NOTE: This is the first non-farming POST on my blog. :-)
INTRODUCTION
Four (“Char”) holy shrines (“Dham”) located in Uttarakhand State of India form a pilgrimage circuit (“Yatra”) among devotees from across India and world over. Following are the four sites:
Yamunotri – where river Yamuna (a tributary of Ganga) originates from
Gangotri – close to the place where river Ganga (called Bhagirathi here) originates from. (Actual origin is another 10kms upstream at Gaumukh which can be reached through a tough hike)
Kedarnath – Siva's adobe. One of the 12 jyotirlingas
Badrinath – Where Lord Vishnu resides as a “Guru”
Typically most of the devotees visit all the four “Dhams” in a single trip although each of them can be visited separately as they are all around 200-300kms apart from each other and also from the nearest big cities like Dehradun or Haridwar/Rishikesh.
PLANNING
For the pilgrims coming from outside Uttarakhand, the Chardham Yatra officially starts from Rishikesh as there is registration and checking process for individuals and vehicles. Rishikesh is in the plains and easily accessible by Road & Train from other locations of India, including New Delhi. It is also accessible by Road from Dehradun, which has Airport. So, Piligrims can fly to Delhi or Dehradun and then proceed to Rishikesh (via Haridwar where you can stay overnight if required) by Road travel. Delhi to Haridwar is around 5-6hrs travel and Rishikesh is another 1-2hrs from there.
The Yatra route is kind of a circle and most of the people visit the shrines in the order of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath and return to Rishikesh. However, reverse order is also fine.
Minimum time required from Rishikesh to Rishikesh for completing the Chardham Tour by road is 10 days. Most of the road travel has to be done during the day itself and it is not safe to travel during the night time due to landslides and unpredictable mountain climate. It is also good to keep some buffer time for unforeseen delays during travel and trek due to changing weather, traffic jams and queues. Just to give an example, although a distance of 200kms seems doable in 5-6hrs, most of the times it takes 10-12hrs. Therefore you will have to plan to stay overnight in hotels/dorms/campsites on transit from one Dham to other.
If you book a group tour from a travel agent, many of them offer road/rail/air travel from major cities of India.
If you don't want such group tours and would prefer a package for your own family/group you can still book through a travel agent or do it yourself.This is what we did.
There are also helicopter tours available from Dehradun covering all the four “Dhams” in 5 days. This blog doesn't cover the helicopter tour.
PREPARATION
In Hindu tradition, a “Yatra” is expected to be tough and tiring. Beauty of any “Yatra” is that the journey itself is a part of “Yatra” apart from the destination and therefore we should enjoy the entire journey which nestles through the picturesque Himalayan locales. There is no dull moment as the lure of the Himalayas is never ending!
Considering the fact that Chardham are located in the Himalayas at significant altitude, it definitely is not an easy affair. You have to physically and mentally prepare yourself for long journey and arduous hikes to get a “Darshan” of the diety in its adobe and get blessings. First of all, you should get acclamatized to the high altitude climate where oxygen is thin, making it difficult to breath and walking 100meters feels like a kilo meter. Regular physical exercise, walking, running, work out and breathing exercises/pranayama etc for at least month will help.
Visit to Gangotri and Badrinath temples doesn't involve much of walk/trek/hike as your vehicle goes quite close to the temple. However, it could be quite cold/rainy/snowy etc while you wait in queue for Darshan and you should be prepared well for such situations.
Visit to Yamunotri and Kedarnath needs much more preparation as they involve steep and slippery trek of 7kms and 16kms respectively and you have to return by the same route either on the same day or next day. Minimum requirement is to have a backpack, suitable walking/hiking shoes, hiking sticks, raincoat, warm clothes and some dump bags to carry your wet/damp/soiled shoes and clothes. (Single use raincoats are available everywhere, but it is not a good idea to buy them. Better to carry your own raincoat in order to reduce plastic waste). For those who cannot walk so much distance, there are options like palanquins (“doli”), baskets (“kandi”) and pony ride from different points of the trek. However all these options are considerably painful and dangerous.
