Heaven on Earth : Exploring the Beauty of the Gorakh Hill Stations
I was impatiently waiting for October 11th as that was the day when I was getting a two-day off from my office. I had already planned to visit the famous Gorakh Hill Station, one of the coolest places in Pakistan. Gorakh Hill is a high altitude (5,688 ft (1,734 meter) plateaus in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is located in the Khirthar Mountains 93 km northwest of Dadu district and approximately 500 Kilometers from Karachi. Gorakh Hill is spread over 2,500 acres (10 km2).
Though I belong to district Dadu of the Sindh province, but I had never got any chance to visit Gorakh. Here, I would like to write about ‘why the Gorakh Hill Station is famous and why it is important to visit there?” People from across Pakistan come to this site because of its beauty. But there is something more attractive than the beauty. Yes, the hill station is famous for its natural atmosphere. I had always heard that whenever you want to visit any coolest place in summer, go to Gorakh. It is the place where the temperature drops to the lowest. In the months of June and July, the temperature, which remains scorching in the suburbs, becomes coolest when you reach the top of the summit. The temperature drops at 19◦C in the summer and -2◦C in the months of December and January.
The Hill Station is among the only place in Sindh to have snowfall in winters. The mountains remain completely covered with a blanket of snow in wintry weather. That is why the Government had decided to upgrade this place into a hill station so that people from across the Sindh could enjoy snowfall without going far-flung areas of the country like Murree, Nanga Parbat etc.
Currently, the Gorakh Hill summit can only be reached by 4x4 vehicles. Bu the locals also use motorbikes for their tour. The last small town before the hill is Wahi Pandi, (which is also my native village), settled in the foot of the Khirthar range.
History of Gorakh Hill Station
Before starting my journey, I considered to know about the history of the coolest mountain. Surfing the internet, I found an article of some historian who visited the hill station in 2005 and wrote a book on it. I read the article and it was quite interesting. The author writes:
“Some local folklore say that a Hindu Saint of medieval periods; Sri Gorakhnath ji extensively wandered in these hills and region, he had great yogic powers, and people followed him, while other define him as a Buddhist Yogi, having a following in all the local, Muslim and non-Muslim tribes."
Nandu, an authority on Sanskrit, says about the meanings of the word ‘Gorakh’ that it is the etymology of the Sanskrit word, Gorakh which means Shepherding (Gorakh/sha) of sheep, cow, and goat etc. This relates to herding in particularly difficult terrain and intricate pastures which makes practical sense, because, local tribesmen do take their flocks to Gorakh Hill for summer grazing. In Specific Context of the Gorakh, as being a derivate of the Persian word Gurg, or Gurkh of Baluchi, in that, these have nothing to do with the Sanskritik meanings.
However, there are confusions about the name and historical background of Gorakh. It needs discussion in the light of different traditions and opinions. Locally it is stated that Gorakh is derived from Balochi word "Gurkh" but the Balochi word "Gurkh" is a perversion of Persian word "Gurg" which means wolf.
Regarding this, it is said that Gorakh hill and its surroundings were the abode of wolves. So, first it was called Gurkh and afterwards, its pronunciation was changed as Gorakh. This supports the Shepherd Terminology origins. When we consider this opinion, we can understand that, in the past wolves were not only in the area of Gorakh hill but those were also in the whole Khirthar range and its neighboring deserted area of Kaachho and a danger to sheep and cows. Therefore, Sanskritik Gorakh/sha is not considerable and justified, as an opinion about the name of Gorakh hill.”
One of my mentors and the helping hand in the field of research, Mr. Akhtar Balouch is a famous historian and researcher. He has written many books and currently, he is writing blogs on Sindh’s history. I told him about my trip and asked him to help me and tell me more about Gorakh’s history if he has any knowledge. He said: “Bhatijay, I don’t know much about that hill station, but if you want to know about perfect facts, go to the library and take the book ‘Lake Manchhar’ written by Mr. Taj Sahrae. You will know everything.”
Mr. Taj Sahrae is a renowned researcher and historian who has also written many books on the history of Pakistan, specially Sindh province. His books have been best-selling in the year 2001-2002. I borrowed his book from Karachi Press Club’s library and took it home to study in the leisure time.
