Located in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, Bandarpoonch is a major peak of the Garhwal division of the Himalayas. The peak’s name literally means "Tail of the monkey" or "Tail of Hanuman" in Hindi. Yamunotri, the source of the river Yamuna is located on a flank of the Bandarpoonch peak. The 12 km long Bandarpoonch glacier feeds water to the Yamuna.
Yamunotri glacier, Sworgarohini peak and Kalanag peak are around Banderpunch peak and its glacier.
HISTORY
According to Hindu mythology, Lord Shiva came on earth in form of Hanuman to test the strength of Bheema and sat leisurely spreading his tail from Hanuman Chatti to Banderpunch. Bheema, proud of his strength, tried to remove the long spread tail out of his way but was not able to do so. Thus he realized the monkey was not a normal monkey and he surrendered to lord Shiva.Major General Harold Williams led the first successful climbing expedition in 1950. The first team to summit Bandarpoonch comprised legendary mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, Sergeant Roy Greenwood and Sherpa Kin Chok Tshering.
CLIMBING ROUTES
- Southeast route is the easiest route that can be used to ascent the Bandarpunch I, II and Kalanag peaks.
HOW TO REACH
The tourists first get to Dehradun. From Dehradun, 164km drive on Vikashnagar-Barkot road leads to Mori passing through Mussoorie - Lakha Mandal – Matiyali – Bingadhera Malla – Kharsari and finally reach Mori and then to Saud. After trekking to Taluka, one reaches Seema. Seema is 15km from Taluka and Banderpunch glacier is 14km from Seema.
- ROAD: Dehradun has good connectivity of buses from Delhi. One can get a bus to Dehradun. The bus service is available all day with buses leaving every half an hour.
- RAIL: Dehradun Railway Station is situated at a distance of about 2 km from the city center. Major cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Varanasi and Indore are connected by regular as well as frequent train services from the main city.
- AIR: Jolly Grant situated in Dehradun which is well connected with major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore etc.