Following advise of Shri Raghupathi Sir and taking his blessings, our trust members and their friends - Sudhakar, Pravin Salaskar (Pravin Anna), Swapnil Gupte, Mahesh Bhide, Deepali Chousalkar, Nayana Dhule and her brother Vijay Dhule, Sachin Kale, Manisha Gawli performed Char Dham Yatra between May 14 to May 26. Pilgrimage included visits to four sacred places - Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.
Here is a chronological log of our journey from Mumbai and back to Mumbai. The pictures of this yatra can be found here.
Prior to yatra:
Preparation for yatra started almost 2 months before yatra. It included activities such as coordination with all interested people, planning a window of dates that is suitable for all, identifying tour operator who arranges for car and hotel accommodation at all places, registering information about each traveler to Uttarakhand tourism and many more planning activities even during yatra. All this major planning activities were performed by Sudhakar, Pravin Salaskar (Pravin Anna) and Nayana Dhule. Thanks to them. It is because of these planning efforts the yatra was smooth and enjoyable.
May 12:
Started train journey to New Delhi
May 13:
Noon: Reached New Delhi.
Night: Started train journey to Haridwar.
May 14:
Morning: Arrived in Haridwar.
Noon till evening: Visited Mansa Devi temple and Chandi Devi temple.
Evening: Attended famous Ganga arti at Hari ki Paudi.
May 15:
Morning: - Started journey, in our rented vehicle for the whole journey, to reach Janki Chatti, base of Yamunotri.
Morning: On the route visited Shri Jagadguru Sanyas Ashram and had darshan of Purnagiri Devi in this ashram.
Noon to evening: En route visited Lakhamandal. Lakha means lakh (many) and mandal means temple. It is believed that there are many shiva lingas at this place. Some shivalingas are special in a sense that if you pour water on it then it will shine like a mirror and you can see yourself in it. Per local mythology, this is a place where Duryodhana built Laxagriha (House of Wax) for Pandavas in conspiracy to kill them.
Evening: Reached Janki Chatti, base of Yamunotri for overnight halt.
May 16:
Morning: At around 6 am, started 5 km trek to reach Yamunotri, source of sacred river Yamuna, located at an altitude of 3293 meters in Garhwal Himayalas. This is where temple of Goddess Yamuna is located. Along the temple there is a Surya Kund, a spring of hot water where devotees take a dip before taking darshan of Goddess. There are separate arrangements for men and women to take a dip. In the temple as well, there are hot water springs (which are extremely hot). Devotees purchase rice enclosed in cloth (available in shops near temple) and then immerse it in the hot water spring which actually cooks the rice and then they carry it back home as prasad. The actual source of river Yamuna is located at an altitude of 4421 meters as a glacier. But the path further from Yamumotri is extremely difficult and hence usually nobody goes further.
Around 3 pm: started trek down to Janki Chatti. Reached Janki Chatti around 6 pm. Started for Uttarkashi around 6.30 pm and reached Uttarkashi around 11 pm for overnight halt.
May 17:
Morning: Had darshan of Kashi Vishwanath. This is an ancient temple of Lord Shiva. In temple, there is a 16.5 feet high trishul which is believed to be used by Gods for annihilating demons. Also had darshan of ancient Gopeshwar temple.
Noon: Visited Gangnani also known as Rishikund Tirtha. This is where Sage Parashara performed penance. There is Sage Parashara temple which is called Parashar Rishi Tapasthali as this is a place where Sage Parashar performed penance. Inside temple there are hot water springs with separate arrangements for men and women to take a dip. This place is also considered special for performing pitru tarpan.
