Purnagiri temple is a famous religious place in Uttarakhand near Nepal border. It is dedicated to goddess Poornagiri and one of the best travel places in India. Purnagiri is one of Shaktipeethas according to Hinduism. A Shaktipeeth is a place of worship dedicated to Goddess Durga. Nearby city from Purnagiri temple is Tanakpur. The distance from Tanakpur to Poornagiri temple is about 20-25 kilometers.Tanakpur is the base point to reach Purnagiri temple. It comes under the district of Champawat in Uttarakhand. Lakhs of devotees come every year from across the country to get blessings of goddess Poornagiri. A fair is organised here every year which is called Purnagiri Mela. This temple is situated in the Kumaon range of the great Himalayas. Tanakpur is the gateway to Kumaon mountains. So this could be a great travel destination for you if you like to travel in mountains. It is the border town and you can enter Nepal from here. So this is the good option to travel to Nepal from India. A river named Sharda flows here at the border and makes border line. Indian territory is on one side of Sharda river and Nepalese is on the other side. Many pilgrimages take a bath in the Sharda river after paying a visit to the Purnagiri temple. Read the blog till end and enjoy my journey experience to Purnagiri and you will get all the information reading this blog.
I was very excited, as always, when I planned this journey with my two friends. We made a plan to travel to Uttarakhand and we chose Purnagiri temple as our destination. That was the month of January and I woke up early in the morning to be ready for the trip. I caught a train from Moradabad, my home town, to Bareilly. My second friend boarded the same train from Rampur. We, all 3 friends, were at such places that first I boarded the train from Moradabad then my second friend boarded from next stoppage Rampur and finally we reached at Bareilly, my third friend's home town. So we gathered at Bareilly and caught another train to Tanakpur. Tanakpur is the last station and the nearest railway station to reach Purnagiri temple. It was evening when we reached Tanakpur and the night was approaching. But we decided to proceed despite a winter night ahead. We wanted to cover the distance from Tanakpur to Poornagiri temple at night in spite of staying in a hotel because we didn't want to waste our day time in travelling. So we headed towards our beautiful destination, although some people advised us not to go there at night. We were going in our mood. An atmosphere of serenity pervaded the place. Now we had reached out of the town. Here, one guy again advised us not to proceed at that time because that was about 8 or 9 pm. That was the last guy who met us. He told us about two days old incident when an elephant killed a boy while he was going on the same way. Now we were a little bit afraid of listening that and were in dilemma but again we decided to go further.
When we almost encountered a tiger. We realized after some time that the guy who met and advised us not to go at night was right because after sunset it is the time for wild animals to come out from their dwellings and roam around in the forest. But we ignored his advice and headed towards temple. Here we committed a big mistake of our life by travelling on foot at night in the deep forest. Up to some distance there were houses along roadside and people kept burning the fire outside their homes to keep the wild animals at bay. After covering some distance those houses also disappeared and we, only three friends, were on our way to Purnagiri temple listening the sound of our footsteps. After some time we were completely in forest-- tall trees roadside and a cold night of January. A few metres ahead there was an under construction bridge and two guards were there living in a makeshift hut near that bridge. We just passed the bridge and went a few footsteps ahead then we stopped suddenly hearing some noise in the bushes. We were scared and then the tiger growled. No sooner had the tiger growled than we ran away back to the guards. They calmed us down and asked about incident. Upon telling about tiger they couldn't believe us and told us that it might be a monkey. But after a few moments when the tiger roared at the same place then they had no choice but to believe us. We were lucky that the tiger didn't chase us. We can't forget that night. Those guards gave us shelter and we spent that night with them. In the pre dawn hours we started our journey again by a taxi but after some kilometers at a police checkpost the police didn't allow the taxi to go ahead. From here we again started traveling on foot. Although the night was not completely over, it was safe then to travel on foot. We were on our way when it was dawning and after that we started taking shortcuts and trails through the forest and mountains so that we can reach early. Travelling through the forest and mountains we reached Purnagiri temple before noon. We stayed there in a shop for a while and after taking bath we headed towards temple. From here we had to climb through the stairs. These shops are of such kinds that the shop owners provide you stay, breakfast, tea etc. You can stay at night also if you reach at night and want to spend that night there. Only thing is that you have to buy the offering for the temple from that shop. You can say these are stay cum shops and are built just before the temple along the side of the way. Remember that don't forget to take the card of shop (owner) so that you can identify the shop when come back from temple. From these shops there are stairs upto the temple so you will have to climb through these stairs the rest of the distance. I don't remember exactly that how many stairs are there to reach Purnagiri temple but it might be less than one kilometre distance.
