Hidden Bridge - the only one that connect Kishtwar to rest of Dachhan valley. Kishtwar to Jammu is about a eight to nine hour drive. The route ahead was of little known places - Tangdoor,
Bhanderkoot, Palmar, Patimhala and finally Dachhan, the last four approachable only on foot. From Kishtwar bus stand, we took a cab at 5 am for Tangdoor, is a 2 hour drive. It took us 3
hours to reach Sounder, the gateway to Dachhan Valley. We walked through the day and reached Panjhdhara at 4 pm. Spent the night here.
Took almost the whole day to reach Gugath. Next morning left for Kaikoot, 15 kms ahead where stands the temple of Hud Mata, a local deity. We crossed many wooden bridges like this enroute.
Beautiful valley of Dachhan - exploring Brahma Peaks.
Chaterchinan is a large grazing field enroute to Brahma Sarovar.
Hudh Mata Temple at Dachhan. It is the local name of Parvati, Shiva''s consort, derived from Sanskrit word hutti or ahuti. Close to this is another old temple in Kaikoot. It was made during the
rule of Raja Maha Singh of Kishtwar in the 17th century, it is a Naga temple, made of deodar wood and stone. The fine wood carvings and stone sculptures spoke of brilliant craftsmanship of the period.
Scenic beauty on enroute to Brahma peak.
Shiv Temple at Sueed Dachhan, on our way to Brahma Peaks.
First view of world famous Brahma peaks. It was on the morning of the fifth day of our ''yatra'' that we sighted the Brahma peaks.
Braham-Sarovar or Brahmsar at bottom of the Brahma peaks.
Me and my friends along with our little guide at Brahm Sarovar (Brahma peak)
On our way to Hud Mata Bhawan - exploring Kishtwar High Altitude National Park.
Ram Mandir at Kaikoot Dachhan. From Kaikoot, we headed to ''Nanth Nala'' of Dachhan, our final destination. There is a cave at Nanth Nala, which has three naturally formed ice lingams; the devotees believe them to be Lord Shiva, Parvati and their son Ganesh.
Devotees throng to the cave and the Hud Mata Temple annually on ''Haar Shudi Ashtmi'' (eighth day of the bright lunar fortnight in the month of Haar in the local calendar).
Shiv Temple at Nanth Nallah, i was lucky enough to capture this pic with snake on Shiv Lingam.
Garb jaan cave near Hudh Mata Temple Dachhan. It has 3 naturally formed ice lingams.
Snow clad Brahma peaks.
Brahma peaks.
Brahma peaks.
The Tri Sandhya stream is like any other stream we had seen, except that it flows only thrice a day, every day. We watched as the stream magically appeared at 5 pm and then, slowly receded and disappeared without any trace by sunset.
The name ''Tri Sandhya'' has been attributed to this stream in the belief that prayers should performed thrice a day by this stream to Lord Shiva, Parvati and Lord Brahma, who are believed to reside in the region.
On our way back with personnel of the Jammu and Kashmir Police. On the morning of the 6th day, we headed back and were able to reach Panjhdhara by 5 pm. The next day we were at
Kishtwar before noon, physically going back to our homes but mentally still at Nanth Nala. To see pics of Kishtwar in Snow Click here
We had to cross this type of wooden bridges several times to reach Dachhan valley and adjoining areas. The beauty of the region we travelled was matchless. If developed well the tourist
circuit of Kishtwar-Ikhala-Panjdhara-Nauthnala-Tri Sandhya-Brahmsar can attract thousands of intrepid travellers including trekkers.