The Char Dham also called as Dev Bhumi. Every year thousands of devotes comes out this holy journey. Every Hindus take the char dham yatra to Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri for tranquility of mind, body and soul.
These sacred places are followed by the ideal surroundings in which the transcendent God and appear to coexist. The Char Dham Yatra has been practiced since ages and even today around four lakh visitors take this journey all through the annual pilgrimage period of the year. The significance of this yatra is that all Hindus try to take a tour of Char Dham pilgrimage at least once in your life. Many even believe that a trip to these sites Dham wash away their sins and attain salvation.
So how does this journey become so popular? Why are these places considered as sacred? Well, if you want to know all about the Char Dham Yatra, you must first know a little history of India.
In the eighth century, there lived a great Hindu reformer named Adi Shankaracharya who in an attempt to revive the Hindu religion began Char Dham yarta. He coined the term 'Char Dham' (Char Dham means four, meaning that the sites) and encouraged all to take a Chardham Hindu pilgrimage route to salvation in the life. Since then, Hindus have been taking this sacred journey to the four abodes of God in Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, all located in the Himalayan region of Garhwal and perfect
weekend getaways from Delhi.
Moving on, the annual pilgrimage season begins Char Dham in India from April and continues until October / November. Among the four Dham sites, Badrinath is considered the most promising of the four sites because Hindus believe it was here that a great Shankaracharya attained freedom of the Incarnation. In case you do not want to take the entire Char Dham Yatra at one time you can even choose to split the trip into two parts, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri Tour and Yamunotri Tour.
However, in case you want to have all the Char Dham Yatra all at once, you better make the trip in the following order, which traditionally started by the Shankracharya.
Start your journey to Yamunotri. This is the place where the sacred Yamuna River begins to flow and is believed to be the seat of the goddess Yamuna. The temple of Yamunotri is at a distance of 6 km from the city Hanuman Chatti. This temple was lately restored after being shattered by local climatic conditions. There are a few small ashrams and guesthouses where you can take refuge while in Yamunotri. Enjoy watching the temple pujaris offer prayer to the goddess Yamuna every day. The prasad offered during these prayers are customarily prepared from raw rice that is cooked on hot springs.
Your next stop is Gangotri. It is from here that the Ganga River originates. It is also the seat of Hindu goddess Ganga. You will love the evening Aarti ritual held in this temple, as it is carried out by the river flowing down. You can choose to stay in guest houses and restaurants in this region, if you want to take a break and relax. This
char dham camps are well equipped with every facilities to make your stay comfortable.