The Pandavas, tired of their nomadic life, during their period of exile, decided to rest in the Narayanashrama forest in the Himalayas.

The story goes that, one day, drawn by the sweet fragrance and beauty of the Saugandhika flower, Draupadi entreated Bhima to fetch it for her. Bhima, while searching for the flower came across an old monkey whose unusually long tail lay on his path. He requested the monkey to move its tail. But the monkey refused to budge. This insolence annoyed Bhima. Puffed with pride, he introduced himself as a mighty Kshatriya warrior of the Kuru race, as the son of Kunti and the wind God and as the brother of the mighty Hanuman.

The monkey in all humility asked Bhima to move his tail from the path and cross over as he was very tired. He claimed his ignorance of all the big names that Bhima had mentioned. When Bhima could not move the tail, he realised that it was none other than Chiranjeevi Hanuman himself. Bhima apologised for his actions and explained about his quest for the Saugandhika flower. On learing about Draupadi’s wish for the flower, Hanuman offerd to help Bhima in finding the Saugandhika flower. He also revealed the viswaroopam with which he crossed the Indian Ocean and promised to support him in the Kurukshetra war. Being the Pandava’s mascot, his image decorates their flag. The mountain on which this incident took place, came to be known as Bandar Poonch — the monkey’s tail.

The three peaks

The Bandar Poonch massif in the Garhwal Himalaya consists of three peaks — Bandar Poonch I, (6,316 m), Bandar Poonch II (6,102m.) and the Kala Nag, Black Cobra or Black Peak (6,387m). The River Yamuna originates on the West end of the Bandarpoonch cirque Glacier. The Eastern slopes of the Bandarpoonch Mountain feed the River Ganga. This is a unique mountain that feeds both Yamuna and Ganga. Yamuna travels 1,376 kms. from her source before merging with the Ganga at Allahabad. The sacred shrine of Yamunotri lies at an altitude of 3,615 m on one side of the Bandarpoonch Peak.

River Yamuna is accorded a very important place in the Vedas and Puranas. She has many names, Suryatanaya, as she is the daughter of Surya and Saranya; Yami, as she is the sister of Yama; and Kalindi, the dark one.

Yamuna is revered as she washed the lotus feet of Krishna and it is on these waters that the Lord sported with his dear cowherd friends and gopikas.

The Varaha Purana declares that when the waters of the Ganges gets sanctified one hundred times, it is Yamuna.

The legendary mountaineer, Tenzing Norgay was a member of the team that first climbed Bandar Poonch in 1950. It lies within the Govind Pashu Vihar National Park and Sanctuary.