As a travel writer for the past two decades, I have had the good fortune of visiting the many nooks and corners of India, off-the-beaten-road destinations and hidden tourism gems that you won’t find in any guidebooks or tourist brochures. One such place is Uttarakhand’s Kasar Devi Mandir, 10 km from Almora, tucked away gorgeously on the lap of Kumaon Himalayas, where great minds have found spiritual solace and unfathomable body- mind- soul upliftment.
The aura of Kasar Devi is so magnetic that since ancient times, this little-known Hill has attracted people seeking peace and tranquillity. Leaving aside the Rishis of yore, the list of contemporary persons who have spent quality time here at Kasar Devi Hill in search of spiritual solace is a veritable treasure trove – Bob Dylan, D.H.Lawerence, George Harrison, Allen Ginsburg, Uma Thurman, Sunyata Baba aka Alfred Soresen, Steve Job.
Although not a diehard spiritualist, I do some meditation and beginner’s Yoga, primarily to keep myself healthy and in shape to counter the work-related stress that my profession entails. However, my only umbilical connection with the world of spirituality is being an ardent devotee of the holy trinity – Sri Ramkrishna- Holy Mother Sarada Devi- Swami Vivekananda ordained Ramakrishna Math & Mission.
Having received Dikshya (Initiation) from His Holiness Swami Gahanananda Maharaj, the 14th President of the Ramakrishna Math & Mission, way back in 1997, I do chant the Guru mantra for inner peace and time permitting, try to spend quality time with monks of the Ramkrishna order and decipher the significance of the Vedanta philosophy. Like any lay devotee of Swami Vivekananda, it isn’t surprising to be aware of the great Swami’s love affair with the Himalayas, and Almora in Uttrakhand was a perennial favourite of Swami Vivekananda. He had done some of his most intense Sadhana(spiritual austerities) prior to his advent in the West, America to be precise.
Swamiji’s connect with Almora is legendary. In one of his soul-stirring lectures in Almora, he had expressed his fervent desire to set up an Ashrama in the silent and holy peaks of the Himalayas, and I quote –
“These Mountains are associated with the best memories of our race…where Rishis lived, where philosophy was born… Here, therefore, must be one of those centres, not merely of activity, but more of calmness, of meditation, and of peace; and I hope someday to realise it”.
Realise he did! and today, the Ramakrishna Math & Mission has its own Ashrama in Almora, which came into existence way back in 1916. Today, the Ramakrishna Kutir serves as the spiritual retreat centre for the monks of Ramakrishna Order from India and abroad.
But, what is so special about Almora? What is the USP that compelled Swami Vivekananda to fall in love with this mesmerising hill town?
I for one believe, the great cyclonic monk was bedazzled by the stupendous Himalayan panorama – on a clear sunny day, Almora offers breathtaking views of some of the highest peaks – Nanda Devi(7820 m), Kamet (7758m), Nanda Devi East (7430 m), Chaukhamba (7140 m), Trishul(7120 m), Panch Chuli ( 6905 m), Nanda Kot(6860 m) to name just a few!
Coupled with the stupendous Himalayan vistas, the hill town of Almora finds mention in some of India’s ancient religious texts like the Vedas and Upanishads as well, thereby juxtaposing it’s claim as a spiritual nerve centre.
In fact, Almora’s hypnotic Himalayan charm was so deeply embossed on Swami Vivekananda that documenting his travels in the High Himalayas makes for a captivating outdoor thriller. For instance, there are innumerable places in close proximity to Almora, like Lala Badri Shah’s house, Thompson House,Oakley House, Kakrighat, Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, Government Inter College, etc….to name just a few. The latter, in particular, was Swamiji’s first lecture ( 27th July. 1897) delivered in Hindi !
There must have been a reason why the great Swami chose Almora and Kumaon Himalayas for his last leg of intense Sadhana or Spiritual austerities before landing in the West and navigating the hitherto uncharted spiritual terrain for a Hindu monk/emissary/ambassador! And great souls, who have achieved significant spiritual illumination have this uncanny knack of discovering places of Moksha/ Nirvana that suit their spiritual paths. Almora was to Swami Vivekananda what Bodh Gaya was to Lord Buddha – A place for illumination!
Of all his wandering places in the Himalayas, Swamiji laid great stress on one particular spot – the Kasar Devi Hill, which to him was his spiritual sadhana’s alma mater. If one flips through the pages of his vast reservoirs of literary works on Vedanta Philosophy and his tete-a-tetes with brother monks of the Ramkrishna order, it is clear as daylight that there exists a super normal energy field at Kasar Devi, conducive for meditation and spiritual austerities.
The great Swami was spot on, and it took NASA scientists years to discover and acknowledge that Kasar Devi Hill, indeed, was an integral part of the Van Allen Belt, a declaration of which was made by NASA in the year 2013. Thanks to NASA’s discovery of Kasar Devi Hill, today, this Hill is synonymous with very high levels of Geomagnetic rays that aid both in revitalising and rejuvenating the body- mind- soul system in a perfect cosmic symphony that benefits whosoever takes the plunge of spending time in contemplation of the Divine; with those magnificent powdery Himalayan peaks like Nanda Devi, Trishul, Chaukhamba…….bearing witness!