Evening: Reached Gangotri. Attended evening Ganga Arti at the temple. Gangotri is a source of sacred river Ganga. It is believed that this is a place where Goddess Ganga descended and was first received by Lord Shiva in his locks of hair and then he released mighty river to flow further. River Ganga has different names at different places. In this place, that is at source, it is called Bhagirathi, named such after King Bhagirath who performed intense penance to bring Ganga to earth so that his 60000 uncles can be released from the curse of Sage Kapila. The major attractions at this place are - The temple of Ganga, Bhagirath Shila (a rock where King Bhagirath performed penance), Pandava Gufa (at a distance of 1.5 km to be traversed by trek. It is believed that Pandavas rested here and meditated on their route to Kailash). We did not have time to visit Pandava Gufa though. The actual source of river Ganga is located at Gomukh which is at an altitude of 4023 meters from sea level and 19 kms from Gangotri. Devotees trek 14 km to Bhojabasa and take a halt and then trek another 5 km to reach Gomukh.
May 18:
Morning: Started 19 km trek to Gomukh. En route stopped at a small ashram at the gate of Gangotri National Park where we met Hikmat Singh who then became our guide for our to and from trek to Gomukh. We also met at this place couple of Naga Sadhus who were also travelling to Gomukh. Trekking to Gomukh is an out of the world experience. You walk through an amazingly beautiful mountain range witnessing fabulous views. At around distance of 9 kms from Gangotri there is a tea/snack stall where devotees usually take a halt for lunch break and some rest before starting for Bhojbasa which is located at 14 kms from Gangotri. Bhojabasa is a very tiny town where devotees usually stay overnight before starting another 5 km trek to Gomukh.
Night: We stayed overnight in Bhojabasa.
May 19:
Morning: Around 6 am started a trek for Gomukh. Reached Gomukh at around 9 am. Everyone took a water from Gomukh and sprinkled it on head. We also filled empty bottles with sacred water from Gomukh for distributing to friends and family back home. All in all visit to Gomukh was heavenly experience. We started back for Bhojabasa at around 9.30 am.
Noon: Reached Bhojabasa. Had a lunch here and then started 14 km trek back to Gangotri. Reached Gangotri around 5.30 pm. Paid bon voyage to our guide Hikmat Singh and then immediately started our journey for next overnight halt at Uttarkashi. Reached Uttarkashi late night at around 11 pm.
May 20:
Morning: Started our journey to Guptakashi, our next place for overnight halt before starting our next big trek to Kedarnath. Reached Guptakashi in the evening.
Evening: Had a darshan of Kashi Vishwanath temple which also has Ardhanarishwara idol. It is believed that when Pandavas came to Kedarkhand searching Lord Shiva for worshiping him to release them from sins of killings in kurukshetra war, Lord Shiva escaped and hid here in the form of Nandi. However Pandavas came searching him here and recognized him in disguised form. When Bhima tried to catch him by holding his tail and hind legs, Lord Shiva escaped. When he was pleased with Pandavas devotion he gave them darshan in Kedarnath in the form back side of Nandi. He reappeared in five places - as a hump in Kedarnath, as a face in Rudranath, as arms at Tungnath, as navel and belly at Madhyamaheshwar and as locks of hair at Kalpeshwar. These five places are together called as Pancha Kedar.
May 21:
Morning: Started for Gauri Kund, base of Kedarnath. First reached Sonprayag 6 km before Gauri Kund. Our vehicle or any other private vehicle was not allowed beyond Sonprayag. There is a taxi service from Sonprayag to Gauri Kund. After waiting in line for 2 hours we got a taxi and then reached Gauri Kund at around 10 am. We started our 16 km long trek to Kedarnath. Some of us rode on horse and some of us walked. One good thing about this trek is after almost every 500 meters there are stalls where snacks, water etc is available for purchase.
Evening: After long trek we reached Kedarnath at around 8 pm and then had a quick darshan. We requested hotel to connect us with Pandits who can perform puja on behalf of us. They arranged for puja and asked us to be ready in temple at 4.30 am next day.