TRAVEL
As mentioned earlier, Chardham Yatra officially starts from Rishikesh with registration and checking of individuals and vehicles. Ideally this should be done in couple of hours, but on a crowded day it can take much longer, threatening to derail your entire Yatra itinerary. This is exactly what happened to us. We were 9 people together including a 6-yr old boy and one 70+ yrs old lady. We flew into Delhi from Bangalore and we had hired a Tempo Traveller from Delhi to Delhi roundtrip for 12 days and travelled to Haridwar and stayed there overnight after visiting Mansa Devi Temple there. Started from Haridwar at around 7AM on Day2 and reached Rishikesh where our driver dropped us for sight-seeing and went for the vehicle checkup to get “Green Pass” and get all of us registered. This is a must as there are checkpoints on the way for verifying this. We finished sight-seeing in Rishikesh in a few hours and kept waiting for the driver to pick us up for the onward travel, wondering whether we would be forced to drop our Yamunotri plan next day. (That was the fate of another group which had travelled the day before and the process of getting Green Pass spilled over to the next day and they had to drop the Yamunotri plans). We were supposed to reach Barkot on the same day by 5PM and we were picked up from Rishikesh around that time! Reached Barokot at midnight passing through traffic jams, etc and checked into a Hotel. (There are a few accommodations like lodge/dorm/tents/guest houses on Barkot-Janki Chatti route and also at Yamunotri. You can book one of those and stay there instead of staying in Barkot, depending the travel time).
YAMUNOTRI
Start of the trek toYamunotri is from Janki Chatti which is around 40kms from Barkot, but takes 4-5hrs to reach. We left Barkot at around 4AM on Day3 and reached Janki Chatti by 8AM. The trek route to Yamunotri is 7kms long and quite narrow, where we have to negotiate our path with those who have hired pony, those who are being carried by four people on palanquins and those who are being carried in baskets on the back of porters. The route passes through jungle along the Yamuna river valley with beautiful streams, waterfalls and viewpoints. It is quite steep and gets steeper half-way-through (where Bairav Mandir is located) and it is very slippery due to the horse dung and urine all the way. Added misery will be the smell of horse dung all around and on your clothes and occasional rain which makes it more slippery and cold. (You will have to live with this smell for the rest of your Yatra!). Many parts of this path don't have any side railings making it extremely risky to traverse through, particularly when you are jostling for space with the crowd and the ponies.
Last patch of downhill trek leads you to the Yamunotri temple. Cross a bridge across the Yamuna river and climb a few steps to enter the temple. There is a hot water spring inside the temple (called Surya Kund). You can take a dip here or cook some rice in it or simply sprinkle some water from it on yourself before having Darshan of “Yamuna Maiya”. You can also see “Divya Shila” from where Yamuna river is believed to originate from.
Start the return trek soon after to reach your parking lot well in time so that you don't get stuck in traffic jam on your return journey to Barkot. By the time we reached our vehicle it was well past 5PM and we reached our Barkot hotel at 10PM only and therefore we had to ditch our dinner! Retired to bed with a sense of accomplishment. All the kids did it too, by walk!
GANGOTRI
Day4 was a bit relaxed and therefore we started from Barkot post-breakfast and reached Uttarkashi in the evening although it is just 90kms. As usual, winding hilly roads are a norm. Visited the beautiful Kashi Vishwanath Temple at Uttarkashi, which is located in a bowl-like area surrounded by tall mountains. This temple also houses one of the oldest religious symbols in India – a huge Trishul made of stone. Our hotel was slightly outside the Uttarkashi town on way to Gangotri, right next to the Bhagirathi river, with amazing views all around. We could walk down to the river but the skies opened up!
