KANNADIGAS PEDALS CYCLES TO Jalori Pass (HP)

KANNADIGAS PEDDALS CYCLES TO SUMMIT AT JALORI PASS AT HEIGHT OF 10,300 FEET

Vow! Mountain Bikes, Helmets, Gloves, Kneepads, Elbow Pads, a dream of many cyclist who never thought they will wear attire which they saw on television, will be wore by them in their life time says Mr.Solanki D S D. an adventure enthusiast.

It was a journey of trekking expeditions in Himalayan ranges in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal, Uttaranchal apart from jungles of western and Eastern Ghats to the sea shores of Goa, Rock Climbing, Para Sailing, Rafting, apart from Flying various gliders, Para-gliders, Microlite and to the extent of laying his hand on Hans Aircraft too says Mr. D S D. Solanki. 

Himachal, which has been referred as the land of Gods and Goddesses and snow clad mountains. Perennial streams flow here with Crystal clean water. It’s beautiful valleys present extensive forests and picturesque meadows dotted with a variety of flora and fauna, which beckon the young adventure lovers to come and experience the serene and calm atmosphere of all pervading nature

Over View: The route of Mountain Biking was of scenic beauty and cultural diversity. It has vast tracts of meadows and pastures lying across beautiful mountains. 

Flagged off: It was flagged of by Mrs. Nishi Rawat, PA to IYHF President with blind students there to cheer us, apart from official and friends from print media.

The first day of this route on Biking was National Highway up to village Aut. This route has small ups and downs, lots of bridges, flowers, and birds along the Beas River. It’s a Triveni sangam of 3 rivers BEAS, PARVATHI AND THRITHAN. It has got the Asia’s largest Tunnel and Larji Hydro Electric Project that will produce 126 Mega watt power. It has Rishi markunda & Maa Annandi Shakthi temples and Rudraksha Tree. The Aut Village was earlier called as ““PAVANPUR”.

The Second Day of Biking was to “Banjar”. We reached Banjar at around 2 PM, We were provided accommodation in a dormitory owned by a local politician. 

It was located on the second floor and we had to park our cycles in the first floor. The team came across temple in cave and Sringa rishi temple which is 4 km from Banjar towards ‘Jibhi’. We reached Banjar, hired a mahindra ‘convertible’ jeep and headed towards the temple. The drivers here are so young, energetic and confident that in spite of many curves and hairpin bends, they drive the vehicle with panache maintaining a speed of over 60kms. We had a 360-degree view and off he went. I can tell you that spending hundreds of rupees in essel world or GRS Fantasy Park on the roller coasters will not give the thrill and excitement that we got by paying a meager 20 bucks for that ride! We reached the base of the temple and we had to walk for about twenty minutes that has lots of butterflies, Birds and Flowers. We reached the temple, it was an old temple and we came to know from a local legend who explained coherently in pure Sanskrit that it was sage ‘shringa rishi’s temple. He had stayed there for many years and he had meditated on a particular mountain for many years. We were enlightened about the fact that it was he who had given the boon to Dasharatha, Kausalya, Sumithra and Kaikai-the boon of procuring sons by drinking a bowl of payasam. It was a good experience; we sought the blessings of Shringa rishi whose idol had been adorned with magnificent gold and silver necklaces of remarkable radiance. We spent some time and later went back on one more roller coaster ride.

Meditation (future of the country)

The Third Day of Biking was to “Giaghi”, its been said that Shringa Hrishi originated from this place according to Havaldar Kurum Dutt. The team met Himachal folk who are proud of their land, culture and heritage. We were scheduled to stay at a place called ‘Shringi Vatika’ and let me tell you, this place was awesome. It was just beside the road. There was a park, fresh running ice-cold water swimming pool, wooden stumps as chairs and two swings. A meditation room was carved out from a huge boulder. There were orchids and yellow flowers everywhere and in the middle a lovely stream flowed which was made to fall through man- made waterfalls. There was an old hut beside the waterfall and as we walked down the stream, we could find one more beautiful waterfall. The water then joined the main river. The entire setting was man-made, but perfectly crafted to evoke a sense of tranquility. It was heaven on earth. It was a visitor’s haven-a paradise. We had a wooden cottage atop the park overlooking the waterfalls. It was love at first sight.

The Fourth Day of the Biking was to JALORI PASS at a height of 10,930 feet the dream destination of every cyclist to summit. After 6 hours of pedaling, pushing the cycles, we summated at Jalori PASS that is also called as “JALODI JOGINI”. Jalori Pass located at a height of 10,930ft provides an awesome and breathtaking view of some of the  most beautiful snow clad mountain peaks. It is famous for its dense forest with a variety of botanical species of thick and colorful foliage emanating enchanting fragrance, compelling passerby to view and appreciate the raw natural beauty. This forest is also provided with the beauty of colorful birds, butterflies, wilderness of wild life, brown bear and vultures.

In the evening we again explored and summated at Raghupur Ghad at a height of 11,500 feet. With beautiful Valleys around like which is identified with different names like outer Seraj in Kullu dist, inner Seraj in Mandi Dist, Raghupur Valley, Jaddi Butti Valley, Lambha Lambhri Valley and Shojha Valley. The Temperature here varies from Zero degree Celsius and it reaches a maximum of 10 degree and the traffic to this place is closed between Dec to Feb.

The next day is the rest day and we visited “Seol Lake” which is 5 km from Jalori pass amidst the forest where in it is been said Arjuna one among the pandava brothers had shot an arrow to quench his thirst and the ‘BUDI NAGIN’ sitting there also resides in the lake. According to Mr. Jai Singh a local legend says that there is seven gates to reach Budi Nagin in that lake they are Gold, Silver, Bronze, iron, Copper etc. Here people offer ghee around the lake in particular apart from rice, milk etc to full fill their vows. It is been also called as “SEOLSAR”

After a day’s stay at Jalori Pass the team descended by 7000 feet to reach Aut which is at a height of 3,500 feet to complete the first leg of the expedition and later to Seobagh via Bhuntar to reach the Base Camp on June 2 2006.

Earlier the team left Mysore to report at Seobagh base Camp on May 25, and accliamitizaon walk and pedaled the cycles to Monasteries for familiarizing with the Cycles was done before setting their foot for expedition.

Mr. Solanki D SD said Mrs.Nagarathna is the first lady in the country to participate in the National Mountain Biking Expedition of the forty cyclists from across the country who participated in this expedition; she is the only lady to participate from mysore in 2006 

The Other members of the team were Mr.Venu Gopal, AR, Mr.Shashank N, Mr.Punarvas Jayakumar from Bangalore, Mrs.Nagarathna, Mr.Prafull Katta from Vizag (AP) Mr.Atanu Goswami Kolkatta, Mr.Subhash Sarkar, Kolkatta, Mr.Asoke Prasod and Mr.Subhashish from Bolpur, West Bengal.

The Article is written by Tiger Solanki.