In the Lap of the Himalayas, is a travel book by Swami Akhandananda, conveying his experience of the Himalayan pilgrimages. Swami Akhandananda, more familiarly known as Gangadhar Maharaj and as Baba, was a direct Sannyasin disciple of the Great Master Sri Ramakrishna. From 1887, a little after the Great Master’s demise, till about Swami Vivekananda’s return from the West in 1897, he was for almost about ten years a wandering pilgrim visiting holy places. The intrepid pilgrim that he was, he crossed the Himalayas and visited Tibet thrice besides stopping at almost all the important Himalayan pilgrim centres. From 1890 he travelled extensively in Rajputana, Gujarat, and in famine-stricken parts of West Bengal, coming into intimate touch with all ranks of society.
