Dateline Saharanpur: Just when most of us were getting over the breath-taking images of snow-capped Dhauladhaar range from Jalandhar, Punjab, residents of Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh were in for a visual feast.
The magnificent Bandarpunch/Bandarpoonch mountain massif, in the Garhwal region that towers at 6,316 meters above sea level was visible in all its glory against the setting sun on the 26th of April after a heavy downpour, from Saharanpur, UP.
A thrilled Nidhi Saini, a teacher with the Uttar Pradesh Government tells us: “Around 5:00-5:30p.m. in the evening, on 26th April after two days of incessant rainfall, there was a brief break in the clouds. For ten minutes one could see the magnificent snow-capped Bandarpunch range in the Garhwal Himalaya from our rooftop. They were visible even to the naked-eye for well over ten minutes.”
These images were taken with Nidhi’s 300mm telephoto lens mounted on a DSLR Nikon camera that has captured these precious moments for all of eternity. Of course since then, the residents of Saharanpur have been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the mountain chain at least twice in a row.
The last records of the visibility of ‘these snowy deities to the north’ finds mention in Northam’s Guide to Masuri Landaur, Dehra Dun & the Hills North of Dehra published in 1884: ‘In clear weather on a fine view of the snows’ is visible from Roorkee.”
Exactly 136 years later, the Covid-19 lockdown has had pleasant side-affects. From 150 miles away, the Greater Himalaya towering over twenty thousand feet, are visible, once again, re-writing history for generations to come.