Started Day5 at 6AM. Drive to Gangotri was around 100kms and it took 4hrs. Not much walk from the parking although your vehicle may have to be parked slightly away due to heavy rush. We had to walk around 1km. Ganga river is called Bhagirathi here, as it was King Bhagirath who made Ganga descend on earth from here to save mortals. First look at Ganga gushing through the gorges here can make you emotional. The water is melted from the glaciers and therefore freezing cold and the current is quite powerful. Therefore it is not easy to take a dip here although you would love to do it.
Wait for couple of hours for Darshan of Ganga Maiya in the temple, gazing at the snowclad mountain peaks and a sense of insignificance of ourselves prevails. Of course the river itself originates from another 10kms upstream at Gaumukh, which can be approached through a tough hike, which we couldn't attempt.
Return journey after this to our hotel near Uttarkashi was more or less eventless except for some traffic jams on the way. We reached before dark with some time to stroll through the riverbank behind the hotel. Unfortunately we couldn't spend much time there as it started raining.
KEDARNATH
Day6 was a long travel day and we started a bit late losing time in gathering some cash. We got stuck in traffic jam for more than an hour in front of our hotel itself. After more than 13 hours travel, a few traffic jams and a landslide on the way, we reached our hotel at Sitapur at midnight. There are many other places like Guptkashi, etc where you can stay instead of going all the way till Sitapur or Sonprayag for stay.
Sonprayag is the starting point for Kedarnath Yatra. Our hotel at Sitapur was around 1.5kms away from Sonprayag and we had to walk up this distance as there was already a traffic jam at 3AM. (Of course this means that we could hardly sleep for an hour or so!). This was Day7.
From Sonprayag, you have the option to take a taxi to Gaurikund or walk up once again, which is 5kms away. Knowing very well that the trek from Gaurikund is another 16kms, we didn't want to exhaust ourselves in the beginning itself and therefore decided to wait for the taxi. And how long? Almost 4 hours! Felt that walking would have been more prudent. Finally reached Gaurikund, from where the actual trek is counted. Therefore whenever and whereever you read that trek to Kedarnath is 16kms, don't believe it blindly. Invariably it turns out to be not less than 18kms in the best case and can go upto 23kms. This route is not as steep as the route to Yamunotri, and a little wider, but the distance is three times that. Some of us wanted to hire Dolis (palanquins) and realized that there were very less number of Dolis to Kedarnath and all of them were booked the day before itself. So only options left were pony, basket or walk. Some of us hired basket whereas most of us decided to walk. (It actually feels quite sad to hire the basket where the porter has to lift our entire weight and walk all the way). For hiring a pony, we had to walk another km. All the porters started walking and a few of us wanted to keep pace with them. Soon a host of realizations started setting in. First of all, it is too tough terrain and it is very difficult to keep pace with seasoned porters. Secondly, we were all completely dispersed and we didn't have any contact information of the porters who were carrying our elderly and children. A little later we also realized that the only option to be able to catch up with those who went ahead was to hire pony. Although we never met them on the way most probably due to the large crowd that was proceeding towards Kedarnath, we managed to reach the top much earlier than the rest of the people, eagerly waiting for those who were being carried, while not being sure whether they had already reached. Much to our relief, the kids arrived first and that was by walk, along with the porters who were supposed to be carrying them in their baskets. The porters found it difficult to climb the steep route and asked the children to walk. We still had to wait for the elderly and those who were walking up to reach. Finally all of them arrived, while there was a heavy downpour amidst shivering cold. The elderly person was also made to get down from the basket and made to ride a pony. There is a further walk to 2.5kms from this point till the temple.
Accommodation at Kedarnath is very limited and mostly dormitory, Dharmashala or tents. All of these should be prebooked, or else you have to be prepared to walk back soon after Darshan at the temple. Our room was right next to the temple, offering a wonderful view of the temple brightly lit in pink colour from our balcony. We could see the evening “Arti” from here, and soak into the divine vibrations. Of course the biting cold was a spoiler and therefore most of us retired to bed soon after an exhausting day, to be able to get up at 3AM again for Darshan.
