Gangotri

Gangotri beyond the gorge where the Jadh Ganga meets the Bhagirathi heralding the approach of the Gangotri temple, the narrow, Bhagirathi Ravine, dramatic and beautifully wooded, opens out into a valley flanked by jagged snowy peaks. At the end of this portion of the valley stands a simple edifice to the Goddess Ganga built in the eighteenth century, where Bhagirath sat and prayed for 5,500 years and where came the Pandavas to atone for the death of their kinsmen. Standing on pillars on the right bank of the river at a height of 3,200 meters (10,500 ft), the slopes surrounding the temple indicate the level of the bed of the past giant glacier, while the tiny village is full of giant deodars and conifers. Here the river flows north, giving the village its name Gangotri.