Pilgrimage to Hemkunt

The shrine Shri Hemkunt Sahib stands apart from all other Sikh shrines, it is related with our tenth master Shri Guru Gobind Singh. Were Guru Ji contemplated on the one divine God in meditation. Hemkunt Sahib is connected to the previous birth of the guru when he meditated. The Guru writes in his autobiography –

“Thus I narrate the tale of my own life
How the lord sent me forth to this world
While I was busy with austerities
There I was by Hemkunt ‘Receptacle of Ice’
Amid the seven snow – clad mountain peaks
Out of my contemplation, the lord God
Summoned me to his presence
And sent me hither to his world
It wasn’t my desire to come hither”

- Bachitra Natak: 103, 28-30

The shrine is also unique in its location. It stands over 15,210 feet above sea level. No other is located at such a height nor is any other gurdwara so hard to get to as you have to walk a great deal before you reach the holy Gurdwara. When you reach the holy shrine first you have ishnan in the holy lake where pilgrims usually recite Japji Sahib whilst bathing in the holy lake. The roof is unique the roof is the shape of an inverted lotus flower. Pilgrims go and bow to Shri Guru Granth Sahib in the Darbar and then sit and there and feel peace and want to meditate in such a quiet and calm environment. Ardas is performed and then the pilgrims go to the langar and then they do their return journey back to the bottom.