Travels Of A Sadhu In The Himalayas: 'A Timeless Journey Through Grief, Faith, And Colonial India'

Book Review:

In Search of the Sacred: Travels of a Sadhu in the Himalayas

Author: Jaladhar Sen

Translated by: Somdatta Mandal

Publisher: Speaking Tiger

Travels of a Sadhu in the Himalayas, originally written by the Bengali author and journalist Jaladhar Sen in the late nineteenth century, finds new life in Somdatta Mandal’s clear translation for those who cannot read Bengali. The book offers a rare glimpse into the journeys of a wandering ascetic through the Himalayan landscape, while also reflecting the intellectual and cultural currents of colonial times. Sen lived in Dehra Dun but refers to Bengal as his home country and the book of baul songs that he carries with him on his journey reflects his Bengali soul,

Sen’s decision to accompany a sadhu on this arduous journey was not merely an intellectual undertaking but also a deeply personal one. Stricken with grief after the death of his wife, he set out in search of solace in the mountains. The Himalayas thus become, for him, not only a site of observation and description but also a terrain of mourning and spiritual quest, where landscapes mirror inner desolation and encounters with ascetic life offer the possibility of renewal. The pilgrimage was banned by the authorities and despite the fact that the ban was lifted when Sen set out, the huts in which he could have sheltered were in ruins.

At its heart, the text straddles two worlds. On the one hand, it is a travelogue—full of descriptions of mountains, rivers, villages, and shrines. On the other, it is an ethnographic and spiritual record, as Sen documents the beliefs, practices, and personalities he encounters in the company of the sadhu. Readers will find in its pages a mingling of wonder and inquiry, as the author attempts to capture the mystery of Himalayan life beyond the reach of the plains.

Mandal’s translation succeeds in making Sen’s prose accessible to a new readership. The narrative voice retains its period charm without lapsing into archaism, and the translator’s introduction provides valuable historical context. Mandal places Sen’s work within the broader genre of colonial travel writing and points to its distinctive attempt to merge rational observation with a fascination for the spiritual unknown.

At the same time, readers today may find certain aspects challenging. The book sometimes slips into orientalist stereotypes of tribal and hill communities, reflecting the biases of its time. Its devotional tone and occasional digressions into myth may feel dated to those expecting a straightforward travel narrative. Yet these very qualities also mark it as an important cultural document, illustrating how faith, folklore, and lived experience were intertwined in late nineteenth-century Indian writing.

The strength of Sen’s account, as we would imagine, lies in its evocation of the Himalayas as more than a geographical space. They become a theatre for spiritual testing, for encounters between tradition and modernity, and for the author’s own negotiation with the idea of India’s sacred geography. For readers interested in travel writing, South Asian history, or the intersections of literature and religion, Travels of a Sadhu in the Himalayas makes a satisfying armchair companion.

Mandal’s careful translation ensures that Sen’s voice is preserved, while his framing commentary helps the contemporary reader put the work in its proper historical context. If the book sometimes feels uneven, it is because it mirrors the hybrid world from which it emerged—half travelogue, half spiritual meditation but totally characteristic of the time when it was written since it was intended as a pilgrimage of sorts.

What the translation does is allow us to revisit a forgotten classic of Bengali travel writing and opens up a space to think about how we in India looked upon our encounters with the Himalayas, long before mass tourism transformed them into the great spiritual challenge.