Rishikesh to Jhilmil Gufa by Road

Rishikesh to Jhilmil Gufa by Road

Auto, Taxi was on strike. I decided to rent a Scooty to visit Neelkanth Dham and then to Jhilmil Gufa. Rs. 250 was Scooty charges starting from 9 mornings till 9 nights. Petrol was extra as per journey requirement. I filled the Scooty petrol tank with two liters of petrol.

9:40 am Chandan and I – The guide was at Laxman Jhula.

9:50 am at Garud Chatti.

10:45 we reached Neelkanth Dham.

There are two paths to reach Jhilmil Gufa from Neelkanth Dham. One is a 5 km trek nearby Neelkanth Mahadev temple and the other is a dusty path approx. half km before the temple. We selected the dusty path because with one’s own vehicle (motorbike/car) one can reach very near to Jhilmil Gufa.

Approx. 2 km of steep dusty hill drive we stop the vehicle near a village where there is hand made display board on the left side indicating the path towards Jhilmil Gufa and approx. 20 minutes time to reach the cave. Scooty was parked. Now-onwards drive is not possible.

At 11 am we started walking towards Jhilmil Gufa passing via Hotel Ganga Darshan. Rajendra Ji – the caretaker of the hotel was there alone. Upon the query, he requested us to continue following the muddy path within the jungle. The jungle area starts from here only. Nobody was there except we two and no villages were visible except one two village houses on the other side of the hills.

At 11:25 we reached Jhilmil Gufa. 25 minutes approx. walking sometimes steep.

There are three caves. Each one is different from another in size and shape. We visited all three and had talks with Shri Shailesh Giri Ji – a sadhu inside the cave for a few minutes. Upon the query, he narrated to us the History of Jhilmil Gufa.

Alha Udal‘s (The King from Uttar Pradesh) Guru meditated within these caves years ago. The cave is dedicated to Guru Gorakshanath and was discovered by Saraswati Nijanand Swami Ji. 150 years of cave history he said is known to them. The cave is known as Jhilmil Gufa because Guru Jhilmila Ji also meditated within these caves years ago.

The jungle around the caves is known as Manikut Kajri Van. Elephants mostly live within these jungles.

After talks, donations, and prayers, we decided to leave but the trek and the location memory will be remembered forever because the cave’s location is within a dense jungle and peace – The utmost requirement is there for sure. One should visit – I suggest.

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