Babaji's Cave, Drongiri
Pandukholi hill, near Kukkuchhina and Dunagiri, Dwarahat, Almora district, Uttarakhand
The hillside caves near Ranikhet where, in Autobiography of a Yogi, Lahiri Mahasaya meets Babaji in 1861 and is initiated into Kriya Yoga. In Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master, Sri M describes making his way to the cave of that meeting.
What the texts say
- Lineage text
In the autumn of 1861 Lahiri Mahasaya, then a government accountant, is transferred to the new army post at Ranikhet. Walking in the hills, he hears his name called, climbs Drongiri Mountain and reaches a clearing lined with caves, where a young ascetic greets him. The ascetic says it was he who arranged the transfer.
Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda, chapter 34
- Lineage text
Babaji touches Lahiri Mahasaya's forehead, and Lahiri remembers a past life spent in this same cave as Babaji's disciple. Babaji then sends him to spend the night on the bank of the Gogash river, spelled so in the 1946 text.
Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda, chapter 34
- Lineage text
A photograph caption describes one of the caves used by Babaji in the Drongiri Mountains near Ranikhet, with a grandson of Lahiri Mahasaya and other devotees visiting it.
Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda, "Photograph caption (among the pages of chapter 11 in our copy)"
- Lineage text
Sri M travels through Ranikhet and Dwarahat to Kukurchina (the book's spelling of today's Kukkuchhina), meaning to visit the cave where Lahiri Mahasaya met his guru. He walks through Pandukhali (today's Pandukholi), reaches the cave, finds it empty and still, and sits there in practice. Beyond a tunnel he finds a second cave, where his own teacher is waiting for him.
Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master: A Yogi's Autobiography, Sri M, chapter 38
What tradition holds
Kept apart from the texts on purpose. These are held with respect, and they are not the same as a written source.
- Pilgrim tradition
Local people believe the Pandavas lived for a time in exile near the path to the cave. Sri M reports this as a local belief (Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master, chapter 38).
Held by: Villagers around Pandukholi, as reported by Sri M
- Pilgrim tradition
That the cave of Babaji is on Pandukholi hill. The Almora district administration's own description of Pandukholi says so, and pilgrims today walk there for that reason. Neither book gives a map, so we record this as what is held at the place.
Held by: Local people and the Almora district administration (almora.nic.in)
What you will find today
- Getting there
- Pandukholi is about 27 km from Dwarahat. From near the Dunagiri temple it is a trek of about 5 km; from the road at Kukkuchhina it is about 3 km. The district gives the caves at Pandukholi an elevation of 8,000 feet.
- Timings and conduct
- We give distances, not walking times: no official source gives a time, and we have not timed the walk ourselves. Start early and allow for a steep hill path.
- Altitude
- About 2440 m
- Permits
- The district administration's page mentions no permit for the walk.
- Best season
- Incredible India says Almora can be visited all year and singles out March to May for trekking and hiking.
Last checked via District Almora, Government of Uttarakhand (https://almora.nic.in/dunagiri-to-pandukholi/); Incredible India, Ministry of Tourism (https://www.incredibleindia.gov.in/en/uttarakhand/almora). Conditions change; confirm before you travel.
A practice for this place
Walk the last stretch to the cave in silence and at an easy pace, breathing through the nose. At the cave, sit for twenty minutes with your spine upright. If you have been initiated into Kriya Yoga, practise as your teacher taught you. If not, sit with plain breath awareness; this is not a place to try techniques you have only read about. Carry water and warm layers, and start back well before dark, as Lahiri Mahasaya himself worried about doing.