The Banjh Oaks of Sitlakhet, Vivekananda and Siyahi Devi

June 2018

My Youreka summer.  Endless stories and memories.  

Plastic-free landscapes

Night skies, stars, children staring in awe

The persistent call of the Black-headed Jay

Rain.  Hailstones thundering on the roof

Monkeys on the move

Mighty Trishul and Nanda Devi

Plums, pears, apricots, apples

And the oak groves.

The private estates were kept green and wooded with these Himalayan Oaks.  

Quercus leucotrichophora - the trees, their moist trunks and their canopies -
were at the centre of a whole ecosystem.

All around, any direction, would take you through these oak groves.  Sometimes so silent, I would almost instinctively still my breath and tread softy.

And sometimes, there would be a cacophony - the Jays calling overhead, the tits,
oriental white eyes, minivets in mixed hunting parties, darting from tree to tree.  Tree creepers
and nut hatches would be busy zipping up and down the trunks.

The paths were undisturbed carpets of oak leaves, with their characteristic serrated edges.

Looking up and the undersides of the leaves would be almost white, the reason this is also referred to as White Himalayan oak.  When the breeze blows across the valley, the trees would alternately appear dark green and white, rather pretty.
And, yes, there they were, those acorns that I had read about, the one that the Ice Age squirrel froze for!

And there they were on the ground as well, waiting to keep the grove replenished. Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.  indeed.

The Banjh or white oak, is abundant all through the hills of Uttarakhand at the lower levels, and is important for humans too.  Its one of those trees that will withstand lopping, and branches are constantly cut for fodder, fuel and for timber it appears.  The only problem this seems to create is the removal of too many acorns to allow for natural dispersion and regeneration.  As a result, these groves are now under stress, (sigh!), we take away more quickly and heavily than the grove can withstand.

It seems to be that the Chir Pines are outgrowing the Oaks in Uttarakhand, and this does cause a problem for species that are dependent upon oak.  From what I have read, the beautiful rufous-bellied niltava, which I saw on my first walk in the groves, is one such as is the white-throated laughing thrush, which I would hear noisily turning over the oak leaf litter, as it looked for grubs and insects.

Here is An annotated checklist of the birds of banj oak–chir pine forests in Kumaon, Uttarakhand

Climbing up the hill to the top of the ridge, I arrive at a "T" point.  I would come across the odd local, smiling and hurrying along as I sweated and made heavy weather of the steep slope.  Reaching the T point was a relief, because from then on it was a relative walk in the park, with stone walls separating farms and views down to the valleys below.  The hillside was stony here, and quite often I saw circling raptors above - once it was a magnificent Black Eagle that lazily circled, and I could see the tips of its wing feathers working like rudders, as it glided on the thermals.  Another day two crested serpent eagles circled and called, as a Great Barbet hurried by, and the farm dog barked at my intrusion.

I would stand and gaze down into the valley with a tinge of sadness.  Down below, the hills were completely deforested.
I mused on the sustainability of this development.  

Right through my stay, I did not get a clear view, and everyone around blamed the forest fires for this.  Some 2,000 hectares burned this summer, according to the government itself, so I wonder how much really was under fire, causing this level of murkiness.  

I learnt that the Forest Survey of India FSI has satellite information which now allows almost real-time alerts on forest fires.  And its up to the state governments to make use of this system I guess.

I digress.

I am walking up to the Siyahi Devi temple, the route all the way lined with the oak trees, and a good place to spot woodpeckers and Russet Sparrows;  

The path takes me to the village, with the primary school at one end, and the temple at the other.

The Siyahi Devi hamlet, dominated by the mobile phone tower, as a result of which everyone enjoyed 4G!

Looking down from the ridge - the haze is evident.

The mule train taking goods up and down.

The Primary School was in session and little toddlers were trickling in.

Farmlands

I did not get much of a background or history about the temple, but there seems to be one about the Devi and an eagle that is elaborated upon, in the Talking Myths website.  