May 22:
Morning: We all got up early morning 4 am and went to temple. Even at 4.30 am there was quite a number of people in line. After about 1 hour wait in queue we got into temple and performed Puja of Shivalinga. After puja, we went around temple to see views. Per legend this temple was built by Pandavas following advice of Lord Krishna. Inside temple, along with Shivalinga, there are idols of all pandavas Yudhishthir, Arjun, Bhima, Nakul and Sahadev, their wife Draupadi, their mother Kunti, Lord Krishna and Mother Parvati. It is said that Adi Shankaracharya renovated this temple during his time. One of the recent special attractions, after 2013 disaster, is a huge rock that you can see behind the temple. It is a belief that this rock divided the flood into two streams protecting the temple. It is indeed a surprise that this temple, which was the first place hit by flood, remained intact. After seeing temple and around, we had breakfast and then started our journey back to Gauri Kund, base of Kedarnath. Some of us rode on horse whereas some walked. We reached Gauri Kund at around 1 pm.
Afternoon: En route to Gupakashi, we visited Triyuginarayana Temple, a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The temple is famous for the sacred fire which is supposed to have been alive from tretayuga. Per mythology, Lord Shiva proposed Parvati in Guptakashi and then marriage took place at Triyuginarayana. Lord Vishnu acted as brother of Parvati whereas Lord Brahma acted as priest. It is a belief that the ashes from havana kunda here promote conjugal bliss.
Evening: We reached back to Guptakashi for overnight stay.
May 23:
Morning: Had again a darshan of Kashi Vishwantath and then started our journey to our final place of Char Dham Yatra, Badrinath. En route we visited Tungnath, another Shiva temple from Pancha Kedar mentioned above. This is supposed to be Shiva temple located at highest point on earth among all other Shiva temples. This is where Shiva is in the form of arms. This was also a trek of 5 kms up and 5 kms down.
Evening: Reached Pippalkoti for overnight stay.
May 24:
Morning: Started our journey for Badrinath. En route we visited Hanuman Chatti. Per mythology this is a place where Lord Hanuman gave darshan to Bhima, one of the Pandavas. Bhima on his path found a monkey seating and spreading his tail which obstructed Bhima's path. When Bhima's multiple requests to move tail were not attended, Bhima got angry and started moving the tail on his own. When he could not move it, he realized that the monkey was not an ordinary monkey and hence he requested monkey to reveal his true identity and Hanuman took his original form and gave darshan to Bhima.
Noon: Reached Badrinath.
Afternoon: Visited Mana village which is located at about 3 kms from Badrinath. This is a last village in India before border of India and Tibet. It is believed that Pandavas passed through Mana on their journey to Heaven.
Evening: Took darshan of Badrinath. This is one of the 8 swayam vyakta kshetras of Lord Vishnu. We provided information about this temple in one of our blogs earlier. This is a place where Lord Vishnu in his Nara and Narayana form performed intense penance. Goddess Lakshmi seeing her husband performing intense penance without paying heed to rain, wind or heat, she took a form of tree of Badri (tree known as Badri Vishal) as a shelter for Lord Vishnu. Hence this place is called Badrinath. There is a Tapta Kund which is hot water spring. It is believed that a dip in this hot water spring cures many skin diseases.
Night: Stayed overnight in Badrinath.
May 25:
Morning: All males from our group who have lost their parents or one of the parents, performed Tarpan (Shraddha) at Brahmakapal Tirtha. This place is considered very sacred for this ritual.
Late morning: Started our journey back to Haridwar. Reached Haridwar in night around 9 pm for overnight stay.
May 26:
Morning: After breakfast we started for Hrishikesh.
Late morning to afternoon: Visited Ram Jhula, a suspension bridge across river Ganga which connects Sivananda Nagar area in Tehri Garhwal district to Swargashram area in Pauri Garhwal district. Crossed this Jhula by walk. Walked 2 kms along side river Ganga till Lakshman Jhula, which is also a suspension bridge across river Ganga. Near Lakshman Jhula did some shopping for items such as Rudraksha mala etc. After crossing Lakshman Jhula we all took a dip in river Ganga, one of important rituals of Char Dham Yatra.
Evening: Returned to hotel in Haridwar and rested.
