Bandarpunch I & II Peaks Uttarakhand

Regarded as an important peak of the Garhwal division of the Himalayas; Bandarpunch I & II are situated in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand. Comparing both, Bandarpunch It’s the tallest of the two peaks, that has an altitude of 6316 m above the sea level while Bandarpunch II has an elevation of 6102 m. The name of this peak literally means Tail of the Hindu Deity ‘Hanuman’ whose appearance was like that of a monkey. If seen from a distance, the Bandarpunch peak I along with the Bandarpunch II make a shape of a monkey’s tail. As per the legends, when the mighty warrior Hanuman had gone to Lanka to rescue Sita from the evil Ravana he caught fire in his tail during the battle and to extinguish that he flew to the summit of this peak. And that is how the peak got its name.

Bandarpunch massif has 3 peaks in total. To the west above Yamunotri is Bandarpunch II which is also popular by the name of white peak. In the middle, around 5 km east is Bandarpunch peak I and to the north-east of that is Kalanag (Black peak) which literally means black serpent. On the side of the Bandarpunch peak I located Yamunotri which is the source of the river Yamuna. Apart from this, Swargarohini peak also resides around it.

With such incredible elevation and alluring snowclad peaks, it is obvious for the adventure fanatics to get lured to take a leap in the activities like trekking and climbing on to the Bandarpunch peak I & II of the Uttarakhand Himalayas. The first ascent to Bandarpunch peak was made in the year 1950 by Major General Harold Williams and his team that included some of the renowned mountaineers like Tenzing Norgay, Sergeant Roy Greenwood and Sherpa Kin Chok Tshering. The southeast route is the easiest route to reach up to the summit of both the twin peaks including the Kalanag peak.