HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Swargarohini (
IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...
: ''svargārohiṇī)'' is a
mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...
in the
Saraswati Saraswati (, ), also spelled as Sarasvati, is one of the principal Devi, goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of knowledge, education, learning, arts, speech, poetry, music, purification, language and culture. Together with the godde ...
(Bandarpunch) Range of the
Garhwal Garhwal may refer to the following topics associated with Uttarakhand, India: Places *Garhwal Himalaya, a sub-range of the Himalayas *Garhwal Kingdom, a former kingdom *Garhwal District (British Garhwal), a former district of British India * Ga ...
Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...
. It lies in the Uttarkashi District of the northern Indian state of
Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...
, west of the
Gangotri Gangotri is a town and a ''Nagar Panchayat'' (municipality) in Uttarkashi district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is 99 km from Uttarkashi, the main district headquarter. It is a Hindu pilgrim town on the banks of the river Bha ...
group of peaks. It comprises four separate peaks, the main peak Swargarohini I is the subject of this article. Swargarohini I, while not particularly high by Himalayan standards and not the highest in the Bandarpunch range, it is notable for its dramatic local relief. Since its north face drops in less than of horizontal distance, and its south face achieves the same drop in less than , the climb is steep and challenging. Swargarohini I has two summits, east and west. The Swargarohini I West is slightly higher than the Swargarohini I East summit, the later has an elevation of . However, the first ascensionists of the ''Swargarohini I West'' peak claim that that summit is the higher of the two. This snow-clad peak is the source of the
Tons River The Tons (टौंस नदी) is the largest tributary of the Yamuna. It flows through Garhwal region in Uttarakhand, touching Himachal Pradesh. The Tons thrust is named after this river. With its source in the high Bandarpunch mountain ...
and along with the
Bandarpunch Bandarpunch (lit. Hindi: ''Monkey's tail'') is a mountain massif in the Garhwal Himalaya in Uttarakhand, India. The massif has 3 peaks: White Peak (6102 m), also called Banderpunch II, to the west above Yamunotri; almost 5 km east is Banda ...
massif it acts as a watershed between the
Yamuna The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...
and the
Bhagirathi The Bhāgīrathī (Pron: /ˌbʌgɪˈɹɑːθɪ/) is a turbulent Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism. In the Hindu f ...
Rivers.


History

Swargarohini derives its name from the legends associated with it from the Hindu epic
Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...
. In the final section of the epic, the Pandavas give up kingdom and travel northwards in the hope of reaching heaven. The peaks are said to be the stairway to
heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...
that was followed by
Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, aɳɖɐʋᵊ IAST: Pāṇḍava) is a group name referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who are central figures of the Hindu epic ''Mahabhara ...
, but only
Yudhishthira Yudhishthira (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, ud̪ʱiʂʈʰiɾᵊ IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira''), also known as Dharmaputra, is the eldest among the five Pandavas, and is also one of the central characters of the ancient Indian epic ''Ma ...
, the eldest of the Pandavas, is able to reach heaven. According to the legends it is believed that this is the only way one can go to heaven without dying. But the legends further gets complicated as many claim that the Pandavas had taken a route from the present town of Badrinath in the eastern part of Garhwal, Uttarakhand, which is very far apart from the Swargarohini peaks in Sankari range of western Garhwal. AHead of
Badrinath Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is a Hindu holy place, and is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham pilgrimage. It is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage c ...
, Mana and onwards to Satopanth Lake, one can see the Swargarohini Glacier ( no relation to Swargarohini peaks ) and Yudhishthira and the dog ( form taken by Yamraj ) had climbed the Swargarohini glacier to the top and not the Swargarohini peak. In the Upayana Parva of the
Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...
, various hill tribes from the hill and mountain region of what is now
Garhwal Garhwal may refer to the following topics associated with Uttarakhand, India: Places *Garhwal Himalaya, a sub-range of the Himalayas *Garhwal Kingdom, a former kingdom *Garhwal District (British Garhwal), a former district of British India * Ga ...
are mentioned as giving gifts to
Yudhishthira Yudhishthira (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, ud̪ʱiʂʈʰiɾᵊ IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira''), also known as Dharmaputra, is the eldest among the five Pandavas, and is also one of the central characters of the ancient Indian epic ''Ma ...
during his
Rajasuya Rajasuya () is a śrauta ritual of the Vedic religion. It is ceremony that marks a consecration of a king. According to the Puranas, it refers to a great sacrifice performed by a Chakravarti – universal monarch, in which the tributary princes ...
yagna In Hinduism, ''Yajna'' or ''Yagna'' (, ɐd͡ʒɲə ) also known as Hawan, is a ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras. Yajna has been a Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature called Brahmanas, as well a ...
, including the Taganas,
Kirata The Kirāta () is a generic term in Sanskrit literature for people who had territory in the mountains, particularly in the Himalayas and Northeast India and who are believed to have been Sino-Tibetan in origin. ...
s and Kunindas. Parshurama killed his mother
Renuka Mahur Renuka, also known as Yellamma Devi, is a Hindu mother goddess venerated predominantly in the South Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra. She is regarded as the mother of Parashurama, the six ...
at Nakuri, 10 km from Uttarkashi town. Also, it is said the
Pandava The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, aɳɖɐʋᵊ IAST: Pāṇḍava) is a group name referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who are central figures of the Hindu epic ''Mahabhara ...
s, after leaving their kingdom to
Parikshit Parīkṣit (, ) was a Kuru king who reigned during the Middle Vedic period (12th–9th centuries BCE). Along with his son and successor, Janamejaya, he played a decisive role in the consolidation of the Kuru state, the arrangement of Vedic ...
, halted at Patangini before continuing to Swargarohini, where they died.


