Nanda Devi East Base Camp Trek, 2024 , Jun – Sep

At elevations above 4152m, snow covers the mountains throughout the year. Nanda Devi is the second highest mountain in Uttarakhand, India, and the highest located entirely within the country. It is the 23rd-highest peak in the world. It is located in Chamoli Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, between the Rishiganga valley on the west and the Goriganga valley on the east. The peak, whose name means “Bliss-Giving Goddess”,is regarded as the patron goddess of the Garhwal and Kumaon Himalayas. Glaciers and snowmelt feed the headstreams of the Ganges River in torrents that rush through gorges and steep-sided ravines. Below the permanent snow line between 9,000 and 14,000 feet (2,750 and 4,300 metres)—is a cold windswept zone where herders take sheep and goats to graze during the short summers. At lower elevations, between 3,500 and 8,000 feet (1,100 and 2,400 metres), a temperate climate encourages year-round settlement, farmers raise livestock and cultivate terraced, irrigated slopes. Deodar cedar forests supply timber that is sold on the plains to the south, but in recent years deforestation has diminished timber yields and caused land degradation and erosion.

Highlights :

In salutation of its religious significance and for the protection of its fragile ecosystem, the peak as well as the circle of high mountains surrounding it—the Nanda Devi sanctuary—were closed to both locals and climbers in 1983. The surrounding Nanda Devi National Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.

Nanda Devi is a two-peaked chain, forming a 2KM long, oriented east-west. The western summit is higher, and the eastern summit, called Nanda Devi East, (locally known as Sunanda Devi) is the lower one. The main summit stands guarded by a barrier ring comprising some of the highest mountains in the Indian Himalayas, twelve of which exceed 6,400 metres (21,000 ft) in height, further elevating its sacred status as the daughter of the Himalaya in Indian saga and folklore.

Together the peaks may be referred to as the peaks of the goddesses Nanda and Sunanda. These goddesses have occurred together in ancient Sanskrit literature (Srimad Bhagvatam or Bhagavata Purana) and are worshipped together as twins in the Kumaon, Garhwal and elsewhere in India.  The Himalaya have also been personified as the Lord Himavata, the God of snow, who is mentioned in the Mahabharata. He is father of Ganga and Saraswati, that became rivers, and Parvati an avatar of the great Mother Goddess Durga, who married Shiva and the goddesses Nanda and Sunanda who too are avatars or close spiritual associates of the goddess Durga.

The Garhwal region has many ancient tales woven around Hindu deities. One such folklore is about Nanda Devi Peak. It is said that the Rohilla Prince fell in love with the princess of Chanda Dynasty, Nanda. He asked for her hand in marriage from her father but, the king denied his proposal. The prince couldn’t take the refusal and took this matter to the battlefield to defeat the Kumaon king. To save herself from the clutches of the wicked prince, Nanda Devi climbed her way to the mountains and merged with them. Due to this folklore, this mountain is recognized as a temple for Nanda

Click on below pictures for panoramic view of this place.