May 27:
Morning: Started a train journey back to New Delhi. Reached New Delhi at around 1.30 pm.
Afternoon till evening: Took some rest
Evening: At around 5.40 pm started train journey back to Mumbai
May 28:
Returned to Mumbai in the evening.
Here is a chronological log of our journey from Mumbai and back to Mumbai. The pictures of this yatra can be found here.
Prior to yatra:
Preparation for yatra started almost 2 months before yatra. It included activities such as coordination with all interested people, planning a window of dates that is suitable for all, identifying tour operator who arranges for car and hotel accommodation at all places, registering information about each traveler to Uttarakhand tourism and many more planning activities even during yatra. All this major planning activities were performed by Sudhakar, Pravin Salaskar (Pravin Anna) and Nayana Dhule. Thanks to them. It is because of these planning efforts the yatra was smooth and enjoyable.
May 12:
Started train journey to New Delhi
May 13:
Noon: Reached New Delhi.
Night: Started train journey to Haridwar.
May 14:
Morning: Arrived in Haridwar.
Noon till evening: Visited Mansa Devi temple and Chandi Devi temple.
Evening: Attended famous Ganga arti at Hari ki Paudi.
May 15:
Morning: - Started journey, in our rented vehicle for the whole journey, to reach Janki Chatti, base of Yamunotri.
Morning: On the route visited Shri Jagadguru Sanyas Ashram and had darshan of Purnagiri Devi in this ashram.
Noon to evening: En route visited Lakhamandal. Lakha means lakh (many) and mandal means temple. It is believed that there are many shiva lingas at this place. Some shivalingas are special in a sense that if you pour water on it then it will shine like a mirror and you can see yourself in it. Per local mythology, this is a place where Duryodhana built Laxagriha (House of Wax) for Pandavas in conspiracy to kill them.
Evening: Reached Janki Chatti, base of Yamunotri for overnight halt.
May 16:
Morning: At around 6 am, started 5 km trek to reach Yamunotri, source of sacred river Yamuna, located at an altitude of 3293 meters in Garhwal Himayalas. This is where temple of Goddess Yamuna is located. Along the temple there is a Surya Kund, a spring of hot water where devotees take a dip before taking darshan of Goddess. There are separate arrangements for men and women to take a dip. In the temple as well, there are hot water springs (which are extremely hot). Devotees purchase rice enclosed in cloth (available in shops near temple) and then immerse it in the hot water spring which actually cooks the rice and then they carry it back home as prasad. The actual source of river Yamuna is located at an altitude of 4421 meters as a glacier. But the path further from Yamumotri is extremely difficult and hence usually nobody goes further.
Around 3 pm: started trek down to Janki Chatti. Reached Janki Chatti around 6 pm. Started for Uttarkashi around 6.30 pm and reached Uttarkashi around 11 pm for overnight halt.
May 17:
Morning: Had darshan of Kashi Vishwanath. This is an ancient temple of Lord Shiva. In temple, there is a 16.5 feet high trishul which is believed to be used by Gods for annihilating demons. Also had darshan of ancient Gopeshwar temple.
Noon: Visited Gangnani also known as Rishikund Tirtha. This is where Sage Parashara performed penance. There is Sage Parashara temple which is called Parashar Rishi Tapasthali as this is a place where Sage Parashar performed penance. Inside temple there are hot water springs with separate arrangements for men and women to take a dip. This place is also considered special for performing pitru tarpan.
Evening: Reached Gangotri. Attended evening Ganga Arti at the temple. Gangotri is a source of sacred river Ganga. It is believed that this is a place where Goddess Ganga descended and was first received by Lord Shiva in his locks of hair and then he released mighty river to flow further. River Ganga has different names at different places. In this place, that is at source, it is called Bhagirathi, named such after King Bhagirath who performed intense penance to bring Ganga to earth so that his 60000 uncles can be released from the curse of Sage Kapila. The major attractions at this place are - The temple of Ganga, Bhagirath Shila (a rock where King Bhagirath performed penance), Pandava Gufa (at a distance of 1.5 km to be traversed by trek. It is believed that Pandavas rested here and meditated on their route to Kailash). We did not have time to visit Pandava Gufa though. The actual source of river Ganga is located at Gomukh which is at an altitude of 4023 meters from sea level and 19 kms from Gangotri. Devotees trek 14 km to Bhojabasa and take a halt and then trek another 5 km to reach Gomukh.
