Gartang Gali (150 years Old Bridge) , Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand

Gartang Gali Trek is situated at a distance of 90 km from Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand. This is a very old trek route street, which is a rare path made by cutting huge mountains, which is known as Gartang Gali. This bridge was built 150 years ago, which is the trade between China and Barhat Market Uttarkashi. There is a connecting trek route which was closed in 1962 after the Indo China War. But now it was reopened for trekkers and locals.

It is said that the Pathans, who came from Peshawar to Gartang Gali, built this difficult bridge 150 years ago at an altitude of 11000 feet. Gartang Gali Trek comes to Gangotri area in Uttarkashi district.

 
The elderly people here say that before independence, the people of Uttarkashi district had built the Tibet track via Nelong Valley for trade with Tibet. This trek in Gangotri National Highway was prepared by cutting the steep and complex rocks near Bhairon Ghati, by laying an iron rod and laying wood on it. Through this route wool, leather cloth and salt were transported from Tibet to Badahat of Uttarkashi. This bridge gives an exciting view of the Nelang Valley.

About 150 meters long stairs of Gartang Gali are now visible in a new color. The stairs of Gartang Gali, built at an altitude of 11 thousand feet, are considered to be a unique example of engineering. Now this trek route has been re-opened for tourists. Keeping in mind the Corona guidelines and security, only 10 people will be sent on the bridge at a time.

Best time to visit the Gartang Gali trek is May, June, July, Aug, September, October. Only this is a summer trek where you get a combination of both greenery and snow, which makes the trek very spectacular. The weather in May and June is quite good and trek friendly, which makes trekking a lot of fun.

During the day the temperature of Gartang Gali Day is 10°C to 15 °C and during the night the temperature comes down to 5 °C to 10 °C which is not bad.

Gartang Gali, one of the most thrilling and exciting treks in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district, was opened to visitors and tourists in 2021 after 59 years. This route was traditionally used by merchants trading between India and Tibet. It was damaged over the years after it fell into disuse following the Indo-China war in 1962.

 

Painstakingly reconstructed, the 1.8-m-wide bridge, perched at around 3,352 m (11,000 feet), challenges even the most enthusiastic adventure-seeker. Hanging from the rocky ledge, it overlooks the picturesque Nelong Valley and the flora and fauna, while way below rushes the Jadh Ganga river. The around 2.5-km trek through dense forests leading to Gartang Gali is arduous but all the strain is washed away the moment you walk up the steps.

Interestingly, it is said this is the bridge that Austrian climber Heinrich Harrer (of “Seven Years in Tibet” fame) had used to escape to Tibet from India, during World War II. His story later inspired the Hollywood film of the same name starring Brad Pitt.

From the security point of view, only ten visitors will be allowed at a time and they will have to maintain a distance of one metre from each other. Movement of groups or any other activity, such as jumping, dancing, drinking liquor or carrying inflammable substances are prohibited on the bridge.

Jageshwar Dham (One of the Twelve Jyotirlinga), Almora, Uttarakhand

Jageshwar Dham  is a Hindu pilgrimage town near Almora in Almora district of the Himalayan Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is one of the Dhams in the Shaivism tradition. The site is protected under Indian laws, and managed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). It includes Dandeshwar Temple, Chandi-ka-Temple, Jageshwar Temple, Kuber Temple, Mritunjaya Temple, Nanda Devi or Nau Durga, Nava-grah temple, a Pyramidal shrine, and Surya Temple. The site celebrates the Jageshwar Monsoon Festival during the Hindu calendar month of Shravan (overlaps with July–August) and the annual Maha Shivratri Mela (Shivratri festival), which takes place in early spring.

Jageshwar Temples, also referred to as Jageswar Temples or Jageshwar Valley Temples, are a group of 125 ancient Hindu temples dated between 7th and 14th century, The valley has a number of temple clusters such as the Dandeshwar and Jageshwar sites. Some locations have attracted construction of new temples through the 20th-century. Together these clusters over the valley consist of over 200 structural temples built from cut stone. Many are small, while a few are substantial. They predominantly illustrate North Indian Nagara style of architecture with a few exceptions that show South and Central Indian style designs, many are dedicated to god Shiva, while others in immediate vicinity are dedicated to god Vishnu, Shakti goddesses and Surya traditions of Hinduism.

