Pilgrimage Tour

Enjoy your visit to the temples of the Char Dham Yatra…Char Dham refers to the four pilgrimage places in India being widely admired by most of the Hindus.

These four pilgrimage places are:
Badrinath, Dwarka, Jagannath Puri,and Rameshwaram.

As defined by Adi Shankaracharaya, the Char Dham consists of two Vaishnavite(the followers of Vishnu-Narayan), one Shaivite(the followers of Lord Shiva), and one mixed site. Char Dham pilgrimages are in the Garhwal Himalayas, where Adi Shankaracharaya attained freedom from embodiment.
‘Chhotta’ Char Dham
There is another Chardham known as ‘Chhota, Char Dham being located in the Himalayas. This dham consists of the following four sites-Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.

Yamunotri and Gangotri represent Shaktism, Kedarnath represents Shaivism and Badrinath represents Vaishnavism.

History of the Char Dham Yatra
Adi Shankaracharya, the great 8th Century reformer and philosopher was prominently involved in regaining the Hindu Dharma in India. He travelled throughout the Country and grouped the four sacred places as Badrinath, Dwarka, Rameshwaram and Jagannath Puri as the Char Dham. All these four dhams are being dedicated to the Vishnu Avatars.

The 4 Dhams-

1)Badrinath
It’s the most important of the four sites of Char Dham yatra. It is located in theNorth Indian state of Uttarakhand, in the Gharwal hills, on the banks of the Alaknanda River. Badrinath comprises of two words- Badri and Nath.The word Badri refers to a berry that was said to grow abundantly in the area, and nath means Lord.
2)Dwarka Its located in the West, in the Indian state of Gujarat. The City derives its name from the word dvar meaning door. The legendary city of Dwarka was the living place of Lord Krishna.
3)Jagannath Puri  is located in the East in the Indian State of Orissa. Its one of the oldest cities, situated on the coast of Bay of Bengal. It is the only shrine in India, where goddess, Subhadra, sister of Lord Krishna is worshipped along with her brothers, Lord Jagannatha and Lord Balabhadra. Puri is the site of the Govardhana Matha, one of the four cardinal institutions or Mathas established by Adi Shankaracharya.
4)Rameshwaram Its located in the South in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. According to legends, this is the place from where Lord Rama, built a bridge Ram Setu to Lanka. The major area of Rameshwaram is being occupied by the Ramanatha Swamy Temple being dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is believed that the pilgrimage to Benaras is incomplete without a pilgrimage to Rameshwaram.
At Shikhar we can help you plan your trip for a spiritual journey so you can visit the Dhams and the Temples.