May 18:
Morning: Started 19 km trek to Gomukh. En route stopped at a small ashram at the gate of Gangotri National Park where we met Hikmat Singh who then became our guide for our to and from trek to Gomukh. We also met at this place couple of Naga Sadhus who were also travelling to Gomukh. Trekking to Gomukh is an out of the world experience. You walk through an amazingly beautiful mountain range witnessing fabulous views. At around distance of 9 kms from Gangotri there is a tea/snack stall where devotees usually take a halt for lunch break and some rest before starting for Bhojbasa which is located at 14 kms from Gangotri. Bhojabasa is a very tiny town where devotees usually stay overnight before starting another 5 km trek to Gomukh.
Night: We stayed overnight in Bhojabasa.
May 19:
Morning: Around 6 am started a trek for Gomukh. Reached Gomukh at around 9 am. Everyone took a water from Gomukh and sprinkled it on head. We also filled empty bottles with sacred water from Gomukh for distributing to friends and family back home. All in all visit to Gomukh was heavenly experience. We started back for Bhojabasa at around 9.30 am.
Noon: Reached Bhojabasa. Had a lunch here and then started 14 km trek back to Gangotri. Reached Gangotri around 5.30 pm. Paid bon voyage to our guide Hikmat Singh and then immediately started our journey for next overnight halt at Uttarkashi. Reached Uttarkashi late night at around 11 pm.
May 20:
Morning: Started our journey to Guptakashi, our next place for overnight halt before starting our next big trek to Kedarnath. Reached Guptakashi in the evening.
Evening: Had a darshan of Kashi Vishwanath temple which also has Ardhanarishwara idol. It is believed that when Pandavas came to Kedarkhand searching Lord Shiva for worshiping him to release them from sins of killings in kurukshetra war, Lord Shiva escaped and hid here in the form of Nandi. However Pandavas came searching him here and recognized him in disguised form. When Bhima tried to catch him by holding his tail and hind legs, Lord Shiva escaped. When he was pleased with Pandavas devotion he gave them darshan in Kedarnath in the form back side of Nandi. He reappeared in five places - as a hump in Kedarnath, as a face in Rudranath, as arms at Tungnath, as navel and belly at Madhyamaheshwar and as locks of hair at Kalpeshwar. These five places are together called as Pancha Kedar.
May 21:
Morning: Started for Gauri Kund, base of Kedarnath. First reached Sonprayag 6 km before Gauri Kund. Our vehicle or any other private vehicle was not allowed beyond Sonprayag. There is a taxi service from Sonprayag to Gauri Kund. After waiting in line for 2 hours we got a taxi and then reached Gauri Kund at around 10 am. We started our 16 km long trek to Kedarnath. Some of us rode on horse and some of us walked. One good thing about this trek is after almost every 500 meters there are stalls where snacks, water etc is available for purchase.
Evening: After long trek we reached Kedarnath at around 8 pm and then had a quick darshan. We requested hotel to connect us with Pandits who can perform puja on behalf of us. They arranged for puja and asked us to be ready in temple at 4.30 am next day.
May 22:
Morning: We all got up early morning 4 am and went to temple. Even at 4.30 am there was quite a number of people in line. After about 1 hour wait in queue we got into temple and performed Puja of Shivalinga. After puja, we went around temple to see views. Per legend this temple was built by Pandavas following advice of Lord Krishna. Inside temple, along with Shivalinga, there are idols of all pandavas Yudhishthir, Arjun, Bhima, Nakul and Sahadev, their wife Draupadi, their mother Kunti, Lord Krishna and Mother Parvati. It is said that Adi Shankaracharya renovated this temple during his time. One of the recent special attractions, after 2013 disaster, is a huge rock that you can see behind the temple. It is a belief that this rock divided the flood into two streams protecting the temple. It is indeed a surprise that this temple, which was the first place hit by flood, remained intact. After seeing temple and around, we had breakfast and then started our journey back to Gauri Kund, base of Kedarnath. Some of us rode on horse whereas some walked. We reached Gauri Kund at around 1 pm.
