Devotees set off in the early hours of the morning from Gobind Dham. They cross the bridge over Hem Gunga - whose source is the Hemkunt lake - and start ascending the final 5000 feet over a 5km track. This journey can take upto four hours as the air at such altitude becomes thin and tiredness and fatigue sets in. Here we see Nihang Singhs climbing the final 1184 steps to the top and a Nihang Singh standing in front of the still half frozen lake.

The great scholar and close disciple of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, Bhai Mani Singh compiled the compositions of Guru Sahib ji into the Dasam Granth, in 1734. A turbulent century passed in which the Sikhs were persecuted and hunted like animals. It was not until the nineteenth century when things had settled down somewhat that attention turned towards the passages in the Bachittar Natak that described Sri Hemkunt Sahib.

The Maharaja of Patiala gave a grant to Pandit Tara Singh a historian from the nineteenth century to compile a list of all the Sikh shrines, this he did in his book Sri Guru Tirath Sangrah, published in 1884 and he mentions Hemkunt Sahibs geological location to be in the Uttarkhand area of the state of Uttar Pardash. Later the renowned scholar and noted poet Bhai Vir Singh did much to develop the Hemkunt site. Bhai Vir Singh gives a detailed description of of the Tap asthan in his famous work Sri Kalgidhar Chamtkar, published 1929. The opening chapters of this historical biography describes Guru Sahibs passage from Hemkunt to Sach Khand (the realm of Truth) where he was given his mission by God, and then from Sach Khand to Mat Lok (the terrestrial world), this account is based on the texts of Suraj Parkash and Guru Sahib Ji’s Bachittar Natak.

This image shows an aerial view of the mountain pass that goes all the way up to Hemkunt Sahib. Gobind Dham can be seen at the bottom right of the image. If the zig-zag path is followed up the picture Hemkunt Sahib can be seen as a small white dot to the top of the image.   Looking down from Hemkunt Sahib

A retired army general Sant Sohan singh read Bhai Vir Singhs description of Hemkunt Sahib and was so moved by the account that he vowed to make it his lifes mission to find the place where Guru Sahib Ji had meditated. He set out in the spring of 1933 following the clues in Bachittar Natak, Suraj Parkash, Guru Tirath Sangrah and the ancient texts of the Mahabharata. He traveled passed Rishikesh towards Pandukshwar always enquiring from local people about their folk laws. Then one day he heard some stories about a lake known locally as Lokpal, he decided to investigate. He accompanied some local women who were on their way to Lokpal to do puja (prayers) to Lakshman. He crossed the river with the assistance of the villagers and started towards the sarovar they had spoken of. On the final day of his journey, he climbed the steep slope towards Lokpal alone. When he saw the beautiful lake he started to count the peaks which surrounded it, wondering if this could be the place described in Bachitar Natak.

As he was counting, he heard a voice behind him say, "From where did you come and for what do you search?" Sohan Singh turned and saw a tall rikhi (hermit) clad in white. He had a long beard, heavy eyelids, and a face so radiant that Sohan Singh was unable to look at him eye to eye . Sohan Singh bowed his head before the rikhi and said “ I came to search for the meditation place of Guru Gobind Singh." The rikhi gestured to a flat stone beside the water and said that this was the place at which the Guru had sat for so long in deep meditation,"Go and bow your head." Sohan Singh hastened to go, and his eyes were filled with tears of joy that after two years of exploration he had finally found the place he had been seeking. The ecstasy at the fulfillment of a cherished mission was too great and he was somewhat dazed. While he was in this state, it occurred to him that he should ask the rikhi more questions. But when he opened his eyes and turned, the old holy man had disappeared.