And no, she is not the Goddess of Ink, but rather the Royal Goddess!
I loved the fact that one could wander around the temple, right into the sanctum,
 without being stopped by any purohit.

Devotees offer bells when their wishes are fulfilled.

At the north-western end of the temple is another gate, overlooking the Almora valley, and from where one can visit the Vivekananda caves and protected groves.  

Just beyond the temple gate.  In the background is the town of Almora in the valley below,  And the little red Shinto-like gate is the entry/exit into the beautiful wooded oak grove.

Small mandirs dot the protected grove

The sun was going down and the light through the trees was magical and ethereal.

This is what Vivekananda had to say about the Kumaon Himalayas:

"This is the land of dreams of our forefathers, in which was born Pârvati, the Mother of India. This is the holy land where every ardent soul in India wants to come at the end of its life, and to close the last chapter of its mortal career.
This is the land which, since my very childhood, I have been dreaming of passing my life in, and as all of you are aware, I have attempted again and again to live here; and although the time was not ripe, and I had work to do and was whirled outside of this holy place, yet it is the hope of my life to end my days somewhere in this Father of Mountains where Rishis lived, where philosophy was born … I sincerely pray and hope, and almost believe, that my last days will be spent here, of all places on earth. Inhabitants of this holy land, accept my gratitude for the kind praise that has fallen from you for my little work in the West….
As peak after peak of this Father of Mountains began to appear before my sight, all the propensities to work, that ferment that had been going on in my brain for years, seemed to quiet down, and instead of talking about what had been done and what was going to be done, the mind reverted to that one theme the Himalayas always teach us, that one theme which reverberates in the very atmosphere of the place — renunciation! The Himalayas stand for that renunciation.” (Extract  from: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 3/Lectures from Colombo to Almora ). 

It was a special place, that grove beyond the gates, and I hope I can visit again, to hear the wind whistling through the pines, the dry call of the black headed magpie, the crunch of the oak leaves under my feet.

More than anything else, I hope it remains, undisturbed and magical.  

The stately Chir pines at Sitlakhet

Pinus longifolia also called Pinus roxburghii

I could not get enough of this lower Himalayan pine.  And since it is named after the Scottish botanist William Roxburgh, who spent many a year in Madras, I shall ramble a bit about it.  He called it Pinus longifolia and it finds a place in his Flora Indica.  The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew have a digitised version of the three volume compendium on India's flora, and these two pictures are from there.  It seems to be that he was reporting on the tree from his observation in Calcutta, rather than the Himalayas.



The bark is so characteristic, deep red and fissured, and whenever I had the opportunity I would kind of touch and feel it with wonder.

The tree is used by locals to extract resin and oil via these cuts which form a herringbone pattern

The needle-like leaves grow and fall in threes.  the cover of dry pine leaves on the forest floor discourage growth of other trees except the rhododendron and the banj oak, which is what I found around these trees.

It is the dominant species of the area, and is quick to recover and re-grow after the common and frequent summer forest fires.  When we drove up the hills in end May, we saw many forest fires, with the inner cores of these pine trees glowing and alight.  However, when we came down three weeks later in the middle of June, the frequent heavy rain showers had put all the fires out.

The undergrowth is rich with grasses and wildflowers which I have not yet identified.

Maybe some variety of Imperata

A glorious yellow that would catch your eye

These beautiful wildflowers were seen all over.

My eyes trace the trunk.
Blue skies above.

Fruit country. Uttarakhand

Khumani/Peach

Adu/Apricot.....i brought a whole bunch back

Apples

Kaphal/bayberry

Juicy plums....so tasty

Pears too.

Peaches, (aadu), apricots, (khumani) and apples by the roadside. And of course kaphal or bay berries. Yours for the picking. I have eaten quite a few.