Afternoon: En route to Gupakashi, we visited Triyuginarayana Temple, a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The temple is famous for the sacred fire which is supposed to have been alive from tretayuga. Per mythology, Lord Shiva proposed Parvati in Guptakashi and then marriage took place at Triyuginarayana. Lord Vishnu acted as brother of Parvati whereas Lord Brahma acted as priest. It is a belief that the ashes from havana kunda here promote conjugal bliss.
Evening: We reached back to Guptakashi for overnight stay.
May 23:
Morning: Had again a darshan of Kashi Vishwantath and then started our journey to our final place of Char Dham Yatra, Badrinath. En route we visited Tungnath, another Shiva temple from Pancha Kedar mentioned above. This is supposed to be Shiva temple located at highest point on earth among all other Shiva temples. This is where Shiva is in the form of arms. This was also a trek of 5 kms up and 5 kms down.
Evening: Reached Pippalkoti for overnight stay.
May 24:
Morning: Started our journey for Badrinath. En route we visited Hanuman Chatti. Per mythology this is a place where Lord Hanuman gave darshan to Bhima, one of the Pandavas. Bhima on his path found a monkey seating and spreading his tail which obstructed Bhima's path. When Bhima's multiple requests to move tail were not attended, Bhima got angry and started moving the tail on his own. When he could not move it, he realized that the monkey was not an ordinary monkey and hence he requested monkey to reveal his true identity and Hanuman took his original form and gave darshan to Bhima.
Noon: Reached Badrinath.
Afternoon: Visited Mana village which is located at about 3 kms from Badrinath. This is a last village in India before border of India and Tibet. It is believed that Pandavas passed through Mana on their journey to Heaven.
Evening: Took darshan of Badrinath. This is one of the 8 swayam vyakta kshetras of Lord Vishnu. We provided information about this temple in one of our blogs earlier. This is a place where Lord Vishnu in his Nara and Narayana form performed intense penance. Goddess Lakshmi seeing her husband performing intense penance without paying heed to rain, wind or heat, she took a form of tree of Badri (tree known as Badri Vishal) as a shelter for Lord Vishnu. Hence this place is called Badrinath. There is a Tapta Kund which is hot water spring. It is believed that a dip in this hot water spring cures many skin diseases.
Night: Stayed overnight in Badrinath.
May 25:
Morning: All males from our group who have lost their parents or one of the parents, performed Tarpan (Shraddha) at Brahmakapal Tirtha. This place is considered very sacred for this ritual.
Late morning: Started our journey back to Haridwar. Reached Haridwar in night around 9 pm for overnight stay.
May 26:
Morning: After breakfast we started for Hrishikesh.
Late morning to afternoon: Visited Ram Jhula, a suspension bridge across river Ganga which connects Sivananda Nagar area in Tehri Garhwal district to Swargashram area in Pauri Garhwal district. Crossed this Jhula by walk. Walked 2 kms along side river Ganga till Lakshman Jhula, which is also a suspension bridge across river Ganga. Near Lakshman Jhula did some shopping for items such as Rudraksha mala etc. After crossing Lakshman Jhula we all took a dip in river Ganga, one of important rituals of Char Dham Yatra.
Evening: Returned to hotel in Haridwar and rested.
May 27:
Morning: Started a train journey back to New Delhi. Reached New Delhi at around 1.30 pm.
Afternoon till evening: Took some rest
Evening: At around 5.40 pm started train journey back to Mumbai
May 28:
Returned to Mumbai in the evening.
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