My Stay at the Pandavkholi Dharamsala in Dunagiri, Dwarahat

If you are visiting Babaji's cave in Dunagiri, after reaching the cave you should definitely climb up a bit higher and visit Pandavkholi and the mandir (Hindu temple).  Maybe even consider staying at the dharamshala (pilgrims shelter) for at least one night.

Staying at the dharamshala has been one of the most authentic Indian experiences that I've had so far.

What is Pandavkholi?

Pandavkholi (also Pandukholi or Pandav Kholi) is believed to be one of the places that the five mighty warriors, the Pandavas, used as a shelter during their 13 years of exile from their kingdom.

Five stones representing the five Pandavas

This is a story told in the Indian epic the Mahabharata, which includes the most inspiring yoga philosophy book I've ever read, the Bhagavad Gita.

You can visit my article What is the Bhagavad Gita About to read a brief introduction to the story of the Pandavas and the contents of the Bhagavad Gita.

Visiting Pandavkholi

The next day after arriving at the Yogoda Satsanga Sakha Ashram (YSS) in Dwarahat, I took a shared taxi with some other devotees of Paramahansa Yogananda to visit Babaji's cave in Kukuchina, Dunagiri.

After sitting in meditation inside Babaji's cave for about an hour, my Indian companions asked me to join them all the way up to the top of the hill to visit Pandavkholi.

I had never heard about this place before but of course, I was excited to discover it.

Once we reached the top, besides the astonishing landscape, we found this beautiful and simple dharamshala and mandir (temple).

Almost right away I thought to myself, “Oh, it would be great to stay here.”

So I asked the swami taking care of the ashram, “Can I stay here? Do you receive guests?” and smiling he answered, “You can stay here whenever you want and for as long as you want, but only if you consider this place to be yours, not mine.”

He then added, “But this is no guesthouse, it is a dharamshala.”

He explained to me that a dharamshala is a spiritual shelter for pilgrims. He finally said, “We have no facilities, all very simple.”

Staying at the dharamshala, the shelter for pilgrims

Ten days later, after leaving the Yogoda Satsanga Sakha Ashram, I called Swamiji to let him know that I was coming back to stay at his dharamshala.

Once I reached Kukuchina he sent a guy to help me carry my big backpack on the 50-minute walk uphill to reach Pandavkholi.

Yes, I have to admit it. I definitely needed some help.  Just carrying my 5 Kg backpack I already felt like my heart was gonna burst out of my chest.  Lol.

In my defense, Pandavkholi is at an altitude of 2,550 meters (8,800 feet)!

The guy carried my 20 Kg backpack without any problem though.  He stopped to rest just a couple of times, and on the second time, he lighted up a beedi (an Indian cigarette)!

One of the most unforgettable experiences about staying at this shelter was enjoying the simple but delicious breakfast, lunch, and dinner that they cooked in the small kitchen in a wood fire.  It is impressive what they can make with just a wood fire and some old pots.

We would all gather around the wood fire, and sit on some very old carpets that look like they've been there forever, while the Swamiji's wife or one of his boys would prepare the chapatis (Indian bread) for the meal.

Swamiji's wife? Yeah I know, he is not really a swami but everyone around calls him Swamiji so I also call him like that. They also call him Babaji.

The ashram was built by Swamiji's guru, which is also called Babaji. There is a small temple and a statue of Babaji (not Mahavatar Babaji) and there is another larger temple that is in construction at the time of writing this blog post.

There is a watchtower from where you can enjoy the astonishing views. You can even see the watchtower from Kukuchina.

Dharamshala facilities

Before coming to the dharamshala Swamiji had told me that there were no facilities. Actually, there are but of course, everything is very basic, which is probably one of the attractions of staying at this place.

It's the perfect place to practice some austerity and abandon all ideas of comfort, although the “room” that I got was a bit too austere for me.

There is a wooden house with some rooms inside which looks comfortable. Two French ladies were staying there and they told me that it was OK.

There is also a tiny cottage, just four walls, and a bed, but very cozy.

