UTTARAKHAND CHAR DHAM YATRA

UTTARAKHAND CHAR DHAM YATRA

Uttarakhand is a state of spirituality, temples, pilgrimage as well as mountain tourism. The temples of Lord Shiva and Goddess Durga are more dominant in the whole region than others. There is a temple on almost every hilltop. The presence of Chardham makes Uttarakhand truly a land of temples. The word Chardham means four pilgrimage destinations

Badrinath

Badrinath (Vishalbadri) is located 51 km north of Joshimath, 384 kilometers from Haridwar, in the Mahabharata and Puranas, it is addressed by the names Muktiprada, Yogasiddha, Badrivan, Badrika Ashram etc. It is one of the four dhams of the country, it is 3133 meters above sea level.It is situated in the high altitude of Neelkanth mountain peak and two mountain ranges named Nara Narayan, this site was earlier spread like a carpet of wild badris which gave it the name of Badri forest. A pool of hot water is located on the banks of the Alaknanda River facing towards the temple. Which is known as Tapta Kund.The temple opens every year in the month of April-May and closes almost in the third week of November in the autumn. The priests of Badrinath Dham are among the descendants of Adi Shankaracharya of Malabad region in South India called Rawal. The Badrinath temple is divided into three parts: Simhadwar, Mandal and Garbhagraha The main idol is of contemplation posture to Lord Vishnu which is black but fragmented. The root cause of the statue's fragmentation is probably lying in Narada Kund which Shankaracharya had removed and installed.

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This temple was built during the rule of Ajay Pal, the early king of Garhwal, but the credit of building a full grand temple is to the Katyuri dynasty. There are 5 pools for bathing here are Tapta Kund, Narada Kund, Satyapath Kund, Triangle Kund and Manushi Kund. The fifth i.e. Manushi Kund has the facility to bathe in temperate waters. Bathing and Achman are also important in the Panch Kund. These streams are the Kuram Dhara, Indu Dhara, Urvashi Dhara, Bhrigu Dhara, and Prahad Dhara.The major caves located in the Badrinath shrine are Skanda Gupta, Muchkund Cave, Garudshila Cave and Ram Cave. Next to Badrinath is Ganesh and Vyas cave near Mana village. The 'Matamurti Temple' of Lord Badrinath's mother is established in Badrinath itself.

Kedarnath

Kedarnath is one of the Dwadash Jyotirlingas situated in Rudraprayag. This temple is at an elevation of 3584 meters above sea level. It is situated on the top of the river Mandakini, due to the importance of this temple, Garhwal's ancient name was Kedarkhand. This temple is situated on the Kharcha Khand and Bharatkhand peak, on the left side of which is Purandar mountain, this temple is of Katyuri construction style, huge brown stones are used in its construction. This temple is with Chhatra Prasad, its sanctum has a very large granite rock in the shape of a triangle. Whose devotees worship around this Linga of granite, Argha which is very large and made of a single stone. This Kedar ling was worshiped by Pandavas. There are many kunds here, in which Shivkund is the main, there is also a red water blood kund. Adishankaracharya's tomb is near this temple, it is believed that the Pandavas felt guilty after killing their acquaintances and relatives in the war after the battle of Kurukshetra. He needed the blessings of Lord Shiva for the atonement of his sins, while Shiva did not want to meet the Pandavas, so he continued to run away from the Pandavas. He transformed himself into an ox in Kedarnath after being constantly chased by the Pandavas. After that he left only the crushed back on the surface and entered the earth with the rest. The remaining parts of the Lord's Shiva were retrieved at four different sites, including the arms at Tungnath, the mouth at Rudranath, the navel at Madamaheshwar and the hair at Kalpeshwar. Three of the Panch Kedars are located in Kedarnath, Tungnath and Madmahesvarnath at Rudraprayag districts. Of these, Tungnath is the highest altitude Dev temple in Uttarakhand.