There are other Hindu temples in the Himalayan region that are called Jageshwar Temple such as one in Dalash, Himachal Pradesh. Jageshwar is located 36 kilometres (22 mi) northeast of Almora, in the Kumaun region. The temples site is on the south of the road, across which is an eponymous village at an altitude of 1,870 m, in the Jataganga river valley near a Deodar forest (Cedrus deodara). The temple clusters begin starting from satellite road branching off east from the Artola village on the Almora–Pithoragarh highway, at the confluence (sangam) of two streams Nandini and Surabhi after they flow down the hills in the narrow valley.The site is about 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) long along the Jataganga rivulet, is a narrow forested valley of oaks, deodara, rhododendrons and pines. Around the valley is human habitation which provide services to the pilgrims and travelers visiting these temples or passing through to other sacred sites in the Uttarkhand region. The resident villages are Mokshadham, Dandeshwar, Jageshwar and Koteshwar.

Jageshwar is about 100 kilometres (62 mi) southeast of the historic Baijnath Temple and about 100 kilometres (62 mi) northeast from the resort town of Nainital. It is mentioned in Hindu texts dated prior to the 10th-century as a tirtha (pilgrimage) site. The nearest rail head is Kathgodam 125 km. Jageshwar has direct road links with Almora (35 km), Haldwani (131 km.), Pithoragarh (88 km) and Kathgodam. State transport, and private jeeps and taxis ply from these place for Jageshwar regularly.

The origins of the Jageshwar temples site are unclear. Its remote location has limited its studies and scholarly attention. The site shows evidence of different architectural styles and building periods for both temples and stone steles, which range from the 7th to the 12th century, and then in the modern times. Estimates for the same temple or stele varies widely, sometimes 1,400 years. According to the ASI, some belong to the post-Gupta or the second half of 1st millennium while others belong to the 2nd millennium. Some colonial-era guesses attribute them to the Katyuri or Chand hill dynasties but there is no textual or epigraphical evidence to support or refute these proposals.Another prevailing theory is that Adi Shankara built some of these temples, but once again there is no textual or epigraphical evidence to support this claim. Instead, the architectural features and style of some of these Hindu temples is from early 7th century, which is about 50 to 100 years before Adi Shankara lived (c. 788-820 CE).

The lack of systematic studies of Indian temples and ruins in many parts of the remote Himalayan regions limits what can be said about the chronological sequence of monuments in the Jageshwar valley. According to Chanchani, it is likely that the valley had reached a prominent position in Indian architecture by the 10th century, with the earliest monuments from the 7th-century.

The valley has two major clusters of Hindu temples and a number of roadside shrines. Of these some 151 temples have been numbered by ASI as protected pre-12th century monuments. The two largest groups are locally called as the Dandeshwar group temples (Dandeshwar samuh mandir, 15 temples) and the Jageshwar group temples (Jageshwar samuh mandir, 124 temples). Of these, temple number 37, 76 and 146 are the largest, all dated to the late centuries of the 1st millennium. In the historic text, Jageshwar is also referred to as Yageshvara.

 

 
Jageshwar was once the centre of Lakulish Shaivism, likely by monks and migrants who left the plains of the Indian subcontinent from places such as Gujarat and settled in the high mountains. The temple site, over time, was positioned as and grew as sacred geography in the form of northern (Uttara) Kashi (Varanasi)

The Jageshwar group of temples are similar to some large historic cluster of Hindu temples found on the Indian subcontinent. For example, a similar cluster is seen near Bhubhaneswar, Odisha at the Lingaraja group of temples. Another large group of stone temples is illustrated at the Batesvar complex in Chambal valley of Madhya Pradesh. Almost all the small and large temples in the Jageshwar valley, states Chanchani, have a "simple square plan sanctums bounded by plain walls and tiered superstructures"

The temples are atypical than other Hindu temples build after the 6th-century. The Jageshwar temples have a design that deliberately does not anticipate their use as house of worship. The sanctum space in most temples is generally too small that a priest cannot sit inside, leave alone move around to complete a ritual. Further, most of the lingas do not provide for a drain from abhisheka, a feature that Hindu temples from Gupta and post-Gupta period include. There is no record of their being used for worship, nor traces at the site that would suggest unrecorded use. According to Chanchani, most of these temples may have been memorials to Hindu monks or saints, or part of dedication or grant to the monasteries.

The site is additionally notable for rock steles featuring Hindu theological themes. Included in these are all four major traditions of Hinduism: Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Sauraism. Example steles include those of Ksemankari, Narayana, Revanta and Surya. Other significant reliefs include those of dancing Ganesha, seated and smiling Uma-Parvati and Saptamatrikas.

