Char Dham Yatra: Pilgrimage of a Lifetime!

In the Hindu mythology due importance is being given to the ‘four seats/abodes’, religiously known to the devotees as ’Char Dham’ or the four places of pilgrimage situated in India, being given immense importance. It is so because of the faith that a visit to these places of great religious significance might lead them to heaven after their lives come to an end. The dhams located in Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameswaram are defined by Adi Shakaracharya, as the ‘Char Dhams’ comprising of three sites for Vaishnavs, one for Shaivs and one mixed site.

Not forgetting the act of piousness when Adi Shankarcharya left for his heavenly abode in the shelter of the Garhwal Himalayas, the ‘Char Dham’ pilgrimage is being thought of as very truly important as with  the passage of years, these places have been paid visits to, by countless people who have developed high degree of faith. Thus these places are called as the ‘Chota Char Dham’ or 'Little' Char Dham in order to make a meritorious distinction from the bigger route of Char Dham sites. From the time immemorial, it is believed that the path leading to the ‘Char Dham Yatra’ ought to be traversed at least once in a person’s lifetime so that the humans can be at peace with their inner selves. 

The holy temples that also await for the devotees to visit them as much as the devotees long to visit them are at Badrinath, Jaganath, Rameswaram, and Dwarka. These four different monasteries that spread across four distinct directions in India include: Badrinath Temple (Badrinath) in the northern path, Jaganath Temple (Puri) in the eastern path, Dwarakadheesh Temple (Dwarka) in the western path, and Ramanathaswamy Temple (Rameswaram) in the Southern path. The Himalayan ranges house within themselves four abodes referred to as Chota Char Dham or the (Smaller) ‘Char Dhams’ that include: the Badrinath site, the Kedarnath site, the Gangotri site and the Yamunotri site touching the foot hills of the Himalayas. 

As a cardinal journey across these four points is of utmost relevance or significance, every Hindu visitor tends to pay a visit to all these sacred places, as they think that their visit to these temples at least once might lead them towards their destined pathways in the years to come. All the sacred devotees wish to pay a holy visit to the ‘Char Dham’ travel in a traditional manner beginning from the eastern end of Puri, to be moved in a clockwise direction in such a demeanor as has been typically followed by people since ages. Talking geographically, as astonishingly true, the ‘Char Dham’ makes a ‘perfect square’ wherein Badrinath and Rameswaram are located on the same longitude and Dwarka (old) and Puri are located on the same latitude, with respect to the farthest points in the north, east, west, and south  of India, prior to the times when the coastlines changed. 

The true acknowledgement of the fact that peace, tranquility and harmony form an important balance in a person’s life make most devotees turn up to visit these sacred places often called as the ‘Char Dhams’. Each year, countless number of people get together in order to worship and complete their ‘Char Dham Yatra’.