The Bliss-Giving Goddess, the patron deity of Uttarakhand, and the guardian of the peaks.
Nanda Devi is not merely a mountain; she is an emotion, a living deity for the people of Kumaon and Garhwal. Standing at 7,816 meters, it is the second-highest mountain in India, but its spiritual stature towers above all.
Legend has it that Nanda was a beautiful princess of the Chand dynasty (some legends say she was the daughter of a chieftain in the Rishiganga valley). A roguish prince fell in love with her and pursued her relentlessly. To escape him, she climbed up into the high snows. The mountains, sensing her purity and distress, opened up and embraced her, transforming her into a stone peak—eternal, unassailable, and pure.
The Nanda Devi Raj Jat is a pilgrimage that takes place once every 12 years. It is often called the "Himalayan Mahakumbh". Devotees trek barefoot for over 280 kilometers, carrying a palanquin of the goddess from Nauti village to Homkund, located at the base of Nanda Ghunti.
A four-horned ram (Chausingha Khadu) leads the procession. It is believed that this ram guides the devotees to the goddess's abode and then disappears into the mountains, symbolizing the goddess's acceptance of the offerings.