Hemkund Sahib

Gurudwara Sri Hemkund Sahib sits at roughly 4,329 meters (about 14,200 feet) above sea level in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, India. It is one of the highest Sikh shrines in the world. The setting is a glacial lake surrounded by seven snow-capped peaks, which the Dasam Granth links to a meditation place of Guru Gobind Singh.

The shrine is open only from late May or early June until about October each year, because snow blocks the high-altitude trail for the rest of the year. Opening and closing dates are announced each spring by the Hemkund Sahib Management Trust based on snow conditions. Outside this window, devotees worship a seasonal gurudwara established at Gobind Dham or other lower-altitude sites.

The standard route begins at Govindghat on the Alaknanda River, with a roughly 13-kilometer hike to the village of Ghangaria, where most pilgrims stay the night. From Ghangaria, a steep 6-kilometer climb of around 1,500 vertical meters leads to the lake and gurudwara. Many pilgrims complete the upper section with the help of mules or porters, and a helicopter service between Govindghat and Ghangaria operates during the season.

The site is identified with a place described in the Dasam Granth, where Guru Gobind Singh (the tenth Sikh Guru) is said to have meditated in a previous life before being chosen for his mission. Sikh armies and, later, the Sikh historian Bhai Vir Singh helped locate the lake in the 1930s by matching the text's descriptions. Construction of the present gurudwara was completed in the 1960s.