The pleasure of watching the fruits ripen and choosing which one you want to eat. Of course, the monkeys and birds are also doing the same.

A secret weapon in the battle to save the snow leopard?: Tibetan monks and endangered cats | The Economist

http://www.economist.com/blogs/analects/2013/09/secret-weapon-battle-save-snow-leopard?fsrc=nlw%7Cnewe%7C9-16-2013%7C6629249%7C36394036%7C

A secret weapon in the battle to save the snow leopard?

Sep 16th 2013, 3:54 by K.M. | BEIJING

Do they have a prayer?

A new study of the snow leopard's habitat across the Tibetan plateau has found that Tibetan Buddhist monasteries may be better equipped than formal preservation programmes to protect the endangered cats from poaching, retaliatory killing by farmers and other deadly perils. The key is their ability to extend their influence across administrative boundaries and maintain safe space for the animals. 
The research, led by Juan Li of Peking University and sponsored by the wildcat protection group Panthera, focused on the snow leopard's habitat on the Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve, a 360,000 sq km area in north-western China that holds the headwaters of the Mekong, Yellow and Yangzte Rivers. Researchers found that the region's more than 300 Tibetan monasteries lie close to important snow leopard habitats, and that monks are critical to protecting the cats. About 4,000 snow leopards remain in China, most living in the Sanjiangyuan region.
"Monks on the Tibetan plateau serve as de facto wildlife guardians," Panthera said in a news release about the study. "Tibetan Buddhism considers the snow leopard and its habitats strictly sacred, and the monks patrol wild landscapes surrounding monasteries to enforce strict edicts against killing wildlife."
Until recently Tibet had a thriving trade in wild animal skins. Tiger and leopard skins featured prominently in clothing. Monks were not allowed to kill animals, but they wore the skins. In January 2006 Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, put an end to all that, calling on Tibetans to stop buying, selling and wearing wild animal skins. The displays, he said, were counter to Buddhist principles and within weeks Tibetans were burning tiger skins in the streets and the trade was halted.
Today, conservationists say, land near monasteries provides safe haven and cats tend to stay in close proximity. The monks' habit of sheltering stray dogs does present potential leopard threats in the form of disease, but the overall situation for snow leopards is better around monasteries than on nature reserves in China, Panthera found.
Other wildcat researchers not involved with the Panthera report agree there is a clear connection between religion and species survival: Buddhist monks will not intentionally kill the animals, creating a safety net on the Tibetan plateau.
Li Zhixing, head of a Chinese Siberian tiger protection organisation far across the country from Qinghai, said the endangered tigers are god-like to villagers in the northeastern corner of China they still inhabit. As a result, locals stopped poaching tigers decades ago. Wolves, meanwhile, suffered a different fate. They were considered evil and are, as a result, gone.
Monasteries make for natural protective grounds, but there is disagreement over whether Tibetan monks ought to be made guardians of the snow leopards and given funding or equipment, as Panthera recommends. Ma Ming, a research fellow in Xinjiang with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said there is an obvious link between monasteries and safe space for leopards, but that does not mean Tibetan monks make the best game wardens.
Mr Ma argued that government programmes make the wisest use of funding, and that the Chinese government—as it has proven with giant pandas—can save a species if it wants. But as the Panthera study notes, official efforts can be hampered by the many county, provincial and national boundaries that run through snow leopard habitat areas.
In any case, the priority given pandas is still lacking for snow leopards, which compete for space and attention with other endangered species under threat from China's development and vast urbanisation. China has enacted new schemes in recent years to protect wild cats, including snow leopards and Siberian tigers. But these species remain at risk. Farmers are compensated for wildlife lost to wildcats and poaching is punished, but critical habitat is shrinking.
In the face of calls for greater protective efforts, Panthera says Tibetan monks have been doing all along what is required to protect snow leopards—leaving them alone.
(Photo credit: Greg Wood/AFP)

Birds of Pangot and Sattal

Back to the chaos

Day 6 described here

Day 7 - Leaving the Valley and coming down to earth

The way up was drizzly and wet for the most part, while our trek down was sunny and cheerful - blue skies, fabuous views - to start with, and blazing hot as we finished, with aching toes and thighs trembling with tiredness!

