Dhams are religious places admired by Hindus around the world. The word “char” signifies four seats or abodes of shrines of great spiritual significance. The idea of visiting these religious places is to remove all sins from one’s life. The central belief of the Hindu religion is to attain “moksha” or “nirvana” and finally to become free from the recycle of birth. Hindus believe that the final religious goal of an individual is to attain moksha and become closer or part of the ultimate being (God). One such way to attain moksha other than being benevolent is to visit the “Char Dhams” or “four abodes” and become one with God. It is believed that the pilgrimage to these four important places not only washes away all the sins of an individual but also frees one from the recycle of birth.
These four Dhams are located in Himalayas namely Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. The Char Dham (Chardham) yatra or journey starts in the month of April (and continues till the mid of October) when the snow in the Himalayas melt which is the source of the water for the four holy rivers namely Yamuna at Yamunotri, the Ganges at Gangotri, the Mandakini at Kedarnath, and the Alaknanda at Badrinath.
I visited Char Dham back in 2012, exactly a year before the devastation took place. It was a 15 days long trip which started from Haridwar with a dip in Holy River Ganges at Har ki Pauri Ghat. Next morning, we drove for more than 12 hours to reach Jankichatti to have an overnight stay and start next morning with trek to Yamunotri.
The trek from Janki Chatti to Yamunotri is about 7 kilometers long and is made along a 2 meter broad paved path way, most of which is hanging from the mountain side. Most of the cliff side of the pathway is provided with railings thus keeping it safe for pilgrims. The trek is easy along paved pathways. There are ascents similar to number of hair pin bends. But what makes the trek difficult is the sheer number of people.
It took us 3 hours(although we expected to complete it in 2 hours) to reach the temple due to adverse weather conditions as well as blocked paths(due to landslides), but the scenic beauty one would experience near the temple is worth sharing. There was a hot spring right beside the temple, which was used by pilgrims to half cook the rice as a holy practice. After descending the trek, we returned to Jankichatti to explore the local market and lives of the locals. Our next destination for the trip was Gangotri, for which we decided to start early morning driving in the mountains and reach Uttarkashi.
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