Mr. Sahrae, in his book, writes: "Gorakh peak derives its name from one of the twenty-four Tirathkarans of Jainism, Sri or Guru Gorakh Nath. Gorakhnath is popularly believed "Being an incarnation of Shiva and that historically he was a yogi, who founded Shiviate cult in 11th century A.D.
Before partition, Hindu yogis generally used to visit this peak on their way to yet another place of worship called Tirath Kumb. There 'was' a small temple on top of a hill standing over Kumb (spring). Hindus generally visited the temple and Kumb, and performed their religious rituals".
Mr. Sahrae has stated these facts without any reference or quotation of any certified book. Anyway, there are no remains or signs of any temple except the destroyed tomb of Miandad Fakir. Neither there was a temple nor history tells about the visit of yogis in this area. Kumb is certainly named after Kumb
Yatra, in Banaras.
On other hand, Tirath Kumb is too far away from Gorakh hill on the bank of river Gaj... instead of the Confluence at Banaras. It is thus possible, that before partition, local Hindus might have visited and performed rituals just like Kumb Mela Yatra at Banaras on a small scale, but there is no historical evidence of such Yatra being performed at Gaj.
Going through these facts and information, I built quite an interest in the hill station and was ready to visit the place.
At October 11, I was in Wahi Pandhi, planning to start ‘Bike Yatra’ towards Gorakh. My cousins and best friends Saadullah and Fatah were accompanying me as I was not familiar with the roads. We took all ‘necessary items’ to spend a pleasant night at the scenic hill station. Though there was a beautiful resort at the peak, but we decided to take shelter in the tent.
We started our journey at 1pm in the daylight. I was with Fatah on his bike and Saadullah was taking all items on the other bike. It took one and a half hour to reach the peak of the Gorakh. The roads were steady and there was no cut or dangerous bypass which disrupted our journey. While stepping in there, I felt the cool wind.
“You should use coat and the hat,” Fatah said to me and gave me the bag. “It is really cool here. I should take refuge in the tent. Let’s tie it up,” I said. “Not now,” Fatah replied, “you came to explore its (Gorakh’s) beauty. So, we will first take you for a short visit.”
We left the tent and other items on our bikes and started moving. Fatah was telling me about the best views and the timings of dusk and dawn.“Here, the sun rises early morning at 5.15am and sunset takes place at 5.30pm in the evening,” he told me. “It is too early. In Karachi, the sunset happens a 7.40pm,” I said.I was amazed to see the beautiful views of the mountainous range and nature. It was really really interesting and amazing. I saw many plants of Alpine, Flora, and Fauna on the stony surface. The view of the land from the peak was superb. Fatah asked me to visit the resort built by the Gorakh Hill Station Authority. The resort was not so large but it was enough for a dozen of families.
On the gate, we met two guards who greeted us with a smile. After knowing that this was my first visit, they took me inside the resort. The interior was not so attractive. There were 7 rooms. According to my calculations, the room was as big as some 7 persons could fit at the same time. Rent of a single room was Rs3000 per night, which was a big amount for me (as a student). “It was a wise decision to take the tent with us,” I told them. “Yes, it seems we have saved Rs 3000,” Saad replied, and we were all smiles.
It was really cool up there at night. I was not use to with that kind of weather because Karachi’s temperature decreases as low as 21◦C in the winters. But here at the hilltop, it was already down at 10◦C in October. However, our tent saved us as we had a heater to deal with the coolest winds at night. Fatah took that heater with him as he was aware of the situation. “How many times have you been here?” I asked Fatah. “6 times,” he replied, “when I first visited this place, I was unaware of everything. We were just two friends and that was our first visit. We spent the whole night shivering in the damp foggy cold.
However, we survived that night at the lowest temperature upto 17◦C.” “OMG, that must have been so uncomfortable. So, now you know everything.” (I smiled) That night stay at the beautiful hill station was really amazing. I will never forget that time. We spent the whole night talking about past moments. At midnight, I came outside the tent to see the beauty of sky full of stars. That was really mesmerizing.