- Saryapani Esate , Almora-263601
- info@yogaessenceoflife.org
- (+91) 991 009 1496
- www.https://yogaessenceoflife.org/
Our retreat centre is French-run family house complete with serene and exclusive room cottages in lush green natural surroundings. Great for bird-watching, meditation, forest walk and sightseeing. With delicious and wholesome home cooked French and Indian meal available, this place promises an ethereal experience for all those who come and join us.
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Kasar Devi Temple @Wikipedia
Kasar Devi History
Kasar Devi is a village near Almora, Uttarakhand. It is known for the Kasar Devi temple, dedicated to Kasar Devi and thus the village is named. The temple is situated on a hill top, on the edge of a ridge on the hills of Kumaon Himalayas.
As it is situated above the ridge of Almora town, it is accessible through eight-km hike from Almora or 10 km by road. One km away is the village of Kalimath popular with tourists. And 30 kms away from here is the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary.
Kasar Devi first became known when in the 1890s, Swami Vivekananda visited and meditated here. He mentioned his experience in his diaries. Walter Evans-Wentz, apioneer in the study of Tibetan Buddhism, who later translated The Tibetan Book of the Dead, stayed here for some time.
In 1930s, Danish mystic Sunyata Baba (Alfred Sorensen) came and lived here for over three decades, as did Ernst Hoffman, who became Tibetan Buddhist Lama Anagarika Govinda and Li Goutami. This led to a series of spiritual seekers from the west, visiting them. In 1961, Govinda was visited by Beat poets, Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky and Gary Snyder. In later history, at the peak of the Hippie movement, the area also became a part of the Hippie trail. Crank’s Ridge, also known as Hippie Hill, became a popular destination. It became home to several bohemian artists, writers and western Tibetan Buddhists, and even visited by mystic-saint Anandamayi. The ridge got its name amongst hippy circles, after American psychologist Timothy Leary streaked here in the 1960s. Leary wrote majority of his ‘psychedelic prayers’ here. Thus, through the 1960 and 1970s, the area was visited by personalities of the counter- culture, Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Cat Stevens, Western Buddhist Robert Thurman, and writer D. H. Lawrence, who spent two summers here.
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Kasar Devi Temple
The village is mainly known for the Kasar Devi Temple, the shrine dedicated to Kasar Devi. The temple itself, dates back to the 2nd century CE. A winding walkway from gateway on the main road, right the beginning of the village, leads up to the temple.
The area is home to deodar and pine forests. It also provides views not just of Almora and the Hawabagh Valley, but also of the panoramic view of the Himalayas from Bandarpunch peak on the Himachal Pradesh border to Api Himal in Nepal A large fair, known as Kasar Devi Fair, is held at the Kasar Devi temple on the occasion of Kartik Poornima in the Hindu calendar, corresponding to November and December.
This temple has been found to be of special importance because the region around this temple has enormous geomagnetic field. This is because this temple comes under the Van Allen Belt. The causes behind the formation of this belt have been researched by NASA for the last two years. Two other famous places which have been found to have similar high magnetic field (Van Allen Belt) are Machu Picchu in Peru and Stone Henge in England.
It is interesting to note that people who have meditated at Kasar Devi have expressed a degree of higher rejuvenation and have attached special importance to it.
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How To Reach (Kasar Devi) Almora?
Via Air
The nearest airport is at Pantnagar which is 127kms away. You have to travel by car/ bus from here. Flights are quite well connected with major cities of India.
Via Train
The nearest railways station is at Kathgodam, almost 90 kms away. It is well connected to most of the other Indian cities and towns.
Via Road
Almora is 380kms away from Delhi and can be reached by car/ bus. Other major cities nearby includes Lucknow (466 kms) and Dehradun (415 kms). If you are coming by bus you can take a Volvo bus from Delhi till haldwani and its almost 90 kms from haldwani to almora.