The Jageshwar temple site attracts a few hundred pilgrims and visitors every day. It remains a part of the Hindu sacred geography, particularly for the central Himalayan region. Many complete a part of the post-cremation last rites after the death of a loved one at the Jageshwar temple site. The temples are particularly popular in the late monsoon season. In other months, pilgrims typically combine their pilgrimage to Jageshwar Temples with those at Lake Mansarovar or Badrinath and Kedarnath, or other places in the Himalayas such as Gangotri. The site remains popular with Hindu monks and they continue to protect the site's sacrality

The Dead Sea (Deepest Hypersaline Lake), Between Israel and Jordan

The Dead Sea also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River.

The lake's surface is 430.5 meters (1,412 ft) below sea level, making its shores the lowest land-based elevation on Earth. It is 304 m (997 ft) deep, the deepest hyper saline lake in the world. With a salinity of 342 g/kg, or 34.2% (in 2011), it is one of the world's saltiest bodies of water  9.6 times as salty as the ocean  and has a density of 1.24 kg/litre, which makes swimming similar to floating.This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which plants and animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea's main, northern basin is 50 kilometres (31 mi) long and 15 kilometres (9 mi) wide at its widest point.

The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean Basin for thousands of years. It was one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from asphalt for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers. Today, tourists visit the sea on its Israeli, Jordanian and West Bank coastlines. The Palestinian tourism industry has been met with setbacks in developing along the West Bank coast.

The Dead Sea is receding at a swift rate; its surface area today is 605 km2 (234 sq mi), having been 1,050 km2 (410 sq mi) in 1930. The recession of the Dead Sea has begun causing problems, and multiple canal and pipeline proposals, such as the scrapped Red Sea–Dead Sea Water Conveyance project, have been made to reduce its recession. 

The Dead Sea is located at the lowest point on earth, which is thought to be the result of volcanic processes leading to a continuous dropping of land. It is one of the four saltiest bodies of water in the world. These special conditions are an outcome of its extreme geomorphological structure alongside a harsh desert climate. These create constant dramatic changes that form a landscape that is different from any other in the world. Also, the unique mineral content of the air, land, and water in the area is globally renowned for its therapeutic qualities, as is evident in that it has been a health resort for thousands of years.

The Jordan River is the only major water source flowing into the Dead Sea, although there are small perennial springs under and around the Dead Sea, forming pools and quicksand pits along the edges.  There are no outlet streams.

The Mujib River, biblical Arnon, is one of the larger water sources of the Dead Sea other than the Jordan. The Wadi Mujib valley, 420 m below the sea level in the southern part of the Jordan valley, is a biosphere reserve, with an area of 212 km2 (82 sq mi).  Other more substantial sources are Wadi Darajeh (Arabic)/Nahal Dragot (Hebrew), and Nahal Arugot that ends at Ein Gedi. Wadi Hasa is another wadi flowing into the Dead Sea.

There are two contending hypotheses about the origin of the low elevation of the Dead Sea. The older hypothesis is that the Dead Sea lies in a true rift zone, an extension of the Red Sea Rift, or even of the Great Rift Valley of eastern Africa. A more recent hypothesis is that the Dead Sea basin is a consequence of a "step-over" discontinuity along the Dead Sea Transform, creating an extension of the crust with consequent subsidence.

During the late Pliocene-early Pleistocene, around 3.7 million years ago, what is now the valley of the Jordan River, Dead Sea, and the northern Wadi Arabah was repeatedly inundated by waters from the Mediterranean Sea. The waters formed in a narrow, crooked bay that is called by geologists the Sedom Lagoon, which was connected to the sea through what is now the Jezreel Valley. The floods of the valley came and went depending on long-scale changes in the tectonic and climatic conditions.

The Sedom Lagoon extended at its maximum from the Sea of Galilee in the north to somewhere around 50 km (30 mi) south of the current southern end of the Dead Sea, and the subsequent lakes never surpassed this expanse. The Hula Depression was never part of any of these water bodies due to its higher elevation and the high threshold of the Korazim block separating it from the Sea of Galilee basin.

Approximately two million years ago, the land between the Rift Valley and the Mediterranean Sea rose to such an extent that the ocean could no longer flood the area. Thus, the long lagoon became a landlocked lake.

The Dead Sea area has become a location for health research and potential treatment for several reasons. The mineral content of the water, the low content of pollens and other allergens in the atmosphere, the reduced ultraviolet component of solar radiation, and the higher atmospheric pressure at this great depth each may have specific health effects. For example, persons experiencing reduced respiratory function from diseases such as cystic fibrosis seem to benefit from the increased atmospheric pressure.

The region's climate and low elevation have made it a popular center for assessment of putative therapies:

Climatotherapy: Treatment which exploits local climatic features such as temperature, humidity, sunshine, barometric pressure and special atmospheric constituents.