I would have loved to stay in this cottage but it was occupied with a friendly Indian guy from Mumbai, a serious meditation practitioner.

It was nice talking to him and also joining him in his cottage to warm up with the wood fire on the floor when it was freezing outside.

There is a plan to build two more of these cottages soon.

Unfortunately, the day that I arrived they didn't really have a room available so they sort of arranged a space within a building with a big hall that they call the “museum.”

The “museum”

In one corner they put a bed on the floor with some blankets and... that was it.

A couple of days later when it started to rain heavily I had to move the “bed” because of water leaks. Then I realized that the bed was actually a very old rotten door.

I finally understood what were those weird shapes that I was feeling when laying down on my back.  Surprisingly I slept pretty well there, better than in many other places.

This became the second time in my life that I slept on an old rotten wooden door as a bed.

The hall was very dirty.  A very strong smell of dust permeated the whole place.  Fortunately, they cleaned it during the night because some guests wanted to see the “museum” but it was just not enough.

I tried to clean it myself but it was just an impossible task. Asking for a mop and water to clean the floor seemed totally out of place at this ashram.

There was one shared toilet just behind the museum and a couple of “bathrooms” where you could take a bucket shower, although there was no tap water available.

All the water comes from the rain. It is collected in big recipients and from there you take whatever you need. Since it is quite cold up there they will heat up a tank of rainwater for you to take a bucket shower whenever you need it.

They have a very simple rainwater collection system that collects the water in different tanks.  This is the water that they use for everything like dishwashing, laundry, or taking a bath.

There is also a filtration system that purifies that same water for drinking.  Everybody around said that the water was very healthy, even better than bottled water. It tasted quite good to me.

It is quite an ecological place.

Besides the rainwater collection, they use the ashes that come from the kitchen fire to do the dishwashing.

They also cultivate their own honey. They just put a box inside one wall, they seal it and from outside there is a whole that bees use to come in and out of their “home.”

They told me this is all actually local customs.  All villagers do the same sort of things.

How to reach Pandavkholi and the dharamshala

To reach the Pandavkholi you can follow the same instructions to reach Babaji's cave.  After reaching the cave you just need to continue climbing up the hill until you reach the top.  That would be Pandavkholi.

This is the route that I followed from Rishikesh:

• From Rishikesh take a public bus from the main bus stop to Haridwar. (45 min)
• From Haridwar take the night train to Kathgodam which leaves every day at 00h15. There is only one train per day.
• From Kathgodam take a shared taxi to Ranikhet (4 hours) and from Ranikhet, another shared taxi to Dwarahat (3 hours). The shared taxi from Kathgodam up to Dwarahat should be around 250 or 300 rupees.
• Once you reach the Dwarahat market you'll need to take another share taxi to Kukuchina (50 minutes) for about 25 rupees. This is the last stop by car.
• From Kukuchina you will need to walk up the mountain to reach the cave, about 50 minutes. It is not a difficult walk up but you'll need to go slow according to your capacity since the altitude might affect you.
• After reaching Babaji's cave you need to follow the trail all the way up until you reach Pandavkholi.  There is also another more direct route from Kukuchina without passing the cave.

According to Google Maps, this is the location of Pandavkholi:

PANDAV KHOLI
Dwarahat Range, Uttarakhand 263656, India
https://goo.gl/maps/LV3A5kHTUm94Vw1T8


If you don't want to or you are not able to stay at the dharamshala you can also stay instead at Joshi's Guesthouse down in Kukuchina.

This is exactly what I did after three nights in Pandavkholi.  I made my way down and stayed for almost a month at Joshi's guesthouse.  You can read all about it in my following blog, My Solo Meditation Retreat Near Babaji's Cave in Kukuchina.

For more tips, I suggest you visit my detailed packing list for India. This list includes every single item that you might need to travel around India.

Swamiji's contact information

If you want to spend a night or more at the Pandavkholi Dharamshala just give a call to Swamiji a couple of days in advance. I believe his name is Ramsingh.

+91 94 10 182743
+91 5966 219330