Gurdwara Hemkund Sahib is a Sikh place of worship (gurudwara) and pilgrimage site in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand state, India. It is dedicated to the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708) and is mentioned in the Dasam Granth. According to the Survey of India, it is located in the Garhwal Himalaya at an altitude of 4,572 meters (15,000 ft). It is a glacial lake surrounded by seven mountain peaks, each of which has a Nishan Sahib on its rock. It can be reached from Govindghat via Rishikesh-Badrinath Highway. The main town near Gobindghat is Joshimath. The altitude of Hemkund Lake is about 15,000 feet.
Set amidst towering snow-capped mountains and lying beside a lake of pristine blue water, the Sikh shrine of Sri Hemkund Sahib looks, even to the not-particularly-pious, a place of almost unbelievable beauty and peace. Seven peaks – known as the Sapt Sring- surround the shrine, looming over lush green pastures. The lake’s rocky shores are covered with snow through most of the year, but when the snows melt, the almost mythical yellow-green flower known as the Brahma Kamal, the `Lotus of the Gods’, blooms amidst the rocks. It’s a place of a rather wild and untamed beauty- and one of Sikhism’s most important shrines.