On Day8, we waited in the queue for more than 4 hours to get Darshan at 7AM. The mesmerizing view of the sunrise behind the temple with mountain peaks covered in the snow forming the background is a surreal experience. You won't realize how long you have waited in the queue. If you manage to enter the temple before 6AM, you get to participate in “Abhishek” of Baba Kedarnath, which we missed. Nevertheless, the divine presence can be felt all around. (You also have option to book some Puja or Abhishek online on the previous evening so that you get direct access inside the temple at around 1AM itself. We missed this opportunity too).
After the Darshan, it is a must to go behind the temple where you get to see a miracle which took place in 2013 during the flash floods. A huge stone, exactly the width of the temple, had rolled down from the mountain peak and stopped at around 20mts distance from the temple, blocking the water flow and splitting it into two streams. It feels like someone lifted the stone from somewhere and brought it and placed it in the right place to save the temple. Even if the stone had rolled forward a little more, it could have damaged the temple. The entire sight increases our belief multifold.
It is also worth visiting the Adi Shankara memorial behind the temple which is still under construction. The big black stone statue which was carved in Mysore has a calming effect on our minds.
On our way back from Kedarnath to Gaurikund, many of us decided to ride pony in order to avoid distress due to the disparsal of our family members. This was a good decision and we came down much faster, passing through a few scary moments and some traffic jams (yes! Traffic jams of people, pony, etc although there is no “wheeled” traffic) on the way. At this moment, we realized that there is a hot-water-spring at Gaurikund, where we could have taken a bath before climbing up to Kedarnath. Due to all the confusion while going up, we had not noticed the views and scenery on the way and we enjoyed it on the way back. There are several streams and waterfalls and thick forest all around, apart from the River Alakananda next to you in the deep valley.
As usual, there was a queue for taxi from Gaurikund to Sonprayag, but much smaller this time. We got a taxi within half an hour and walked 1.5kms from Sonprayag to our hotel in Sitapur. The others in the group who were completly trekking down reached later in the evening. As soon as we reached Sonprayag, we heard the news that Kedarnath Yatra has been suspended due to bad weather!
BADRINATH
Day9 once again involved a long travel of 12+ hrs and we started at around 9AM after breakfast. We continue our travel next to Alakananda river and take a turn to go along Mandakini later. There are a few confluences/Sangams on the way, some of which we visited on the way back from Badrinath. Despite skipping these places while going, we ended up reaching Badrinath at midnight due to multiple traffic jams. Luckily it was not as cold as in Kedarnath.
Badrinath temple was around half a km away from our hotel and we went there at 3AM on Day10. The sight of this colourful ancient temple is imposing. Took a customary (and mandatory) dip in the hot water spring called Tapt Kund, which is considerably neatly maintained. This dip really soothed our tired nerves. After that stood in the queue for 2 hours for Darshan of Lord Badri Vishal. There are many other small shrines inside the compound. Towering Nar and Narayan peaks signifying the connection between the human and the divine provide a magnificient background to the temple, with several snow-fed streams and waterfalls.
After the Darshan went back to the hotel for little rest, after which we set off to Mana village, the so called “India's last village”. China border is another 16kms from here, beyond the Mana Pass on top of yet another Himalayan peak. On the way we noticed that the queue for Darshan at Badrinath temple had grown upto 3kms!
Mana Village has some important sites to visit and we managed to visit a few of them as all of us were very tired. We paid obeisance to Lord Ganesha and Sage Vedavyasa, who joined together to write the Mahabharata and other Puranas sitting in Ganesh Gufa and Vyas Gufa at Mana Village. This is the only place where you get to see the mystical Saraswati river after which it disappers under the Bhimpul, a huge rock across the river which was supposed to be placed by Bhima for Draupadi to cross the river. Saraswati seems to join river Mandakini here, although the belief is that it flows undreground from here and re-emerges at Triveni Sangam near Prayagraj. There is a Saraswati Mandir at this place next to the Bhimpul and offers amazing 360-degree view of the landscape.
