CHAR DHAM

The char dham of refers to four abodes, they are the four valuable pilgrimage sites in India. In hinduism it is believed that by visiting the Char dham one can achieve moksha(salvation). The char dham yatra includes visiting Puri dham, Rameswaram dham, Dwarka dham and badrinath dham.

According to hinduism Dham is refferd to as the place of god. In other words Dham is a place where god resides on earth.

THE PURI DHAM

Puri is located in odhisha, India. It is one of the oldest cities in the eastern part of India. It is believed that lord Jagganatha reside here along with their siblings lord Balbhadra and goddess subhadra. Some Jain texts also mentioin that this temple was restored by jains , but date and authenticity has not been proved yet.

Oriya people also celebrate a festival known as Rath Yatra(Chariot Festival) in this Dham.

THE RAMESWARAM DHAM

Rameswaram dham is located in Tamil Nadu. It is located in the gulf of munnar at the Indian peninsula. According to texts lord Ram along with his brother Lord laxman and all the vanar sena built a bridge known as Ram setu to reach sri lanka in order to rescue goddess Sita who was abducted by Ravana. It is also one of the 12 jyotilingas.

Rameswaram is significant for many Hindus as a pilgrimage to Varanasi is considered to be incomplete without a pilgrimage to Rameswaram.

THE DWARKA DHAM

Dwarka is located in the state of Gujrat, India. The name of the city derives from the word “dvar” which means door or gate in sanskrit and hindi. The legendary place is home to lord Krishna.

It is believed that Dwarka has submerged in the sea six times and the modern day Dwarka is the 7th city to be built in this area.

THE BADRINATH DHAM

Badrinath is located in the state of Uttarakhand. It is situated near the banks of Alaknanda river. The temple is dedicated to lord Vishnu (lord of badri).

It is also known as the fourth shrine or seat of chardham circuit. Badrinath is open for pilgrims only from the month of april to october unlike the other dhams which are open throughout the year. Read more…

CHAR DHAM OF UTTARAKHAND

Uttarakhand also known as devbhoomi, is home to the numerous temples and is full of devotees all around the year.The sacred Char dham yatra of uttarakhand also known as Chota Char Dham is an other circuit of four pilgrimage sites in the state of uttarakhand.
The char dham of uttarakhand include Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. All of these are high in himalyas and also provides visitors with scenic beauty.

YAMUNOTRI DHAM

Yamunotri is the place from where the second most holy river of India takes birth. It is located in the uttarkashi district of uttarakhand. Yamunotri is the first dham a devotee has to visit in order to start the char dham yatra of uttarakhand. Yamunotri dham is surrounded by many hot springs one of them is surya kund and is the most important of them all devotees go there and boil rice and potatoes in the hot water and take it as a prasad(blessing) from goddess Yamuna.

HISTORY AND LEGEND BEHINED YAMUNOTRI

Yamunotri was built by the king of tehri, Naresh Sudarshan Shah in 1839. Goddess Yamuna is believed to be sun’s daughter and twin sister of Yama(the god of death). It is said that Asith muni used to live in Yamunotri and used to bath in both Ganga and Yamuna. When the Muni got into his old age he was unable to go to Gangotri. Then in order to help him a stream of Ganga started to flow across the stream of Yamuna. Read more…

GANGOTRI DHAM

The small town of Gangotri is near the Gangotri temple which is 3100m above sea level and is one of the holy char dhams of uttarakhand. It is the most important and the highest temple of river Ganga who is also worshiped as goddess in india.
The holy river origins from Gaumukh, which is in the Gangotri glacier. In order to reach there one has to complete a 19km trek from Gangotri. According to hindu mythology descended from heaven after which lord shiva controlled the force of the river by tying the river in his hair.

HISTORY AND LEGEND BEHINED GANGOTRI

The temple of Gangotri was built by Amar Singh Thapa, a gurkha general in the beginning of 19th century. King sagar sent his 60,000 sons along with horse when he undertook the ashwamedh yagya. The horse went missing and reached sage Kapila’s ashram.

Behined the horse the 60,000 sons stormed the ashram and disturbed sage kapila who was in a deep meditation. Angered kapila opened his firey eyes and turned all 60,000 men into ashes. Later, on kapila advice King Sagar’s grandson to start praying to goddess Ganga to come on earth so that she can wipe all the ashes with her water and the 60,000 men can achieve salvation. Bhagirath, the great grandson of king Sagar went into a rigorous meditation made Ganga came down to earth. Lord Shiva tied Ganga and distributed its water in many streams so that earth can be saved from the mighty force of Ganga. Read more…

KEDARNATH DHAM

The temple of Kedarnath is another dham which lies in the Rudraprayag district of uttarakhand. It is believed to be the home of the almighty Lord Shiva. The temple is located in Garhwal himalyan range near the banks of Mandakni river. Due to the harsh weather the temple is open for devotees only from month of April(Akshay Tritiya) to the month of November(Kartik Purnima). during the winters, the vigraha is taken down to ukimath to be worshiped for next six months.

