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The town of Yamunotri hosts a temple dedicated to Goddess Yamuna marking the source of the Yamuna River. The actual source is though a frozen lake fed by the Champasar glacier located on top of Kalind mountain. It is generally difficult to reach the lake; therefore, the shrine to the goddess is built on the foot of the hill. Yamunotri is the westernmost shrine in the Garhwal Himlayas and is perched on a flank of the Bandar Poonch Parvat. 
The Yamunotri temple was built by Maharaja Pratap Shah of Tehri Garhwal. The presiding deity is made from black marble. The temple was damaged by an earthquake and was reconstruted by Maharani Guleria of Jaipur in the late 19th century.
Several hot-water springs abound in the area. One of the them (Surya Kund) is used to prepare offerings for the Goddess: usually rice & potatoes tied in muslin cloth are dipped into the hot water for cooking. In another thermal spring (Gauri Kund), devotees will usually take a holy dip.
Rishikesh to Yamunotri is 225 km (via Narendranagar, Chamba, Tehri, Dharasu). Dharasu is a junction to Gangotri (122 kms) & Yamunotri (105 kms). The last few kilometers needs to be trekked. From Jankichatti the trek is 5km, whereas it is 14km from Hanumanchatti, to reach Yamunotri.
Lion poacher nabbed, awaits trial Mintar Singh, leader of a gang of lion poachers, was finally nabbed last month in MP. 36 of his accomplices were already convicted two years back. Malini Shankar has more. |
