Ji himself. A small temple of Lakshman, the brother of Lord Rama is also bedecked on the shore of Hemkund Lake.

History

Long before Sikhs began coming to Hemkunt, the lake was known to the people who lived in the nearby valleys as a place of pilgrimage. Its name was Lokpal, and its sanctity derived from its association with tales of the gods. Most notably, the god Lakshman, the younger brother of Ram, is said to have meditated or done penance at Lokpal. In a popular story told by local people and visitors alike, Lakshman was brought to the shore of Lokpal after being mortally wounded in a battle with the son of Ravana. Lakshman's wife wept and prayed that her husband is saved. The monkey god Hanuman was then able to find a life-giving herb. When the herb was administered to Lakshman, he miraculously revived. In celebration, God showered flowers from heaven, which fell to the earth and took root in the Valley of Flowers.

Another story is told about Lakshman's previous incarnation as a seven-headed snake. In this form, so the local people say, he meditated under the water at Lokpal and lord Vishnu slept on his back. The name Lokpal refers to Vishnu, the sustainer, who looks after the earth. Lokpal is also rumored to be the native place of yet another god: Shiva, the destroyer, and his wife Parvati. Stories like these, and the ones about Hemkunt related below, have written sources in the Puranas (ancient volumes of Hindu mythology) and the Hindu epics (the Mahabharata and the Ramayana), but as they are passed from person to person and from generation to generation, they change, taking on local references and becoming blended with elements from other stories with other sources.

Traditionally, Lokpal was visited on three annual festivals held during the summer season. The pilgrimage to the lake was made primarily by women, both Garhwali villagers from the valley below Lokpal and villagers of Bhotia (Indo-Tibetan) ancestry from neighboring valleys. All who went to Lokpal recognized the sanctity of the lake. Out of respect for the purity of the water and its environs, they made the steep ascent barefoot, clad only in white cotton dhoti (an unstitched garment). The women left their clothes and shoes behind at a halting-place set in a glade of fir trees. There they would spend the night singing songs of the goddess, and at dawn, they would set out to scale the slope to the lake. This halting-place became the site of what is today Gobind Dham or Ghangaria, named after the ghagra, or petticoats, which the pilgrims would leave there.

When the pilgrims reached Lokpal, they would make offerings of coins, coconuts, Brahma Kamal flowers, and parshad (a consecrated sweet). They would often bathe in the cold water, and pray to Lakshman for the blessing of a son or the health of their menfolk. A story by the local people about a Bhotia man who had no children. He came to Lokpal and his faith was so strong that he crawled the circumference of the lake on his elbows. When he returned the following year he had a son.

Architecture

Crafted out of white marble, Hemkund Sahib is an imposing star-shaped structure lying on the banks of the beautiful lake. A water body behind the structure is a source of the Lakshman Ganga. SInce it is the only gurudwara to have been constructed at such a great height, special considerations were kept in mind when the process of Hemkind Sahib's construction began. Firstly, a prototype of the Gurudwara was created out of steel and erected in Delhi such that the final assembly could be done at Hemkund. The different sections of the edifice were manufactured, numbered, and then transported to Hemkund. The roof was designed to have crests and troughs so that it could handle the load of the falling snow more efficiently. To add an element of beauty, the star-shaped roof of the Gurudwara was built out of aluminum such that it glistened and glittered at the slightest hint of sunlight. The Hemkund Lake was diverted towards the ground floor of the Gurudwara where the water was used to create a bathing area for women, while men were free to do so in the open lake. These intricacies led to the creation of the most elegant piece of engineering in the form of the Hemkund Sahib. As you enter the Hemkund Gurudwara, you are welcomed into a giant hall that is splendidly decorated with lights and exquisite tapestry. Pictures of various Sikh gurus adorn the walls, while the apex roof is designed in such a manner that they light up the Guru Granth Sahib enshrined here. There are four doors at the four corners of the Gurudwara, and a langar hall is situated close by where pilgrims are served a holy meal free of cost.