After offering our prayers and getting blessings we returned from Purnagiri temple. This time we decided to cover whole the distance from Purnagiri temple to Tanakpur on foot. This time we completely took shortcuts and trails. Enjoying our journey through the mountains and forest we came back to Tanakpur much before evening. From here we decided to go to one more place which is in Nepal and that is Siddh Baba temple. This temple is on the border in the Nepal side. We took our food here in restaurant and exchange some currency to keep as souvenirs with us. After that we returned from there and arrived at Tanakpur railway station to catch the train back to our homes. A beautiful trip was getting to its end and I was very happy by travelling with my friends.
How to reach Purnagiri temple: You can reach Purnagiri by all the three main mediums. First you have to reach Tanakpur which is the nearest city from Purnagiri temple and the gateway to Purnagiri.
By train: This is the best mode to reach Tanakpur and I would recommend this over others. Tanakpur is well connected to many big stations by rail like Delhi, Lucknow, Allahabad (Prayagraj), Moradabad, Bareilly. To reach Purnagiri temple from Delhi by train, there is Delhi-Tanakpur Express.
By road: If you want to come Purnagiri by road then it is also a good option. Bus service is available from Anand Vihar (Delhi) to Tanakpur. Lucknow to Tanakpur bus service is also a good choice if you are coming from Lucknow side. You can come by your own vehicle. There are various facilities in between to reach Tanakpur like restaurants, petrol stations, hotels etc. Distance from Lucknow to Tanakpur is around 290 kilometres. Delhi to Purnagiri temple distance by road is around 350 kilometres.
By air: You can reach Purnagiri by air also but you have to travel by train or road too. The nearest airport from Tanakpur is Pantnagar and the distance from Pantnagar airport to Purnagiri is around 160 kilometers. Pantnagar is connected to Delhi by air. There are four flights to Pantnagar from Delhi in a week at present. From Pantnagar airport to Tanakpur taxi service is available. You can take taxi or bus or train from Delhi to Tanakpur after coming delhi airport. If you are coming Lucknow by air then you have two choices from Lucknow airport-- one is taking taxi or bus and second is taking train to reach Tanakpur.
Stay and Food at Purnagiri: After reaching Purnagiri it is worth asking question that where to stay or hotels in Purnagiri. If you are planning a trip to Purnagiri then you need not worry about your stay because there are many hotels in Purnagiri. Infact you have to stay at Tanakpur because Tanakpur is the city nearest from Purnagiri temple and the way to Purnagiri temple goes through Tanakpur. There are many hotels and restaurants in Tanakpur where you can stay and take food. From here you can hire a taxi to reach Purnagiri temple.
Best weather to come Purnagiri: You can go Purnagiri at any time in any season except rainy days. Because in rainy season it is dangerous to travel in mountains. There is always a danger of landslide so avoid this time to go. The best time to go Purnagiri is in the months of March-April. Many devotees from all parts of India come in March-April to Purnagiri.
Other attractions: A major attraction of Purnagiri is Nepal. After Purnagiri you can go to Nepal from Tanakpur. Tanakpur is the entry point to Nepal and many people go to Napal from here. There is no visa requirement to enter Nepal for Indians.