The Nanda Devi Raj Jat route, day by day: 19 days and 257 km measured
The main route of the Nanda Devi Raj Jat is recorded in our survey data as 19 days of travel and 257.4 km in total. This page turns that data into a day-by-day reading, with the distance for each day, what stands out, and a plain statement of where the numbers should not be trusted.
The day-by-day table
“Measured” is the length of the digitised route line for that day. “Source” is the distance written in the source file’s own attribute table. Where they differ, the map uses the measured figure. Days 1 and 2 are recorded in the file as a round 15 km each.
| Day | From → To (as labelled in the data) | Measured km | Source km |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nauti to Ida Badhani | 16.21 | 15.00 |
| 2 | Ida Badhani to Nauti | 16.21 | 15.00 |
| 3 | Nauti to Kansuwa | 7.53 | 7.52 |
| 4 | Kansuwa to Sem | 17.24 | 17.23 |
| 5 | Sem to Koti | 11.93 | 11.93 |
| 6 | Koti to Bhagoti | 11.45 | 11.45 |
| 7 | Bhagoti to Kulshari | 15.33 | 15.33 |
| 8 | Kulshari to Chepudi | 10.76 | 10.76 |
| 9 | Chepudi to Nandakeshri | 4.65 | 4.65 |
| 10 | Nand Kesri to Faldiya | 7.90 | 7.89 |
| 11 | Faldiya Mandoli | 7.38 | 7.37 |
| 12 | Mandoli to Lohajang (Waan) · Lohajang to Koling (Waan) · Koling to Waan | 13.04 | 13.02 |
| 13 | Waan to Ran Ki Dhaar · Ran Ki Dhar to Gairoli Patal | 5.43 | 5.43 |
| 14 | Bedni Round Worship · Bedni to Patar Nachoniya · Gairoli Patal to Bedni | 7.02 | 5.76 |
| 15 | Patar Nachauniya to Kalvavinayak · Kalva to Bagwa Basa · Bagwabasa to Cherinaag · Cherinaag to Juran Gali · Juran to Shila Samundar | 9.97 | 9.97 |
| 16 | To Homkund · Homkund to Chandaniya Ghat | 2.72 | 2.71 |
| 17 | To Suthol | 12.23 | 12.24 |
| 18 | To Ghat | 20.84 | 20.84 |
| 19 | To Nandaprayag · To Nauti | 59.57 | 59.54 |
What stands out
A day is usually 8 to 12 km
Between Day 3 and Day 16 the average is 9.5 km. That is short by trekking standards, and it fits a procession that moves at the pace of a palanquin and a large crowd, with long ritual halts, rather than at the pace of a trekking party. The longest outbound day is Day 4, Kansuwa to Sem, at 17.2 km.
The short days are where the climbing is
The three shortest days are Day 16 (2.7 km, the approach to Homkund), Day 9 (4.7 km, Chepudi to Nandkesari) and Day 13 (5.4 km, Waan onward). Short distance should not be read as easy: the highest ground on the route lies around Roopkund and Homkund, and a few kilometres there take far longer than the same distance in the foothills.
Days 1 and 2 are the same line walked twice
Day 1 (Nauti to Ida badhani) and Day 2 (back to Nauti) share identical geometry in the data, each 16.21 km. The data does not say why; the plain reading is a ceremonial out-and-back before the main departure. Because the two days overlap exactly, the 19-day total counts that stretch twice.
Day 15 is the busiest on the map
Day 15 is recorded as five separate segments covering 10.0 km, linking Patar Nachauniya, Kaliyuva Vinayak, Bagwabasa, Cherinaag, Jyuragali and Shila Samundar. It includes Jyuragali, a high pass named in the data, which is why so many named places are packed into so little distance.
The return legs
The three return days are recorded as 12.2 km (Day 17, toward Sutol), 20.8 km (Day 18, toward Ghat) and 59.6 km (Day 19). Day 19 stands out: it carries two line segments, one toward Nandaprayag and one toward Nauti, totalling 59.6 km. No procession walks that far in a day on this terrain, so the likelier explanation is that the source groups several return stages under one label. We show the data as supplied and flag the limitation rather than redrawing it.
Where the data disagrees with itself
Over Days 3 to 19 the measured and source distances agree within about 0.6%. Over all 19 days the gap is about 1.5%, almost entirely because of the rounded 15 km recorded for Days 1 and 2. One segment is a real outlier: “Bedni to PatarNachoniya” on Day 14 measures 4.87 km on the line but is recorded as 3.62 km in the source. We have not corrected it; a person who knows the route should decide which is right.
Use it with the map
The interactive map lets you click any day, see its halts and places, and view the route on a topographic base. For the story behind the places, read Villages and halts along the route and the articles on Bedni Bugyal and Roopkund.
Sources and notes
- All distances computed from three surveyed GeoJSON files (main route, official halts, main locations) using geodesic measurement on WGS84. Method: How this map was made.
- The day labels (“Nauti to Ida badhani” and so on) are copied from the files; spelling is the surveyor’s, not ours.