Nanda Devi Raj Jaat Yatra

The Nanda Devi Raj Jaat is a three week long pilgrimage in Uttarakhand that is organized once in 12 years. The pilgrimage begins in Nauti village, Chamoli district, led by a four horned sheep and ends at Homekund where a yagna is conducted and the sheep is freed. The pilgrimage is believed to be symbolic of the deity, Nanda Devi’s (an avatar of Goddess Parvati) journey from her maternal home to her husband’s abode in Kailash. The 280 km yatra takes place in the month of Bhadrapad in the Hindu calendar, which falls on August and September in the Gregorian calendar. The pilgrimage was supposed to take place in 2013, but was postponed to 2014 due to the Uttarakhand flood.