Tapovan Hot Springs Uttarakhand

Tapovan Hot Springs are sacred geothermal springs in Tapovan village in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, India, located at over 2,600 meters altitude in the Dhauli Ganga valley near the confluence with the Rishi Ganga — a high Himalayan tributary that flows from the glaciers of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, one of the world's most protected and biologically significant mountain wilderness areas. The bicarbonate thermal waters emerge from the deep Himalayan geology amid the extraordinary sacred landscape of the central Garhwal Himalaya, where the ashrams, pilgrimage routes, and yogic traditions of the ancient Rishis (sages) permeate every valley and peak with spiritual significance. In 2021, a catastrophic glacial outburst flood down the Rishi Ganga destroyed infrastructure in the valley, making Tapovan a site of both natural geothermal springs within a long thermal tradition and the raw power of Himalayan geological processes — a sobering reminder of the elemental forces that produce these sacred hot springs.