FernBenes17766 at 14:25, 31 July 2025

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{{Use Indian English|date=August 2017}}
'''Cranks' Ridge''', sometimes called '''Hippie Hill''', is a pine-covered [[ridge]] located on the way to [[Kasar Devi]] temple, above the town of [[Almora]], [[Uttarakhand]], [[India]], the ancient capital of [[Kumaon division|Kumaon]]. [[File:2024-03-19 Crank's Ridge 1.jpg|thumb|Crank's Ridge]]

[[File: 2024-03-19 Kasar Devi Temple 2.jpg|thumb|Kasar Devi Temple]]Kasar Devi is a temple on the Kaashaay Hills, 7 km north from Almora, where Swami [[Vivekananda]] once came to meditate<ref>[[s:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 3/Lectures from Colombo to Almora/Address of Welcome at Almora and Reply|Address of Welcome at Almora and Reply]]</ref><ref>Dutta, Julia [http://www.boloji.com/travels/060.htm No Pain No Gain : Almora Visited] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101212234049/http://boloji.com/travels/060.htm |date=12 December 2010 }} Boloji.org, 14 October 2007</ref> in the late 19th century. The place, got its popular name, Crank's Ridge, ever since [[Timothy Leary]] [[Streaking|streaked]] on the ridge in the 1960s, when it became part of the [[Hippie trail]], during the peak of [[hippie|hippie movement]].<ref>[http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21937605-17102,00.html Where stars shine brighter] Margaret Turton. news.com.au. 23 June 2007.</ref>

==History==

[[File:Sunyata'sCave99.jpg|thumb|The remains of [[Alfred Sorensen]] (Sunyata)'s cave, near Crank's Ridge in 1999]]

The ridge became a haunt for bohemian artists, writers and spiritual seekers in the 1920s and 1930s, including notable western Tibetan Buddhists, [[W. Y. Evans-Wentz]], and [[Lama Anagarika Govinda]], who in turn was visited by [[Anandamayi Ma]] and [[Neem Karoli Baba]].<ref name="cr">[http://www.angelfire.com/realm/bodhisattva/shunyata.html Alfred Sorensen - Cranks Ridge] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422163609/http://www.angelfire.com/realm/bodhisattva/shunyata.html |date=22 April 2009 }} ''[[Alfred Sorensen]]'' Biography.</ref> Other early people connected to Crank's Ridge were [[Earl Brewster]], an American artist and his wife [[Achsah Barlow Brewster]], author [[John Blofeld (writer)|John Blofeld]] and Danish mystic [[Alfred Sorensen]].<ref>Sunyata, eds: Camhi, Betty and Rai, Gurubaksh ''Dancing with the Void'', Blue Dove Press, 2001, {{ISBN|1884997198}}</ref> In 1934, [[Alfred Sorensen]] who was earlier introduced to [[Jawaharlal Nehru|Nehru]] by Tagore, visited the home of [[Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit|Nehru's sister]] and brother-in-law at their house Khali, [[Binsar]] where he stayed and used his horticultural skills in the garden, while still travelling during the summer.<ref>[http://indiaguide.trailofview.com/trail/Binsar Binsar]{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> It was while staying with the Nehru family that one of their friends offered Sorensen a piece of land where he could live on Crank's Ridge, near [[Almora]].

In the 1960s and 1970s, luminaries of the [[counter-culture]], including [[Bob Dylan]] and [[Cat Stevens]] made pilgrimages to the ridge to visit these established inhabitants.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}} In 1962, [[Allen Ginsberg]] came with [[Peter Orlovsky]], [[Gary Snyder]] and [[Joanne Kyger]] to visit Lama Govinda. Ginsberg commented in a letter to John Kelley that "[[Rishikesh]] and Almora were not unlike the [[Catskills]] readily accessible, only more spiritual.<ref>Baker, Deborah (2008). ''A Blue Hand: The Beats in India'', Penguin.</ref>" In late 1964, [[Ralph Metzner]] visited Lama Govinda on the ridge and was later joined by [[Timothy Leary]] on honeymoon with his wife [[Nena von Schlebrügge]]. The marriage did not last long. Leary wrote much of ''Psychedelic Prayers'', a psychedelic version the [[Tao Te Ching]] composed from nine English translations of the book, on the ridge.<ref>Greenfield, Robert (2006) ''Timothy Leary: A Biography'' p.229 Harcourt Publishers, {{ISBN|0-15-100500-1}}</ref> Later in the decade [[Richard Alpert]] ([[Ram Dass]]), visited the ridge as a part of his own pilgrimage. Scottish psychiatrist, [[R. D. Laing]] spent some time there in the early 1970s; as did [[Robert Thurman]], the Buddhist scholar, who spent six months with his wife [[Nena von Schlebrügge]] and family, including their 3-year-old daughter [[Uma Thurman]], studying with Lama Govinda as a part of his doctoral dissertation over the summer of 1971.<ref>Thurman, Robert and Wise, Tad. (2000) ''Circling the Sacred Mountain: A Spiritual Adventure Through the Himalayas''. (pps. 4-5) Bantam. {{ISBN|978-0-553-37850-4}}</ref> Lama Govinda's ashram was visited by many other spiritual seekers. Physician [[Karl-Heinz Gottmann]], composer [[Peter Michael Hamel]] and the philosopher [[Volker Zotz]] visited his ashram.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Arya Maitreya Mandala - Order of Lama Anagarika Govinda - International Network|url = http://www.arya-maitreya-mandala.org/content/lamagovinda.htm|website = www.arya-maitreya-mandala.org|accessdate = 2015-10-16}}</ref> In the mid-seventies Alfred 'Sunyata' Sorensen was taken to San Francisco by the [[Alan Watts]] society.

The village of Kasar Devi has now become a cult destination, many incognito celebs visit frequently and it also has a small community of [[Backpacking (travel)|backpackers]]. Participants of the hippie movement settled there ever since the place gained the reputation of being a ''Power Centre'' during the 1960s [[counter-culture]]. This reputation is due to the alleged gap in the [[Van Allen Belt]] above the ridge, a perception arguably strengthened by the free and easy availability of hemp on the slopes.

There is also a Buddhist meditation center on the ridge. This Center is in a Buddhist Ashram (Bodh Ashram), originally the estate of Evans-Wentz, then of Lama Anagarika Govinda, then of a Tibetan-Ladakhi family. The Center is affiliated to the Drikung Kagyu order of Tibetan Buddhism.

==See also==

{{Portal|India}}

* [[Manali, Himachal Pradesh|Manali]]
* [[Goa]]

{{commons category|Crank’s Ridge}}
==References==

{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131207020320/http://www.himvan.com/Webpages/kasardevi.htm KasarDevi (Crank's Ridge) at Kumaon: Kala Shilp Aur Sanskriti :: www.himvan.com]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225550/http://www.manuyogas.org/kasar-devi-and-ridge-videos-and-slideshows-especially-from-lama-anagarika-govinda-buddhist-ashram-area-and-around-2000-2007-and-2013.html Kasar Devi and Ridge videos and slideshows, especially from Lama Anagarika Govinda's Buddhist Ashram area and around, 2000-2007 and 2013]

{{coord missing|Uttarakhand}}
{{Hippies}}
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[[Category:Almora]]
[[Category:Hippie movement]]
[[Category:Landforms of Uttarakhand]]
[[Category:Ridges of India]]
[[Category:Tourism in Uttarakhand]]

Cranks' Ridge - Revision history

FernBenes17766 at 14:25, 31 July 2025