- Chota Char Dham
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For the pilgrimage circuit of Badrinath, Rameswaram, Dwarka and Puri, see Char Dham.
Chota Char DhamChota Char DhamChota Char Dham Name Proper name: Chota Char Dham Location Country: India State: Uttarakhand Coordinates: Kedarnath 30°44′N 79°04′E / 30.73°N 79.07°E Badrinath 30°44′N 79°29′E / 30.73°N 79.48°E Gangotri 30°59′N 78°56′E / 30.98°N 78.93°E Yamunotri 30°44′N 78°27′E / 30.73°N 78.45°E Architecture and culture Primary deity: Shiva in Kedarnath,
Vishnu in Badrinath,
Ganga in Gangotri and
Yamuna in YamunotriArchitectural styles: North Indian architecture History Date built:
(Current structure)Unknown Creator: Pandavas Chota Char Dham 
Kedarnath • Badrinath
Gangotri • YamunotriThe Chota Char Dham (Devanagari: चार धाम) (literally translated as 'the small four abodes/seats', meaning 'the small circuit of four abodes/seats'), is an important Hindu pilgrimage circuit in the Indian Himalayas. Located in the Garhwal region of the state of Uttarakhand (formerly the northwestern section of Uttar Pradesh), the circuit consists of four sites—Yamunotri (Hindi: यमनोत्री), Gangotri (Hindi: गंगोत्री), Kedarnath (Hindi: केदारनाथ), and Badrinath (Hindi: बद्रीनाथ).[1] Badrinath is also one of the four destinations (with each destination being in different corners of the country) of the longer Char Dham from which the Chota Char Dham likely draws its name.
While each of these sites is unique in its own fashion, inclusion in the Char Dham has, over time, caused them be viewed together in popular imagination and in pilgrimage practice.
Contents
Origins and the original Char Dham
Yamunotri temple and ashrams
The origins of the Chota Char Dham are obscure. Originally, the appellation Char Dham referred to a pilgrimage circuit encompassing four important temples—Puri, Rameshwaram, Dwarka, and Badrinath—located roughly at the four cardinal points of the subcontinent. An archetypal All-India pilgrimage circuit, the formation of the original Char Dham is credited to the great 8th century reformer and philosopher Shankaracharya (Adi Sankara). At some point, Badrinath, the last visited and the most important of the four sites in the original Char Dham, also became the cornerstone of a Himalayan pilgrimage circuit, which was dubbed the Chota ("Little") Char Dham to avoid confusion. In the original Char Dham, three of the four sites are Vaishnava (Puri, Dwarka and Badrinath) while one is Shaiva (Rameshwaram). The Chota Char Dham included representatives from all three major Hindu sectarian traditions, with two Shakta (goddess) sites, (Yamunotri and Gangotri), one Shaiva site (Kedarnath), and one Vaishnava site (Badrinath).
Accessible until recent times only by arduous and lengthy walking trails that repeatedly exceeded 4000 meters, the Chota Char Dham was long dominated by wandering ascetics and other religious professionals, along with a handful of devoted retirees and wealthy patrons who could afford a traveling entourage. While the individual sites and the circuit as a whole were well known to Hindus on the plains below, they were not a particularly visible aspect of yearly religious culture. After the 1962 war between India and China, however, accessibility to the Chota Char Dham improved, as India's short-lived efforts at Himalayan expansionism required massive road building and other infrastructure investments. As pilgrim buses began to arrive, the Chota appendix was slowly deprecated. Today, the prefix "Himalayan" (Hindi: Himalaya ki Char Dham) may be added instead to differentiate the circuit from Shankara's all-India Char Dham.
Recent development
Since the 1960s, the importance of the Chota Char Dham as both an actual destination and an object of the national Hindu religious imagination has grown considerably. Buoyed by "religious tourism" and by the rise of a conservative Hindu population compelled by sites that speak to the existence of an all-India Hindu culture, the Chota Char Dham has become an important destination for pilgrims from throughout South Asia and the diaspora, particularly Bengalis, Marwaris, Marathis, Gujaratis, Delhites and people from Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. Today, the circuit receives hundreds of thousands of visitors in an average pilgrimage season, which lasts from approximately April 15 until Diwali (sometime in November).[citation needed] The season is heaviest in the two-month period before the monsoon, which normally comes in late July. After the rains begin, travel to the sites becomes extremely dangerous. Even before the rains begin, safety is a major concern, as extensive road building and heavy traffic have critically destabilized the rocks, making fatal landslides and bus/jeep accidents a regular occurrence. Mortality rates for a season often surpass 200. Some pilgrims also visit the sites after the rains ends and before the sites become impassable due to snow. Although temperatures at the shrines in the early winter months of October and November are inhospitable, it is said that the mountain scenery surrounding the sites is most vivid after the rains have had a chance to moisten the dust of the plains below.
