Have you seen Jonathan Spollen? Missing in Rishikesh since February 3rd, 2012

Absolutely no problem - please do pass on my no to Jonathan's friends/cousins - in case they need any advice or support en route via Delhi. I am sure the Irish Embassy here in Delhi (which is taking the case very seriously and extending its full support) is also providing support. We have a family friend who is Indian from Uttarakand who knows the higher and remote areas of Uttarakand such as Joshinath - I shall speak to him this evening to ask him about the area and trek routes etc Gordon

Jonathan's mother Lynda has posted some photos of Jonathan taken in India in June 2011 on her Facebook page, for media usage.

For people who are not on Facebook, I am putting them here.

I was looking in to a detailed map of Uttarakhand, especially the Rishikesh-Joshimath route, for a place sounding similar to Nyaneth.
I came across a temple near Pokhri, by the name of Nagnath. Since it was mentioned in a detailed map, it must be a popular and known temple.
It is not situated on the main highway so it might be in a secluded forested area. Secondly, being a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, It should be attracting Sadhus, some of them might be staying there permanently or on a long term basis.

May be it is a long shot...but who knows by the grace of god some good news might be waiting

Have reliable info someone who looks him has been seen near Joshimath.

There is also a vishnu temple called Bansi Naryan which i thought sounded like a possibility,this is way off the road on a major trekking route; http://himalayancamping.com/modules....owpage&pid=242

But Nagnath sounds more like Nyaneth,hopefully David will shine some light on this.KK

What does reliable info mean? Is this a third party sighting or do you have specific time/date & contact information of the person(s) who reported this sighting?

Then please say what your reliable info is in as much detail as possible?

New member birdcage is logged in now so if any Mod's are around can you speak with him in the background??

Oh!looks like he's flown the nest!!!KK

Im afraid insights is the best we can do.

Good idea to add it to the first post again, preferably so that it will be easily recognized (in what is starting to become an extensive first post, I mean)?

Perhaps ditto (the full photos and all), though I'm not sure; there could indeed be a risk of that original post becoming hard to decipher, for too many trees for the forest. I'm sure you mods will know best.

An excellent find, indeed. I've a feeling that could well be it. (And depending of course how this "Nag" might be pronounced, or indeed the full Nagnath.) But I guess we'll just need David to tell us which it might be. (And not to disregard other people's attempts to come up with possible candidates, of course, and I guess many of them could be on the mark. I'm just thinking of how the English-speaking ear might catch some words and names, unfamiliar with various Hindi or local pronuncations -- Garhwali? Or of course Kumaoni, further east. Then whatever local languages besides Hindi are spoken in Himachal Pradesh to the west.)

With my association with Nainital btw, I think the "tal" (= lake) would be clearly pronounced, ruling it out as a likely possibility. "Nath" is a certain spiritual term, so I had been thinking if there couldn't be locations (towns, temples, etc.) ending in -nath. (I guess Nagnath would translate to something like Lord of Snakes, is that correct? Hence no doubt the Shiva connection.)

(Nainital incidentally is so called because Sati/Parvati's eyes = nain, or naini? Naina?, are said to have dropped in the lake so tal here, probably explaining why there may be more placenames involving "nain" in the region. In Nainital, she is worshipped as Naina Devi -- devi meaning goddess --, who is herself at once the all-encompassing female divine aspect, as Shakti. I take it there is a town and temple by the name of Naina Devi in Himachal Pradesh, as well.)

Finally, most likely again spurious, I came across a Nyanatiloka Mahathera (or Ñāṇatiloka), said at Wikipedia to be "one of the earliest westerners in modern times to become a Bhikkhu, a fully ordained Buddhist monk" (mid-1800's-mid-1900's). So that name or title would probably be Tibetan -- or of course some other main or scriptural language current in Buddhism, it strikes me as probably Tibetan however --, he himself was a German. He seems more closely related to Myanmar and Sri Lanka, though had a brief spell in Sikkim. Moreover, Tibetan writing or transliteration vs. its pronuncation is truly complex, I've no idea how the name might be pronounced. Was just wondering if there might not happen to be a temple or monastery or so named after him in the region, and of course if this could at all be some sort of abbreviation for it.

But it all remains just speculation; I do hope David can resolve this mystery. And David, if you can, try and get people to immediately come up with likely spellings for any placenames they mention or dictate to you, as you can see, it will aid others in trying to follow up on it. It is indeed always a difficult phenomenon, what with transcriptions of different scripts and their various possibilities, and indeed possible local variants, etc.

Just to let you know any tourists visiting the Valley Of Flowers national park in Uttarakhand will also have to register with the Chamoli District administration in addition to registering with the forest authorities.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-ed...-admn-too.html

Good note, thanks; but I think a Valley of Flowers (VOF) trek was pretty much ruled out this time of year above?

Great photos, very important!!!

I feel it significant information that Jonathan is an experienced traveler & Indiaphile having traveled to the Subcontinent in each of the last three years & for extended stays at that.

This tells me that he should be very familiar in getting around & knowing the Indian way. This is quite different from the newly arrived, first-time, newbie that I had assumed originally.

Somehow, someway - this could prove to be quite significant. Any tidbit of information may help ......

Birdcage please can you give more info, this could be vital, see KK's post