Not only is the mountainous region of Garhwal beautiful, it also has a rich history - whether it is the breathtaking views of the Himalaya or its rich culture, the Garhwal Region is charismatic in every sense. <br /> <br />Gangotri is situated at an altitude of 3,415 mts. or over 11,000 feet above sea-level. The Gangotri temple was built by Gorkha General Amar Singh Thapa in the 18th century and is situated on the banks of river Bhagirathi, considered to be the main tributary of the Ganga. A visit to the shrine of Gangotri is one of the most important pilgrimages, for a devout Hindu. <br /> <br />Here the river is worshipped in the form of a deity. River Ganga is perhaps the most important river of India and is worshipped as Goddess Ganga. <br /> <br />The Gangotri temple opens its doors to pilgrims every year after the inaugural rituals on the day of Akshay Trithiya. This auspicious day falls during the last week of April or the first week of May. Similarly the Temple closes on the day of Diwali after performing the closing rituals. At the beginning of summer, the idol of Goddess Ganga is moved up from Mukba village, her winter home in a procession and with great fanfare to Gangotri. <br /> <br />This ceremony is also known as kapath opening ceremony. During the rest of the summer months, the idol remains and is worshipped in the Gangotri temple. <br /> <br />The military Band of the Garhwal rifles also participates in this procession. Some devotees tonsure their heads and offer their hair to the Goddess while others go into a trance. Devotees also perform the Pandav nritya, a dance drama related to the Mahabharata. <br /> <br />During this annual journey Mother Ganga is carried in a palanquin or palki all the way up from Mukba by her followers. As the procession ascends, there is a Bhairon temple en route where everyone stops and some rituals are performed. <br /> <br />After this the group of devotees departs from the Bhairon temple accompanied by the beating of drums. <br /> <br />Finally, when the idol reaches the temple in Gangotri, the priest there performs certain prayers and rituals. During the summer season, the river goddess is worshipped at Gangotri. Come winter and the villagers await enthusiastically for the river goddess to return to her winter home in Mukba. <br /> <br />This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The collection comprises of 150, 000+ hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM / SR 1080i High Definition, Alexa, SR, XDCAM and 4K. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... <br /> <br />Please subscribe to our channel wildfilmsindia on Dailymotion for a steady stream of videos from across India. Also, visit and enjoy your journey across India at www.clipahoy.com , India's first video-based social networking experience! <br /> <br />Reach us at rupindang [at] gmail [dot] com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com
