Hemkunt Sahib (Gurudwaras)
 
 
 


 

Sri Hemkunt Sahib 

In Chamoli district is dedicated to Guru Gobind Singh ji, who has mentioned it in his autobiographical Bachittar Natak as the site where he meditated before his rebirth as son of Guru Tegh Bahadur sahib ji and Mata Gujari ji. The exact location of the place remained obscure until Pandit Tara Singh Narotam roughly determined it with reference to its mention in Mahabharata, I, 119, but it was Sant Sohan Singh to Tehri Garhwal who actually surveyed and found, in 1934, the spot 'surrounded by seven peas' as Guru Gobind Singh had described it. With financial help from bhai Vir Singh, he was able to construct, by 1936, a small hut on the bank of the small lake of Hem Kunt. After his death in 1939, Havildar Modan Singh devoted the remaining 20 years of his life to the development of the shrine. HemKunt Sahib is over 15,000 feet above the sea level and it is uncongenial for long stay due to cold and lack of sufficient oxygen in the air. Havildar Modan Singh not only constructed Gurdwara Gobind Ghat and Gurdwara Gobind Dham as staging and base camps at 6000 feet and 10,500 feet above sea level respectively, but also succeeded, shortly before his death in December 1960, in establishing the Gurdwara Sri Hemkunt Sahib Management Trust which has continued to improve upon the work of these pioneers, including arrangements for the comfort of pilgrims enroute. A new building of the Gurdware Sri Hemkunt Sahib proper has also been constructed with a special design suited to withstand heavy snow during winter.