Having heard so much about Almora and Kumaon Himalayas from monks of the Ramkrishna Order, I didn’t think twice when I got a call and an invitation to visit Almora from a native Kumaoni guy – Chandan Singh Koranga, who is a close confidant of my Dubai based younger brother.
Chandan is the proud owner of Wood Villas – speciality Wooden Chalets, which he has built on the outskirts of Almora, Dhamas village to be precise, with the primary motive of promoting sustainable tourism in Kumaon Himalayas, preserving the fragile Himalayan eco-system through Carbon Neutral tourism activities and arresting the disturbing trend of Kumaoni youths migrating to metro cities to eke out a living and generating enough revenues to plough back into the local economy for the Reverse Migration process.
If I am, to sum up my drive from Delhi to Almora, it was like a veil slipping out of the forehead of a beautiful Kumaoni bride – leaving the din and bustle of Delhi as you speed your way on the Delhi- Moradabad road and then onto Rudrapur- Haldwani-Ranikhet, all the way upto Almora, was refreshing, to say the least. The 370 kms. Drive can be covered in 9.5 hours. Baring the stretch from Moradabad to Kashipur, the drive uphill is breathtaking.
From Wood Villas Dhamas, Kasar Devi Hill is 37 Km. and takes just over an hour to reach via Shitlakhet Road. In my enthusiasm to fathom the spiritual undercurrents of Kasar Devi and follow in the footsteps of the great Swamiji, I requested Chandan to arrange for an early morning cab as I intended to spend the entire day at Kasar Devi from sunrise to sunset.
One has to climb around 100 steps to reach the hilltop temple and each step I climbed, I was consciously uttering my simple three- worded Guru Mantra. And, once I set my foot on the temple courtyard, a soothing mountain breeze blew all my worries away. The perspiration-induced sweat gave way to a coolness that only the Himalayas can offer. The early morning sunshine meant that the visibility was perfect, and the towering snow-clad Himalayan peaks from Nanda Devi to Chaukhamba made for a kaleidoscopic vignette.
After offering Puja to Mata Kasar Devi, regarded as one of Devi Durga’s forms – Devi Kattayini, I ventured towards the “Akhand Jyoti” or The Eternal Flame where there is an exclusive “Havan Kund” and I could see the wooden logs burning. The aroma of the smoke emanating from the “Kund” felt divine and purifying. According to the temple’s priest, there is a belief that the ash of the “Havan Kund” has magical properties in curing people who suffer from mental illness.
The one thing that overwhelmed me was the sheer sense of vastness! Unobstructed views of the Himalayas and the ever-changing skyline; one moment bright and sunny and another moment fleeting balls of white clouds dancing a celestial dance.
As time elapsed, I had no idea it was already well past 3 P.M. and the temple’s priest sent an emissary to remind me that I hadn’t taken my lunch. And 3 pm, by Kumaoni standards, is too late for lunch!
Here at Kasar Devi, you can spend hours doing nothing and yet not feeling bored because of your inactivity. Perhaps this is due to the tremendously pure combo package consisting of – 100 per cent Pure High Altitude Oxygen, Carbon Neutral Surroundings and Blessings of ancient saints and Rishis who practised spiritual austerities here, thereby making Kasar Devi so potently spiritual.
In fact, from my 10-hour-long vigil and rest at Kasar Devi, the one takeaway gift I took along with me was the sense of “Nothingness”, simply you and pristine nature, which I feel finds expression in Swami Vivekananda’s often-used phrase – “Peace That Passeth Understanding”.
Now, just wonder the sense of that “Vast Nothingness” one would accumulate if one were to live in Kasar Devi Hilltop for a month or so!
I truly had a yearning of many years and longed to come and visit this place about which I had heard so much from the monks of the Ramkrishna Math. And, I am eternally grateful to the divine for being so fortunate and offering me with a taste of that “Bliss of Nothingness” even if it was of 10 hours duration.
Just imagine the immensity of Almora’s Kasar Devi Hill, where Swami Vivekananda engaged in his final round of spiritual austerities before plunging in the West!
The great Swamiji made his mark on the world stage with his soul stirring speech as an ambassador of Hindu religion in the Parliament of Religions held at Chicago in the year 1893. This unheard-of monk was for all practical purposes India’s first tourism ambassador to the West and keeping in sync with his Master’s philosophy of –”Harmony of World Religions”, contributed admirably towards enriching the overall spiritual consciousness of the world.
If here is one thing we fear – and fear it most desperately than death itself, it is the dread of living a life without significance. This dreadfulness has become more prominent as we advance technologically in our struggle to master the external world. We chase impossible goals that turn to ashes in our own hands. Our interior world remains unexplored, uncultivated and barren. Even though we have enjoyed remarkable technological progress, the psychic cost has been great. It is like we have dangled ourselves over the edge of a rocky promontory.
Swami Vivekananda endeavoured to lead mankind to the place where there is neither the Vedas, nor the Bible, nor the Koran; yet this has to be done by harmonising the Vedas, the Bible and the Koran. And it was from Almora’s Kasar Devi Hills where he found the spiritual energy of such great magnitude.