It was a bit dreary coming into Govindghat, to the flies and garbage along the slopes of the river.  Such moments always makes me wonder about the path of development that we have chosen.  Along with this explosion in consumption, where are the necessary systems for civic smenities?  Sustainable development is just not happening as yet.

It was good to see Manmohan though, cheerful as ever, with his Tempo Traveller all ready for us.  We escaped from the flies into the Bhagat Palace, and we used the common toilet to change out of our smelly trekking clothes - atleast some of us did.

Lunch -  which was wonderfully tasty - done, and we had to go pick up one of our group from the Joshimath hospital - she had suffered altitude sickness and luckily was able to take the helicopter down.  She was also lucky that we had doctors on the group, to attend to her.  When all is well these are the things that one overlooks, and if one is going on any trip like this, we should be aware of the medical emergency help that is possible,

Early evening, and we were down to Monal at Rudraprayag. 

This is a view of the resort that faces the Alakananda river.

And this was what greeted us in the morning.  Mist over the river

The next morning, we strolled through the gardens, but Vidya, Sreelata and Damayanti with Abhimanyu were more adventurous, going back down to the river  and the Koteshwar temple, for a dip.

They reported that the water level had risen so much, it was above the steps on the waterfront, and almost lapping into the temple.  I did regret having been lazy, on hearing that, but I was in a mutinous mood - no more ascending or descending for my legs!!

Breakfast done, and it was back to the tempo and down to Rishikesh

The river was by our side all along, gushing in a narrow  gorge sometimes, and looking very lethargic in the wider spaces, but brown all along, filled with silt.

2 pmish - And then we arrived at Rishikesh.  It was drizzling again.  The pictures do not do justice to the chaos and noise around us, but here goes.  All these picture are taken on the E72 Nokia mobile.

Crossing the Lakshman jhula, the first time.  The main temple can be seen. 

Abhimanyu took us to the Ganga River View restaurant, on the opposite bank, and we were suddenly ina peaceful coccoon!

The views are just beautiful.  This, as we recrossed the jhula

The bridge itself

More river views

I think this was the Ram jhula

The Ram jhula - see how packed it is with monkeys, cattle, humans and two wheelers.  There were foreigners seeking nirvana, businessmen on bikes, housewives off on some errand, gawking tourists like us.  One white lady insisted on having her picture taken with her hand on a cow and her eyes half closed in bliss (mind you she was in the skimpiest of shorts), in the meanwhile she held up all the traffic, and the bridge seemed to sway and judder alarmingly.  Deep breathing and a panic attack averted!

6pm - and we thankfully fell back into our van and shut out the honking buses and blaring loudspeakers!

It was an emotional evening at Haridwar, which was our night halt.  We had to say goodbye to Abhimanyu, our friend and guide for this past eventful week.  We congregated in Damayanti's room, and filled in Arjun with all the stories of our exploits, and we were very pleased at how impressed he was with his wife's performance.  And the ladies had a complete giggling bout to see his horror at the massage stories - I shall not elaborate further here!

In the process, I almost broke Damayanti's sofa cum bed, and this resulted in more hysterical laughter.  A nice way to end the evening.

And so ends this Valley of Flowers diary of mine, as the next day's drive into Delhi is too mundane to write about...except the fact that Gapi and I got gypped on the huge crate of mangoes that we each took.  They did not travel well and when we returned, I had to make them into juice!

Until we meet again, here's to my fellow travellers on that wonderful wonderful trip - Abhimanyu, Archana, Damayanti, Gapi, Jayita, Manmohan, Prem, Raji, Sonya, Sreelata, Vatsala, andVidya.