Chardham - Yatra Packages

The Himalayas is regarded as the land of the Gods. Start with Yamunotri, going on to Gangotri, Kedarnath and culminating the journey at Badrinath. This route follows the Hindu tradition of parikrama or clockwise circumambulation. They together form the Chardham Yatra or Four Holy Shrines. Badrinath and Gangotri are directly accessible by road while Kedarnath and Yamunotri are reached by road followed by a short trek of 15 km and 6 km, respectively.

Yamunotri and Gangotri are revered as the sources of the two most holy rivers - the Yamuna and the Ganga. Kedarnath and Badrinath have shrines dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu, two of the gods in the Hindu trinity. Kedarnath temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is one of the holiest Hindu temples.  Lying at an altitude of 3584 mts. on the head of river Mandakini, the shrine of Kedarnath is amongst the holiest pilgrimages for the Hindus and the temple itself is quite an exquisite example of stone work. Inside the temple is the lingam, a symbol of the Hindu God Shiva.

The temple is located among astonishing mountain landscape surrounded by peaks that are over 6000 m in elevation. Badrinath Temple is situated on the right bank of Alaknanda River. In this temple, several murtis are worshipped and the most important is a one meter tall statue of Vishnu as Lord Badrinarayan, made of black Saligram stone. The murti depicts Vishnu sitting in meditative posture, rather than His far more typical reclining pose. In November each year, when the town of Badrinath is closed, the image is moved to nearby Jyotirmath.

Amaranth Cave

This is one of the revered pilgrimage sites of India tucked away in the mighty Himalayas. Open only for a few months during the year, Amaranth enshrines a natural Shivalingam of ice, and is reached after an arduous trek through the mountains of Kashmir.

Amarnath is an ancient pilgrimage center. The Amarnath cave is located at a distance of 86 miles north east of Srinagar, at a height of 13000 feet above sea level. Shiva is worshipped here in the form of a Shivalinga shaped ice block, made by drops of water oozing naturally in the cave.

To the left of the Shivalingam is another ice block representing Ganesha, and to the right of the Shivalingam are blocks representing Parvati and Bharirava. The cave faces south. Inside the Amarnath cave is another small cave on the left of the image, from which a chalk like substance is given out to pilgrims as Vibhuti. Amarnath is surrounded by snow clad mountains.

Amarnath shrine is dedicate to God Shiva and is believed to be 5,000 years old. At the time of yatra, a pure white ice-lingam comes into being inside the cave and acquires full form on Purnima. Legend has it that Shiva made the Gods immortal by providing them with the celestial nectar, and resided here upon their request. This boon of immortality lent the name Amarnath. The annual yatra to Holy Amarnath Cave, situated at 14000 ft. above sea level, is organised by the Jammu & Kashmir State Government during the month of July and August. The intending pilgrims are allowed to perform darshan from Ashard Purnimashi to Shravan Purnimashi which course spreads over a month or so.

Vaishnodevi

Vaishnodevi is one of the holiest shrines in northern India and a very popular pilgrim centre dedicated to Goddess Durga. In the cave, there are images of three deities viz. the Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati. Situated in the Jammu region of state J&K and is about 61 km north to Jammu. Thousands of people pay visit to this holy place every day and particularly during the ‘Navratras Festival’ the number shoots up to lacs when the pilgrims flock in large numbers from India and abroad.

Vaishno Devi Temple can be reached after making a steep 13 km trek from the road head at Katra, the town at the foot of the Tirkuta hills. The Yatra begins at Katra and pilgrims have to cover 13 km of terrain on foot to reach the Darbar. One kilometer away from Katra, is Banganga, place where Mata quenched her thirst and at 6 km further down, is the holy cave at Adhkawari.The entire 13 km route is quite wide and tiled. The Shrine Board runs bhojanalayas at Katra, Adhkawari, Sanji Chhat and Durbar and also extends facilities like drinking water, snacks bar, medical aid, food and accommodation along the route.