The temple cannot be accessed directly by the roads. To reach the temple one must complete an uphill trek of 22kms which starts from Gauri kund(a hot spring near Kedarnath). festivals like Maha shivratri and Shivratri are celebrated with great joy here.

HISTORY OF KEDARNATH DHAM

It is believed that pandavas built the Kedarnath temple and Adishankaracharya built the present structure of the Kedarnath temple in the 8th century. According to a legend Pandavas were searching for lord Shiva to get rid of the sins they committed in the Mahabharata battlefield. But Lord Shiva was not ready to forgive them so easily. He disguised himself as a bull and went to the garhwal side of uttarakhand. When the Pandavas found him he dived into the ground. Different parts of his body came out from different areas known as panch kedar. One of them is Kedarnath. Read more…

THE BADRINATH DHAM

Also known as the Badrinarayana temple the badrinath temple is dedicated place of lord Vishnu situated in the town of Badrinath, Uttarkhand, India. 1ft black granite deity of lord Vishnu in the form of Badrinarayan is worshiped in the temple. The temple is open for devotees for months in an year due to the harsh winters of himalyas. It is located in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. It is between the Nar and Narayan peaks on the banks of river Alaknanda which enhances the temples beauty. It is also one of the highest visited pilgrimage centers of India in 2022.
Mata Murti Ka Mela, which marks the descent of holy river Ganges on earth, is the most prominent festival celebrated in Badrinath.

HISTORY OF BADRINATH DHAM

Badrinath temple was created in 16th century by a Garhwal King after that it was renovated several times due to the natural calamities. According to a legend a sage insulted lord Vishnu’s lifestyle because of which lord Vishnu went for a meditation in Badrinath. Another legend suggests that Badrinath used to be realm of lord Shiva and lord Vishnu tricked him and established himself in Badrinath. Read more…

IMPORTANCE OF CHARDHAM YATRA

This is the foremost necessary issue to do within the lifetime of a disciple of Hindu religion. As per their religious belief, the spiritual journey or Holy pilgrim’s journey Teerth Yatra is understood as tirthayatra in Indo-Aryan. This tour makes up one amongst the 5 prime duties of a Hindu life or purpose of life on earth. it’s regarding the very best variety of liberation – the attainment of Moksha / Salvation. the opposite four are Dharma that is responsibility, or duty, Worship or Sanskaras and perceptive days on auspicious festivals.

A holy pilgrim’s journey may be a non secular journey within the self-command, all humility and individual religion. The arduous journeys upward that principally involves trekking and walking up is critical that the pilgrim can tread the toughest high to achieve spirituality and conjointly leaves all alternative problems at the feet of the immortal. They participate in cold water and quandary holy dips at numerous rivers conjointly showing their respect for immortal. they need to go away all alternative problems and reach God.

In short, you’ll say that the importance of the Char Dham Yatra is a lot of like a personal intimate and non secular expertise with the Divine. The holy tour makes a detailed reference to the fan or follower and therefore the extremely sacred rivers and sites.

The pilgrim on such tours conjointly get to satisfy and see holy men and women dedicated to worship like Pundits, Pujaris, Sadhus and Sadhvi at numerous temples and shrines here. devotees will take darshan of their favorite immortal and conjointly keep there within the past sanctums. This tour is additionally a great sightseeing tour as these temples square measure enclosed naturally and picturesque scene and once traveling to them, there square measure nice locations to visualize on the manner.

BEST TIME TO VISIT THE CHAR DHAMS

Being situated at high peaks, the temples of Char Dham witnesses a significant amount of snow throughout the winter season that forces the committee to shut the shrines throughout winter season, creating the months from April/May to October/November the sole best time to go to Char Dham. Moreover, throughout the winter season once the sacred gates of Kedarnath Temple stay closed, the idol of Kedarnath is shifted to Omkareshwar Temple in Ukhimath. Whereas, Shani Dev Temple in Kharsali, Vasu Dev Temple in Joshimath, and Mukhimath Temple in Mukba becomes the holy shrines that become the winter home wherever the idols of Yamunotri, Badrinath, and Gangotri are situated and adored for the complete winter season severally.

Every year, the Char Dham Yatra witnesses large variety of pilgrims and this stat is afterwards increasing year-by-year. In 2022, the holy gates of Yamunotri and Gangotri are open from around 03 may. Whereas, Kedarnath and Badrinath are set to open for pilgrims from 06 may and 08 may.