Pilgrimage centers
Most pilgrims to the Chota Char Dham embark from the famous temple town of Haridwar. Others leave from Haridwar's sister city, Rishikesh, or from Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand. From there, the tradition is to visit the sites in the following order:
- Yamunotri, the source of the Yamuna River and the seat of the goddess Yamuna, is a full day's journey from Rishikesh, Haridwar or Dehradun. The actual temple is only accessible by a six km walk from the town of Hanuman Chatti (horses or palanquins are available for rent). The current temple is of recent origin, as past iterations have been destroyed by the weather and elements. Lodging at the temple itself is limited to a few small ashrams and guesthouses. Ritual duties such as the making and distribution of prasad (sanctified offerings) and the supervision of pujas (ritual venerations) are performed by the Uniyal family of pujaris (priests). Unique aspects of ritual practice at the site include hot springs where raw rice is cooked and made into prasad.
- Gangotri, the source of the Ganga River (Ganges) and seat of the goddess Ganga, can be reached in one day's travel from Rishikesh, Haridwar or Dehra Duhn, or in two days from Yamunotri. More popular and important than its sister site to the east, Gangotri is also accessible directly by car and bus, meaning that it sees many more pilgrims. A small village of guesthouses and restaurants serves the pilgrim community. Ritual duties are supervised by the Semwal family of pujaris. The aarti ceremony at the Gangotri is especially impressive, as is the temple, a stately affair that sits on the banks of the rushing Ganges (Ganges River). Adventurous pilgrims can make an overnight 17 km trek to Gaumukh, the actual current source of the Ganges.
- Kedarnath, where a form of the Hindu god Shiva is venerated as one of the twelve jyotirling (linga of light), is a two-day's journey from either Gangotri or one of the main disembarkation points on the plains. Besides its affiliation with Siva, Kedarnath is also believed to be the site of Shankaracharya's samadhi (place of enternment). The actual temple, an impressive stone edifice of unknown date, is accessible only after a steep 13 km walk (horses or palanquins are available for rent). The most remote of the four Chota Char Dham sites, Kedarnath is flanked by breathtaking snow-capped peaks. No specific family of pujaris supervises rituals at Kedarnath, which focus around veneration of the stone lingam that rests in the inner sanctum of the temple.
Panch Kedar[1] 1. Kedarnath 2. Madhmaheshwar (3289 m) 3. Tungnath (3810 m) 4. Rudranath (2286 m) 5. Kalpashwar (2134 m)
- Badrinath, the seat of the Hindu god Vishnu in his aspect of Badrinarayan, is generally a two-day's journey from either Kedarnath or one of the main disembarkation points on the plains. By far the most important of the four sites, as part of the larger Char Dham, Badrinath receives many more visitors than the other three sites. As the route to Badrinath is for much of the way also the route to Hemkund Sahib, an important Sikh pilgrimage site, the road to Badrinath is especially crowded. The temple and its substantial surrounding village are accessible by road. The actual temple is a striking building whose bright colors evoke the painted Buddhist ghompas of the region; rumor has it that the temple was originally controlled by Buddhists.[citation needed]
Panch Badri
- Badrianth
- Yogadhyan Badri (1920m) From Badrinath it is near Pandukeshwar
- Bhavishya Badri (2744m) From joshimath
- Vridha Badri (1380m) From joshimath
- Adi Badri (1180m) From karna prayag [2]
References
- ^ Chard Dham Yatra Govt. of Uttarakhand, Official website.
- Chār Dhām Yātra: Ecstatic Flight Into Himalayas, by G. R. Venkatraman. Published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1988.
External links
Categories:- Tourism in Uttarakhand
- Chota Char Dham temples
- Hindu temples in Uttarakhand
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