What is Chardham Yatra?
Char Dham ‘, also spelled as ‘ Chardham ‘ is a pilgrimage circuit, consisting of four sites, (‘Char’ is Hindi for four) very important to the Hindu community. The four sites are, namely Badrinath in Uttarakhand, Puri in Odisha (formerly Orissa), Dwarka in Gujarat and Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu.
Also Read — Chardham Opening Closing Date
There is also a smaller circuit of Char Dham sites, known as ‘Chota Char Dham’, with ‘Chota’ meaning small. All these four sites of
Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath (Badrinath is common to both circuits) are located only in the state of Uttarakhand . In this article,
let’s visit each of them.
Yamunotri: This town marks the source of the Yamuna River. For Hindus, it is the seat of Yamuna, the Hindu goddess , who is prescribed to have a
black complexion, and on a tortoise, who has a pot of water in hand.
Also Read — Chardham Places to visit While going for yatra
(As described in the Sanskrit Agni Purana, one of the eighteen major Puranas of Hinduism)
The temple here, which houses a shrine for the Goddess, opens in the month of May and closes on the second day after Diwali.
Gangotri: while Yamunotri is the origin of the Yamuna River , Gangotri is the source of the Sacred Ganges. For the unaware readers, Ganges or
Ganga in Hindi, is considered very sacred in Hinduism, and bathing in its waters is believed to facilitate ‘Moksha’, that is, a liberation from
the circle of life and death.
She is also worshiped as Maa Ganga. (‘Maa’ means mother) She is depressed sitting on a ‘Makara’, a mythical creature
that has the head of an elephant and the body of a fish.
The temple here dates back to the 18th century.
Kedarnath — The history of the city of Kedarnath dates back to the Mahabharata era. (The Mahabharata is one of the two great Hindu Sanskrit epics, whose origins date back to the 8th and 9th century BC.).
The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva, one of the three main deities of Hinduism, the God of destruction. He is worshiped here as ‘Kedarnath’, which means the Lord of Kedar Khand .(Historical name of the region)Due to the severe weather in winters, the temple is only open from late April until the fall full moon.
Badrinath: Badrinath is the most important of the four pilgrimage sites of the Char Dham. The temple here is dedicated to Lord Vishnu, one of the
three main deities of Hinduism (the third being Lord Brahma, the creator), the God who is the preserver and protector. He is worshiped as ‘Badrinath’
here.
Also Know -Badrinath Opening And Closing Date
