WELCOME TO CHARDHAM YATRA 2017

Monday, January 20, 2014

Char Dham Yatra & its Significance!

It is believed among the Hindus that a pilgrimage to the ‘four abodes’ or ‘seats’ can lead a person, whether a male or a female towards heaven in their after-life. Popular among the people as ‘Char Dham Yatra’, there are four places meant for pilgrimage located in the periphery of India, these are: the Badrinath dham, the Dwarka dham, the Puri dham as well as the Rameswaram dham, of which devotees are in awe of. Adi Shankarcharya says that these places comprise of three places meant for Vaishnavs and one place meant for Shaivs and one of these is a mixed site.



In the Garhwal Himalayas itself, Adi Shankarcharya had left his bodily raiment to leave for his heavenly journey. That’s why the ‘Char Dham’ pilgrimage is considered to be of utmost importance as with the passage of years the pilgrimage has become even more fruitful, it is believed. As he came in communion of the Lord, became one with Him, a truth of ‘mun’ or the ‘eternal heart’, ‘atman’ or the ‘holy spirit’ and ‘parmatama’ or ‘the primeval Lord who resides within himself’ came onto Adi Shankarcharya, who left an example to which the multitude looked up for direction and it is believed that the Lord has himself bestowed upon his devotees the right to a journey of ‘Char Dham’, which would fruitfully take them towards the positives, in good faith.  Also known as  ‘Chota Char Dham’ or 'Small' or ’Petite’ Char Dham in order to create a distinctive mark from the bigger route of Char Dham sites, after mid-20th century, these divine places of holy devotion are now being referred to as the ‘Char Dham’. During these days we confer the title of ‘Char Dham’ to Himalayan Char Dham comprising of all-values. ‘Char Dham’ are also regarded as the sites that are most highly thought of by Hindus who have this unfailing notion that the Char Dham must be visited at least once in their lifetimes. Also four sites that are located within the Himalayan ranges are four places of divine shelter referred to as Chota Char Dham (meaning little) including: Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri sites lying at the foot of the Himalayan ranges. As mentioned earlier in order to distinguish these from the Char Dhams, the term ‘Chota’ was added to these places situated in the Himalayas.

The four religious places located in Badrinath, Jaganath, Rameswaram, and Dwarka are the places where devotes offer obeisance at the holy temples. There is a ‘mark of distinction’ about the location of the four monasteries across four diverse directions in India along with the temples where people come to worship, these are the Badrinath Temple (Badrinath) in north, the Jaganath Temple (Puri) in the east, Dwarakadheesh Temple(Dwarka) in the west, and Ramanathaswamy Temple (Rameswaram) in the south.

The religious comprehension that complete peace and harmony are as significant in one’s life as other factors are, makes numerous devotees  pay a visit to the holy places often called as the ‘Char Dhams’. Each year thousands of people move on to visit these places of that are sacredly relevant with an inner most thought of attaining the blessing of the Gods.

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