Heliotherapy: Treatment that exploits the biological effects of the sun's radiation

Thalassotherapy: Treatment that exploits bathing in Dead Sea water

Climatotherapy at the Dead Sea may be a therapy for psoriasis by sunbathing for long periods in the area due to its position below sea level and subsequent result that UV rays are partially blocked by the increased thickness of the atmosphere over the Dead Sea.

Rhinosinusitis patients receiving Dead Sea saline nasal irrigation exhibited improved symptom relief compared to standard hypertonic saline spray in one study.

Dead Sea mud pack therapy has been suggested to temporarily relieve pain in patients with osteoarthritis of the knees. According to researchers of the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, treatment with mineral-rich mud compresses can be used to augment conventional medical therapy.

The minerals and salts exclusive to the Dead Sea have been luring visitors for thousands of years, making it the world’s first health resort, dating back to the time of Herod. The high concentration of antiseptic minerals in the mud and salt of the Dead Sea makes it especially beneficial for skin diseases such as psoriasis and vitiligo. Covering the body in mud extracted from the Dead Sea helps the minerals become absorbed into the skin.

There are quite a few mentions of the Dead Sea in the Bible, and it has long been associated with mysticism, wonderment, and religious significance. It has been referenced often to describe the borders of Israel but is also known in its own right. One famous reference is the story of Lot’s wife, which is set in nearby Sodom. The slopes of Mount Sodom are located in the southeast corner of the Dead Sea, and they feature salt formations that look like pillars which are traditionally referred to as Lot’s wife.

Another famous mention is the Dead Sea prophecy, in which the prophet Ezekiel foresees a time when the Dead Sea would be transformed from saline waters that cannot host life, into fresh waters teeming with sea life.

The water level of the Dead Sea has been receding gradually, at an average annual rate of about 110 cm. This causes some concern about whether the Dead Sea is drying up. The natural recession is caused mainly by evaporation under the harsh desert sun, but also because water is no longer being pumped into the Dead Sea from former sources like the Jordan River

One of the main must-do activities on all tourists’ lists is floating in the Dead Sea. Because of the high concentration of salt, the water is much denser than plain fresh water, meaning that our body weight is lighter which causes us to float.

The Eternal Flame Falls, Chestnut Ridge Park in Western, New York

The Eternal Flame Falls is a small waterfall located in the Shale Creek Preserve, a section of Chestnut Ridge Park in Western New York. A small grotto at the waterfall's base emits natural gas, which can be lit to produce a small flame. This flame is visible nearly year round, although it can be extinguished and must occasionally be re-lit. The Eternal Flame Falls were featured in the book Secret Places by Bruce Kershner and in the book What's Weird on Earth.

Eternal Flame Falls is highly dependent on rainfall and melt water. It is usually only flowing in early spring, or after long bouts of heavy rain. It reaches 30 ft high, cascading over sloping shale in two segments. A small grotto, 5 ft up from the creek bed, to the right houses the natural gas spring that can be ignited to create a flame of 4-8 inches in height and believed to be lit thousands of years ago by Native Americans. For a long time, scientists have believed that the fire burns because of gas pockets that rise from the old, extremely hot bedrock made of shale. The rock's high temperatures break down the carbon molecules in the shale, which in turn creates natural gas. When flow is high, the water pours over the grotto, covering the flame and diffusing the light like a lampshade. Eternal Flame Falls is truly one of the most unique waterfalls in the country and one of the few remaining natural areas that we find on our planet. It is said that the falls may be the only one of its kind on the planet.

Once considered an "obscure" attraction in the region, media attention and improvements to the access trail have led to an increased number of visitors. The increased popularity of the falls has led to some negative impacts, such as an increase in litter, vandalism, pollution, and impacts on the surrounding terrain by tourists,but also fueled a successful public protest against a plan to clear a nearby forested area to install a disc golf course in 2012. However, the disc golf course was installed just through the forest area.

Geologists from Indiana University Bloomington and Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology studied Eternal Flame Falls in 2013 in an effort to better understand how natural gas emitted from naturally occurring hydrocarbon seeps contribute to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. They found that the 'macro seep' at Eternal Flame Falls had higher concentrations of ethane and propane (about 35%) than other known natural gas seeps, which typically contain a greater proportion of methane. They estimated that the seep at the falls emits approximately one kilogram (2.2 lb) of methane per day.

The researchers also noted the presence of numerous other 'micro seeps' in the area of the falls. By comparing the gas emitted by these seeps with gas from wells in the area, they determined that the gasses originate from Rhinestreet Shale approximately 400 meters (1,300 ft) below the surface. Tectonic activity likely opened faults in the shale, allowing the gas to reach the surface.

