G a u d i y a To u c h s t o n e
Next to the temple is a small shrine where one can see a deity of Maharaja Bhagiratha, who originally called down Goddess Ganga from her celestial abode in order to liberate his ancestors. Next to the deity of Bhagiratha is a stone known as the Bhagiratha-shila, which is said to be the actual stone where Bhagiratha sat and meditated when he invoked Ganga. All day long pilgrims come and offer prayers and puja with the help of the local priests. Unlike many holy places in India, the priests here seem to be quite friendly and do not harass the pilgrims to come and offer worship.
About half a kilometre away from the Ganga, the river falls into a small canyon forming a pool known as Gauri-kunda before continuing it’s course. It is said that here, Shiva tamed the tumultuous Ganga by trapping her in his matted locks. After a short exploratory walk around Gangotri town, we found a decent guesthouse, dropped off our backpacks and began planning our trek to Gaumukh. Since our backpacks weighed in at 20 kgs a piece, not including our camera gear (another 10kg), we crossed the bridge, went to the Forestry Department and in no time at all we had hired two porters to carry our bags which would leave us free to take pictures on the way.
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