Kunjapuri Sunrise

Kunjapuri temple is located at the height of 1676 meters on a hill near Rishikesh. It is one of the shaktipeeths in Uttarakhand. It was our second visit to this temple. The first visit was in 2016. The views of the snow-clad white Himalayas from this place are spectacular. Kunjapuri is famous for its beautiful sunrise views, with the sun rising from behind the Himalayan peaks.

 On a windy, chilly morning, our yoga guru exhorted us - a group of adventurous, intrepid, free-spirited & enthusiastic bunch of yogis aged 17-70, to awake at 0330 hours so as not to miss the sunrise, a most uplifting experience on the Rishikesh mountains. He also casually stated that it wouldn’t be so cold and a jacket would do. Accordingly, we assembled for the bus ride of 75 mins to Kunjapuri. 310 steps lead to the hilltop where the temple is situated.

The conversations on the bus were mainly about London being infinitely colder than Kunjapuri, and the previous day had been relatively warm in Rishikesh. Despite this, the chill wind drilled through our undergarments, and some of us rushed to find washrooms when we reached Kunjapuri. 

The stairway to heaven, as LedZep might have called it, loomed larger than life and appeared to be 1500 steps rather than the 310 odd that was promised. We huffed and puffed and reached the summit. The strong winds at the top blew our jackets and shawls in all directions.We had reached almost an hour before the scheduled sunrise! Refreshing ourselves with a cup of chai and rusk at the hilltop, we waited for the sun to rise.

The place has undergone a metamorphosis since 2016 with visitors and commercialism with more plastic waste, casually and indifferently strewn amid more ramshackle buildings. It is always a source of wonder that a culture that built such exquisite shrines so long ago seemed to care little about aesthetics these days. With almost an hour to sunrise, we saw crowds coming in, and slowly, the hilltop was crowded with people.

The sun rose as scheduled,, though,, and the abundant pictures capture the moment much better than any words could describe. Several selfies and photographs later, we trudged downhill with literally cold feet and attacked the breakfast with a fury.