A few works on temples from the Himalayan Mountain range. The first one is the Badrinath temple, which is located on the banks of the Alakananda river, a tributary of the Ganga river. The temple stands at an altitude of 10,500 feet and is over a thousand years old. It was established by Adi Shankaracharya. The temple is quite close to Mana, on the Indo-Tibetan border, famous for the last tea shop in India!
Below is the Kedarnath Temple. Kedarnath is located at an altitude of 11,700 feet. This is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas or lingas of light, which are spread across the Indian subcontinent. They are among the most important temples in the Hindu way of life. Kedarnath is quite close to the Chorabari glacier, where the Kanti Sarovar lake stands. This was the lake that burst its banks in June 2013, flooding the entire Kedarnath region and taking over 5000 lives!
Below is a yogi making an offering at the river Ganga. The Himalayas filled with yogis and sadhus, who are spiritual seekers on the path of the divine. In Sanskrit, "brahma" means "the divine", and "charya" means "the path." Thus, these yogis are said to be on brahmacharya - the path of the divine. Usually, these yogis are on the path of kriya yoga - the yoga of mastering inner energies, one of the four paths of yoga. The other three being karma yoga - yoga of action, gnana yoga - yoga of the mind, and bhakti yoga - yoga of emotion. (Isha Kriya is a simple guided meditation, if you want a taste of kriya yoga).
Though India can be quite rigid about certain social aspects, like the Indian caste system for example, these ascetics are generally seen as standing outside this framework, and are therefore revered and held in awe by all groups of Indian society.
Below is a statue of Shiva, similar to one near the Uttarkashi temple. Lord Shiva is considered the Adiyogi or first yogi, who introduced yoga to humanity through his first seven disciples, the Sapta Rishis. Though yoga is considered by academics to have originated with Patanjali, in yogic lore he is seen as the one who codified yoga through the Yoga Sutras, rather than starting it.