The highlight of Badrinath, apart from the divinity was the availability of true South Indian food for all of us who were tired of rotis and dals. Most of the big “Mutts” from across India have a branch in Badrinath and they serve food to the devotees (and also offer simple accommodation). We managed to go to one of these Mutts and had a heartful South Indian meal. Any small contribution from the beneficiaries is appreciated here.
We set off on our return journey on Day10 from Badrinath post-lunch heading to Pipalkoti, passing through Vishnu Prayag (confluence of Dhauliganga and Alakananda).
The day being Narasimha Jayanti, we thought it appropriate to stop near the Narsing Temple at Joshimath and have Darshan of Lord Narasimha. A steep climb down from the place where we parked the vehicle led us to this ancient temple, which is also famous as the place where Adi Shankara attained enlightenment. Joshimath is also the place where one of the four Shankaracharya Peethas is located. Joshimath is also close to the famous Valley of Flowers and the sacred Sikh shrine of Hemkund Sahib.
We managed to reach our hotel at Pipalkoti just before dark. This is more of a stop over to break long journeys. Nevertheless it offers beautiful views of the river valley and mountain peaks and worth staying overnight.
On Day11 we left Pipalkoti and travelled towards Haridwar on yet another long journey. We passed through Karan Prayag (confluence of Pinder and Alakananda, and Nand Prayag (confluence of Nandakini and Alakananda - Yes it's Nandakini, about which I had never heard before!) and Rudra Prayag (confluence of Mandakini and Alakananda).We can notice the dominance of River Alakananda everywhere.
Huge pile up of vehicles near Rishikesh ensured that we once again reached our hotel close to midnight only. The highlight on this route was Dev Prayag which is the confluence of Mandakini and Alakananda. From here, it is called the Ganga. A dip in this place is a must for all those who want “Ganga Snana”. You can notice the difference in color between Mandakini and Alakananda clearly and how Alakananda overpowers the other.
We had planned to attend Ganga Arti at Haridwar, which got drowned in traffic jams. We didn't even get proper dinner just like most of the other days during this Yatra.
With this, the Chardham Yatra came to a happy ending, with lots of memories, satisfied mind, grateful heart and feeling lucky for having successfully visited all the four Dhams as planned.
We left for Delhi next morning on Day12 and flew back to Bangalore from there.
NOTES
A “Yatra” is NOT a fun trip or sight-seeling trip or visit to a tourist place. It is much different from any of these and comes with lots of hardships. We should take them on our stride and have the right mindset to enjoy all these.
The safety aspects during the entire Chardham Yatra, particulaly during the trek to Yamunotri and Kedarnath are really scanty and need a lot of improvement. On crowded days, you should feel lucky to return safely from the trek.
Among your family/group if you plan to use different modes of travel (walk/pony/palanquin/basket) for different people/luggage, please don't assume that you can all go together. It is almost impossible to keep up the pace with all and most of the porters don't abide by the rules set by you. It is also dangerous to change your pace forcefully just to catch up with others. Therefore it is most likely that you will all be dispersed after a while and mobile signal is not always available. This can lead to panic situation. Wise thing is to take the mobile number of the porter and also take a picture of him along with his id card at the time of hiring him. (One of our groupmates lost her backpack which she had sent with a Porter and he couldn't be traced at the destination).
Ideally hire the porters/pony etc from the prepaid counters setup by the govt. They are there at multiple places along the route and it is better to walk that extra mile to locate them as you will not be fleeced by them and tracking is much easier in case of any eventuality.
Don't send your minor kids or elderly people separately on pony/palki etc while you continue to walk as separation from them can result in different kind of problems. It is better to go together through similar means in such case.