According to one geologist involved in the 2013 study, the seep's apparent source could provide evidence for a previously unknown geologic mechanism by which natural gas is produced within shale. Typically, shale must be hot (around 100 °C for its carbon structures to break down and form smaller natural gas molecules. However, the shale from which Eternal Flame Falls draws its gas is much cooler, in addition to being younger and shallower than typical gas-bearing shale. This may indicate that additional, as yet undemostrated, processes can contribute to the creation of natural gas in shale; one possibility is that a catalyst capable of breaking down shale in cooler conditions is present.

Anechoic Chamber - The World's Quietest Place

Anechoic Chamber is in Building 87 at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, is currently recognized in Guinness World Records as the quietest room in the world, with a measured background noise of -20.35 dBA, 20 decibels below the threshold of human hearing.

If you stand in it for long enough, you start to hear your heartbeat. A ringing in your ears becomes deafening. When you move, your bones make a grinding noise. Eventually you lose your balance, because the absolute lack of reverberation sabotages your spatial awareness. In this room at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, all sound from the outside world is locked out and any sound produced inside is stopped cold. It's called an "anechoic" chamber, because it creates no echo at all. 

The background noise in the room is so low that it approaches the lowest threshold theorized by mathematicians, the absolute zero of sound the next step down is a vacuum, or the absence of sound.

An anechoic chamber (an-echoic meaning "non-reflective, non-echoing, echo-free") is a room designed to completely absorb reflections of either sound or electromagnetic waves. They are also often isolated from waves entering from their surroundings. This combination means that a person or detector exclusively hears direct sounds, in effect simulating being inside an infinitely large room.

Anechoic chambers, a term coined by American acoustics expert Leo Beranek, were initially exclusively used to refer to acoustic anechoic chambers. Recently, the term has been extended to RF anechoic chambers, which eliminate reflection and external noise caused by electromagnetic waves.

Anechoic chambers range from small compartments the size of household microwave ovens to ones as large as aircraft hangars. The size of the chamber depends on the size of the objects and frequency ranges being tested.

The room offers a very rare sensorial experience. "As soon as one enters the room, one immediately feels a strange and unique sensation which is hard to describe," wrote Hundraj Gopal, a speech and hearing scientist and the principal designer of the anechoic chamber at Microsoft.

"Most people find the absence of sound deafening, feel a sense of fullness in the ears, or some ringing. Very faint sounds become clearly audible because the ambient noise is exceptionally low. When you turn your head, you can hear that motion. You can hear yourself breathing and it sounds somewhat loud," he said. In the real world, Gopal explained, our ears are constantly subject to some level of sound, so there is always some air pressure on the ear drums. But upon entering the anechoic room this constant air pressure is gone, since there are no sound reflections from the surrounding walls.

To achieve extreme silence, the room is designed with an onion-like structure that isolates it from the rest of the building and the outside world. It's made of six layers of concrete and steel and it is somewhat disconnected from the surrounding building, because it sits atop an array of vibration damping springs. Inside, fiberglass wedges are mounted on the floor, ceiling and walls to break up sound waves before they have a chance to bounce back into the room. The floor itself is simply a grid of sound-absorbing suspended cables.

"The design, planning and construction took a little over one and a half years," confirmed Gopal.

"I needed a good location on campus where the measured noise levels inside the building were adequately low. I needed to plan the inside of the building so that I could nest the chamber six levels deep. We had to build a special 12" concrete wall encasing the chamber to block out further ambient sound. Careful attention was paid to every detail that could conduct sound from outside to inside the chamber, such as isolating the sprinkler supply pipes and the fire-alarm sensor, or lining the air-supply and return ducts with additional sound absorbing material."

The final result? "The noise level measured inside is -20.3dBA. This means that the ambient noise in the chamber is 20.3dB below the threshold of human hearing." By comparison, one of the quietest sounds that can be heard in a quiet room, calm breathing, clocks in at 10dB.

Microsoft uses the room as an acoustic research lab for several of its products and components, including speakers and microphones. Currently, the company is using the acoustic lab to test Cortana, the company’s voice assistant adding background noise in the room while simultaneously asking questions, to measure and ultimately improve upon performance of Cortana.  

According to Microsoft, the same company who built the previous record-breaking room for Orfield Lab, Eckel Noise Control Technologies, helped create the new room for the company. Microsoft’s Audio Lab itself actually consists of multiple anechoic chambers, with the largest sitting on top of springs in order to keep the amount of outside noise to an absolute minimum. Highly specialized instrumentation from Brüel & Kjær was used to analyze and measure the room. A two-microphone coherent power measurement technique was used to achieve the extremely low ambient noise level measurement.

For more information -Anechoic Chamber