Chardham Yatra - Part 1 (Introduction)

One of the very well known and undertaken yatras (pilgrimage) in India is the Chardham yatra.

There are two different kinds of Chardham yatra

(a) One is in the four Dhams (holy spot) situated in the four corners of India (Puri, Badrinath, Dwaraka and Rameshwaram) which is comprising of the 4 important pilgrim centers in the respective locations. The first three being Vishnu temples and the last being a Shiva temple. These are usually covered by way of separate visits and are never combined as one single yatra. I have had the privilege of visiting all four Dhams in the course of my life but more about it in some other blog.

(b) Chardham is usually used in reference to the yatra in the state of Uttrakhand in North India to the four holy spots from where holy rivers originate. The four Dhams are Yamunotri (Origin of Yamuna), Gangotri (Origin of Ganga), Kedarnath (Holy temple of Lord Shiva built by the Pandavas and from where the Mandakini originates) and Badrinath (Holy temple of Lord Narayana at the spot where the divine personages Nara & Narayana did tapas (penance) and from where the Alaknanda originates).

My chardham yatra done from 19th May, 2019 to 31st May, 2019 was my fifth yatra (the previous four being undertaken along with my wife and two sons). In my previous chardham yatras, I had hired a car from Haridwar and had undertaken the yatra without any guide. With Gods grace we had successfully completed the yatras without any hitches (the last one being in 2010). This time my wife and I went along with four other couples and had taken the assistance of M/s Srinivasan Tours & Travels, Delhi.

A yatra is not just about the destinations that we go towards; it is also about the journey. Every minute of the yatra from the time we left home till we get back home is one about varied enriching experiences. It is about reflecting and introspecting. It is about learning and opening our minds to newer lines of thinking. It is about understanding the vastness of the Universe and reducing the size of our egos. It is about going through the difficulties and inconveniences with a stoic mindset.

I plan to write about the yatra in detail over the next few blogs and hope this will prove to be of assistance to anyone wanting to undertake this yatra. Any question / doubt posted as a comment will be responded to immediately. In case anyone wishes to write separately, you may do so to my email id vish.sscs@gmail.com

Happy reading !!