Journey to Hemkunt Sahib – 1979

This letter, dated September 30, 1979, comes from Sat Kirn Kaur Khalsa. See pictures from the trip below.

Sat Nam Ji,
We just got back from our Yatra to Hemkunt Sahib. What a trip it has been. How beautiful it is to back at the Golden Temple. Two weeks in India and I feel as though time has almost stood still. I thoroughly enjoyed the Yatra to Hemkunt Sahib. Believe me, climbing up to Hemkunt Sahib is hardly the whole of the challenge of the Yatra. We started out on an overnight train to Hardwar – the Hindu city on the Ganges. The train, luxurious by Indian standards, but something of wood, rough, hard and more like World War I vintage to my imaginings. But we could stretch out and with our pads and sleeping bags we spent a good night. The countryside is lush and green, so peaceful to look at, so unhassled by the ravages of modern technological society. Sun shining to greet us in the morning we were met in Hardwar by two very comfortable looking buses which took us and our sea of luggage to Rishi Kesh (top knot – hair) where a large Gurdwara is situated just near the Ganges River. Grazing land, hills and Ashrams situated across the Ganges from overlooking hillsides filled our panorama from the rough-hewn six-story guesthouse that housed us for the night. This Gurdwara contains an orphanage where homeless boys of all faiths are brought and raised as Sikhs. What an oasis from the poverty and filth that dominate so much of India. It appeared that the boys spent a good deal of time learning and practicing Kirtan. Guru Mustuk Singh, at first glance ran to join them and spent his first hour there peeling and chopping onions for the langar. He felt at home there and later won the joyful attention of the little boys as he played by the swimming pool (green with algae growth) just next to our building. People love the children too much and they become silly very quickly

….Read More

8 Responses to “Journey to Hemkunt Sahib – 1979”

1. Gurumustuk Singh says:

   July 15, 2005 at 11:25 pm

   The story really brings you there :)

   Thanks for sharing that Mataji!

2. Anonymous says:

   July 16, 2005 at 12:52 am

   Gurumustuk, thanks for sharing the pictures. Also, thanks for putting in so much time blogging. Your’s is the only blog I have been reading daily for over two weeks in a row!

3. Anonymous says:

   July 16, 2005 at 6:15 am

   Gurumustuk Singh Jee,
   you are so lucky,you been to the Guru’s Tirath.i’m so impressed by you guys.your mom is looking so beautiful.and Narayan looks exactly like you.
   it looks like you must be of my age too. which year’re you born in???

4. Gurumustuk Singh says:

   July 16, 2005 at 8:16 am

   Born March 1975

5. Anonymous says:

   July 17, 2005 at 9:45 am

   What’s population of Espanola and what percentage are sikhs?

6. Gurumustuk Singh says:

   July 17, 2005 at 10:30 am

   The estimated population of Espanola is about 9,600. How many are Sikhs? Guessing…maybe 300.

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espanola,_New_Mexico

   http://www.city-data.com/city/Espanola-New-Mexico.html

7. Jaspal says:

   July 19, 2005 at 12:19 am

   Hey your two years older than me.

8. Prabhu Singh says:

   July 19, 2005 at 12:10 pm

   These statistics aren’t perfect. The population of the city is only that much, but generally the whole valley is considered to be a part of Española and that puts the population closer to 30,000. Also I don’t know how they get the housing statistics. Even though poverty is immense in Española, housing is outrageous. It doesn’t matter what something is appraised at, you can hardly find anything nice for less than $250,000.