Yamunotri

The Yamunotri temple located on the left bank of the Yamuna was built by Garhwal King Pratap Shah in 1919 and rebuilt by the Maharani of Jaipur. Due to cold and snow fall in the winter, the doors of Yamunotri are closed and in the summer, the Vaishakh Shukla Tritiya is opened every year on the same day, the doli of the mother Yamuna reaches Yamunotri Dham from Kharshali village where the mother Yamuna with Vedic chanting Restoration takes place. Kharsali village is 6 kilometers from Yamunotri where Someshwar is the shrine. The pandits of Kharshali village are the ones who perform worship in Yamunotri, near Yamunotri temple. There are three sources of hot water, the most important of which is the potato, rice in this pool. Poured on pouring which people accept as prasad Sapta Rishi Kunda is 16 km from Yamunotri, the origin of Yamuna is the place of origin ie Bandarpuchha is 1 kilometer from Yamunotri temple. In ancient times, it was called Kalandi Parbat because of this reason, Yamuna also got a name as Kalandi. From mythological point of view, Yamuna is called Surya daughter, sister of Shani and Yama and Patrani of Krishna.

Gangotri

Gangotri is situated in Uttarkashi district, at a height of 3048 meters above sea level, at a height of 3048 meters, 255 kilometers north of Rishikesh and 99 kilometers northeast of Uttarkashi. There is a temple of Bhagirathi in it, idols of Ganga, Lakshmi, Parvati and Annapurna Devi are installed. It is said that here King Bhagiratha had done austerities to bring Ganga from heaven to earth and Lord Shiva tied the Ganges descending from heaven to earth at this place. This temple was built in the 18th century by Gorkha general Amar Singh Thapa about 250 years ago. Rebuilt was done by Raja Madhav Singh of Jaipur. The doors of this temple open on Akshaya Tritiya in April every year and on this day, the Ganga ki doli leaves for Gangotri at Marakande temple of Mukhwa village during their winter season. Other nearest scenic spots here are Surya Kund, Gaurikund, Pant Gaana, Nak Pant, etc. Gomukh is the cradle of the glacial Bhagirathi (Ganga) river. This place is situated on foot on the southeast direction, 18 kilometers south of Gangotri. Yamunotri is located in Uttarkashi district, this holy place is located just west of Gangotri and 131 kilometers north of Uttarkashi. To reach here, one has to walk 13 kilometers from Hanuman Chatti. As far as Hindu legends are concerned, a visit to all these four places leads one to liberation. These temples in Uttarakhand were established here by Adi Shankaracharya hundreds of years ago. Apart from Chardham, other holy cities like Haridwar and Rishikesh have temples of deities such as Neel Kantha Mahadev (Rishikesh) and hill temples of Mansa Devi and Chandi Devi (Haridwar). Other famous temples are Vishwanath (Almora) and Binsar Mahadev (Ranikhet). These are some of the most important pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand. Each and every Hindu devotees would like to visit the temples of Uttarakhand. Even those who are not deeply inclined to experience religion, there is a sense of spirituality and faith here. This is undoubtedly the greatness of the region and perhaps that is why it is called "Dev Bhoomi". The landscape of Uttarakhand is so amazing that no single word can describe it. Among all these beauties of nature, Uttarakhand has temples and famous pilgrimage sites. These pilgrimages and deities are mentioned many times in various Hindu stories.

Important Temples of Uttarakhand

1. Gangotri Temple 2. Kedarnath Temple 3. Badrinath Temple 4. Bhairavnath Temple 5. Sangura Temple 6. Rudranath Temple 7. Naina Devi Temple 8. Mansa Devi Temple 9. Madmaheshwar Temple 10. Lakha Mandal Temple 11. Har Ki Pauri 12. Gaurikund 13. Hemkund Saheb 14. Gangotri Temple 15. Neelkanth Mahadev 16. Yamunotri Temple

There are 13 District in Uttarakhand

1. Almora 2. Bageshwar 3. Chamoli 4. Champawat 5. Dehradun 6. Nainital 7. Pauri 8. Pithoragarh 9. Tehri 10. Udham Singh Nagar 11. Haridwar 12. Rudraprayaga 13. Uttarkashi

CULTURE OF UTTARAKHAND

The culture of Uttarakhand shows a distinct pattern, comprising elements from each ethnic group and sub-groups living in this group. It can be said that the culture of Uttarakhand is a place where different cultures of Kumaoni-Garhwal are found. Talking about the culture of Uttarakhand, we can start with the people of Uttarakhand. There are seven different ethnic groups in Uttarakhand, which have seven different cultures. Some important ethnic groups which are part of the culture of Uttarakhand are:-

• Jaunsari. • Bhotia. • Buksha. • Tharu. • Raji.