Surkanda Devi

Surkanda Devi is a hilltop shrine near Dhanaulti in Tehri Garhwal, at roughly 2,756 metres, and the height does the work: the Himalayan ranges lie open in a long panorama from the temple. It counts as one of the Shakta pithas, the places where parts of Sati's body are held to have fallen, and here it was the head, sir, which is where the name comes from. That makes it a working pilgrimage rather than only a viewpoint, and the two crowds arrive for different reasons. Come early in the day if the ranges are what you are here for.