Holy Chardham Yatra in India

The Char Dham Yatra is a holy journey to the four most sacred places in India. They consist of the Yamunotri Dham, the Gangotri Dham, the Kedarnath Dham and the Badrinath Dham.

They are situated in the Himalayas, or as people refer to it as in Uttarakhand.

The original Char Dham used to refer to the four directions of India where there are pilgrimages – Badrinath in the north, Puri in the east, Rameshwaram in the south and Dwarka in the east. The ones in the Himalayas were founded by Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century AD and is actually the Chota Char Dham.

There are three major sects in Hinduism – Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism. In the original Char Dham, there were three Vaishnava locations of Dwarka, Badrinath and Puri and one Shaiva location of Rameshwaram.

The Chota Char Dham has two Shakta sites Yamunotri and Gangotri which are in the Uttarkashi district, one Vaishnava site Badrinath which is in Chamoli district and one Shaiva site Kedarnath which is in Rudraprayag.

Uttarakhand is also known as Dev Bhumi, or Land of Gods. It is the home to many rivers, river confluences, shrines, rocks, caves and most importantly the faith of people. There are beautiful dense mountain forests, large valleys, rivers and waterfalls in Uttarakhand which make the landscape picturesque.

A week’s trip is the minimum amount of time that is required to cover the areas. The most common trip is via road from Delhi. Many tour companies conduct tours to cover these holy pilgrimages only. A trip to tour the whole of Uttarakhand would take a long time but would be worth visiting the beauty that the state offers.

The best season to visit Kedarnath and Badrinath is from April to June. However, since Gangotri and Yamunotri are in higher altitudes, summer sets in later over there.

Another good season is from the end of September to mid-November before the snowy winters set in. The routes are rocky and if you’re not comfortable with trekking, palanquin or horse rides, another way to visit this area would be with the help of helicopter services.