Climbing history

By 1994, there had been fifteen documented attempts had been made to climb Swargarohini peak. On 25 October 1974, Charles Clarke (England); Dilsher Singh Virk, Peter Fuhrman and Bruce MacKinnon (Canada); and Mohan Singh and Rattan Singh (India) made the first ascent of Swargarohini I, ascending from its west side and reaching the west summit. On 3 May 1990, the first successful ascent of the main Swargarohini summit was achieved by a team of instructors from the
Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports The Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports was established in 1983 in Aru, Pahalgam, when chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir suggested its creation to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The institute was formed on the lines of other natio ...
. They climbed from the Ruinsara Valley on the north side, via the eastern
col A col is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks; a mountain pass or saddle. COL, CoL or col may also refer to: Computers * Caldera OpenLinux, a defunct Linux distribution * , an HTML element specifying a column * A collision sig ...
connecting the peak to the rest of the range, and found challenging
rock climbing Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending climbing routes, routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in c ...
to achieve the col, leading to easier snow slopes above. However, other sources claim that this ascent stopped () short of the summit due to the presence of an unstable
cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...
. In 1991, an attempt to climb the south face of the peak was unsuccessful. On 7 June 1993, however, an expedition from Sweden made the first undisputed ascent of the peak from south face. The summit team comprised Birger Andrén, Ingela Nilsson, and Ake Nilsson. They ascended a rock ridge on the eastern side of the south face, leading to the easy east-southeast ridge.


See also

*
Geography of Uttarakhand Uttarakhand has a total geographic area of 53,483 km2, of which 86% is mountainous and 65% is covered by forest. Most of the northern parts of the state are part of Greater Himalaya ranges, covered by the high Himalayan pea ...
*
Geology of the Himalaya The geology of the Himalayas is a record of the most dramatic and visible creations of the immense mountain range formed by plate tectonic forces and sculpted by weathering and erosion. The Himalayas, which stretch over 2400 km between ...
*
List of mountain peaks of Uttarakhand Uttarakhand is a Himalayan state of India. This mountainous state contains, in its northern section, some of the highest mountain peaks in the world. Many of them are unclimbed; many are unnamed. A large number of peaks in Uttarakhand are still ...


References

{{reflist Geography of Uttarkashi district Mountains of Uttarakhand Six-thousanders of the Himalayas