The Yatra can be stopped by the authorities at any point of time due to weather conditions. In that case be prepared to drop the plan for one Dham and proceed with the other as it can cause problems with your hotel bookings, etc. Many people who go with the plans to visit all the four Dhams return after visiting only 2-3 Dhams for various reasons like fatigue, sickness, bad weather, landslide, etc.
Entire trekking path to Yamunotri and Kedarnath is lined with eateries and places to rest and hydrate yourself. Therefore it is not required to carry much food and water.
Eat light but nutritious food through the Yatra, or else it can adversely impact your itinerary. Take care of your health throughout.
Govt has done a commendable job by setting up makeshift toilets at regular intervals along the trek route. And they are quite neat and clean.
There are basic medical facilities and first aid available throughout the trek route, as the Uttarakhand Govt has setup these centres for the convenience of the pilgrims. There are also free medical facilities setup by charitable organizations which are doing yeomen service to the public.
As normal in most of the North Indian temples, the priests or Pandas keep harassing you and try to fleece you in the name of worship, food distribution, etc. There could be some genuine ones, but it is difficult to differentiate and therefore it is advisable to go with some references only. In any case, it is completely left to individuals belief and discretion.
Since the travel time and weather are unpredictable, it is better to talk, sleep, eat and relieve yourself whenever there is an opportunity to do so. Don't wait for the right time and/or for you to reach your hotel room for any of these.
Expect only basic facilities in all the places, hotels, restaurants etc in this difficult terrain. In some places it is a luxury even to get hot water for bath in freezing temperatures!
Expenses : The transport, food and hotel cost (for a somewhat decent hotel, slightly better than a budget hotel/dorm/Dharmashala) Delhi to Delhi will come well within Rs. 40,000/- per adult. This cost varies slightly based on the capacity of the vehicle hired and number of pax in it. Apart from this, if you take pony/doli/kandi etc in the trek route, the cost adds up. Particularly doli and kandi are quite expensive.
There are public transport options available between cities/towns, which can reduce the cost significantly, but it will take more time.
Carry lots of cash (at least 30-40k) as it is not easy to withdraw cash there in the mountains as many times the ATMs will not be functional or they will be out of cash. Online payments are not widely accepted yet, although it is picking up slowly.
Jio and BSNL signal is available in most of the places although goes dead in a few patches. So it is wiser to have one of these connections
POSTSCRIPT
All the pain and agony and frustration gets dissolved as soon as you get a glimpse of the shrine and later stand in front of the deity for Darshan in all his/her glory. The energy around the temple, combined with the serene atmosphere makes these Dhams what they are now. It is entirely an experience which can uplift you spiritually. You will feel that all the effort taken by you to reach there was worth every Paisa! It is a memorable experience to be cherished for the entire lifetime.
Having said that, there are a lot of things which can be fixed and improved:
Safety and security remains a major concern. Minimum required thing is to fix the side railing all along the trek route. Different/fixed paths for pedestrians and ponies, etc should be considered in the long term.
Garbage remains a serious problem as there are piles of it in this sensitive Himalayan ecosystem. Lack of civic sense among the pilgrims is palpable and I have no clue how this can be improved. Govt is putting efforts to clean it up and but it literally is a Himalayan Task and Govt alone cannot handle this. People should own it up.
These lifeline rivers like Yamuna and other tributaries of Ganga are garbage-ridden. Yamuna river in Yamunotri is an eyesore despite being surrounded by beautiful snow-clad mountains due to the saris and other clothes thrown into the river in the name of offerings to Yamuna.
Water bottles, packaged food, juice, Maggi, single-use raincoats, etc are all over. Although it is good as it reduces the amount of weight we need to carry on our backs, they are all adding to the garbage problem. Some alternatives should be thought about.
One last point to ponder about...
Will I go back for another Chardham Yatra if it is so beautiful, memorable, uplifting, etc?
The answer is a practical one.
Chardham Yatra is considered to be a once-in-lifetime activity.
There are many more places to visit in India including different Yatras, pilgrimage sites, apart from tourist places. So I will consider going back only after visiting other places!
