Being a theist I have traveled across various spiritual places including Mata Vaishno Devi, 9 Devi Darshan and recently I had covered Char Dham Yatra and I was very much delighted after covering this divine Yatra. I am unable to share this lifelong spiritual and a tourist mindset experience with my readers and I hope this travel experience would help you to some extent if you think of covering the same journey. I would start first with telling about the significance of this pilgrimage.

Significance and Importance of Char Dham in Hinduism

According to Hindu mythology, the entire Himalaya Range is reckoned as divine places where several sages had traveled in search of austerity and this is why the complete Himalaya ranges are studded with various pilgrimages and Char Dham in Uttarakhand is one of the most happening and the acclaimed one.

And this is how I continued my 11 nights and 12 days long Journey in Uttarakhand and made it a complete success.

Day 01: The Journey Commences

Reaching Delhi from Hometown

I started my journey early morning on 15th of May, 2019 from Chandigarh and by the evening I had reached New Delhi, the capital city of India. I had been to this city many times before also but this time the excitement was on the next level. On reaching Delhi Airport I received a warm welcome from Namaste India Trip representative who then escorted me directly to the hotel where after completing all the check-in formalities I entered into my room and I felt like lost in the comfort of the room and I must thank NITPL for providing me such a nice place to stay. I was served with a delicious lunch which reminded me of home-made food. After finishing my lunch I thought of visiting some of the major landmarks of this huge city including Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Raj Ghat, etc. In the evening I thought of visiting India Gate which looks amazing after the sunset and after collecting some beautiful pictures of this historical monument I was transferred back to the hotel for dinner after which I went to bed. This is how the first day of my journey concluded.

Day 02: Witnessing the Iconic Attractions of Rishikesh and Barkot

Drive to Rishikesh and Then Barkot

Early morning I reached Rishikesh from where I had to proceed towards Barkot in the afternoon. As I was left with so much time before leaving for Barkot so I decided to visit the temples and the Ghats and most importantly Ram Jhula and Lakshman Jhula, the icons of Rishikesh and then I decided to go for white water river rafting, bungee jumping and I wanted to get indulged in more activities but sue to time constraint I couldn’t. I had clicked many pictures here and then the tour representative called to continue our drive towards Barkot which was a road trip. On the way to Barkot, we made a halt at Kempty Falls which is a gorgeous and most happening tourist destination in this region. The water falling from a great height looks so gorgeous that it takes away all your tiredness and refreshes your mood with positive energy and make you more energetic and after spending approx. 40minutes we continued our drive to Barkot. On reaching the destination I was shifted to one of my pre-decided hotels for spending an overnight stay after savoring the scrumptious dinner.

Day 03: Heading Towards The First Pilgrimage In The Circuit

Barkot – Janki Chatti – Yamunotri – Barkot

I was very much excited for the day as I was going to cover Yamunotri, the first pilgrimage of the circuit which is dedicated to River Yamuna. As all the pilgrims including me were already aware that we had to cover a trekking trail of almost 5 km to reach the shrine of Yamunotri from Janki Chatti where we reached by a private vehicle arranged by the tour operator. I was pretty excited for trekking but all my enthusiasm and craze shattered away after covering the trail for 2 to 3 km as it was not much difficult to reach there but after that, it was pretty physical taxing and it took me almost 4 hours to reach the temple. Once I reached the shrine I spotted that there were two huge idols one was of Goddess Ganga and the other one of Goddess Yamuna. After doing philosophy and seeking the blessings of River Yamuna I started walking downhill as I had to return to the hotel in Barkot for night stay.

Day 04: Barkot – Uttarkashi

Thanks to the itinerary provided by my tour operator in which it was suggested to bring pain killers. The day before was very long and as I had covered that challenging trekking trail my legs were hurting badly and so pain killer was needed there. I was transferred to Uttarkashi from where Gangotri is easily accessible so after reaching there I simply checked-into my room and relaxed and in the evening came out of the hotel to visit Kashi Vishwanath Temple and soon after paying homage I returned to the hotel and served myself with dinner followed by a relaxing overnight stay.

Day 05: Philosophy of Goddess Ganga

Uttarkashi – Gangotri

I couldn’t wait for more to visit the other pilgrimage of the circuit and I woke up early morning and when all the members of our group gathered together we were taken to the shrine by a private vehicle and the best thing was there is no obstacle or challenge to reach Gangotri. The moment I enter the shrine I started feeling like River Ganga was present there in reality and I could feel her presence everywhere and this temple visit was followed by a drive towards Gaumukh glacier.

Day 06: Day in leisure

Srinagar Garhwal

On the sixth day of the trip, our group was taken to Srinagar which is adorned with panoramic landscapes and a perfect setting to click some beautiful pictures. For the rest of the day, I was free to spend on leisure so I decided to relax but the other group members preferred visiting the sightseeing destinations.

Day 07: Dhari Devi Temple – Rudraprayag – Sitapur

The second exciting day of the trip as today I could witness the only structure survived in that devastating flood incident of 2013. I was shocked to see that the temple was standing in its original structure and I got the goosebumps after entering the temple and doing the philosophy of Mata Dhari. I loved spending time in the spiritual ambiance of the temple and came back with a heart dipped in deep spirituality.

Day 08: Visiting Kedarnath

Gaurikund – Kedarnath

My faith in God was increasing every day and as I have deep faith in Lord Shiva so I was very excited to visit Kedarnath Temple which is one of the most prime destinations of Shiva worshippers like me. The entire group was dropped at Gauri Kund from where I started covering the huge and challenging trekking trail to reach the hugely elevated shrine of Lord Kedar. I didn’t face much trouble in reaching the pilgrimage as I had made my habit of walking since I did my booking for Char Dham Yatra. Thanks to NITPL for providing me VIP Darshan Pass as there was a long queue to enter into the temple and I don’t like standing in a queue and waiting for my turn. After entering the temple I felt like my dream had come true and felt so blessed that I could get the blessings of Lord Kedar. Also, many of our teammates either opted for pony or palanquin rides to reach the shrine or they opted for the Chardham Yatra by Helicopter to save their energy and time.

Day 09: Covering the Final Pilgrimage in the Circuit

Joshimath – Badrinath

Now the only pilgrimage to be reached on the trip was Badrinath which holds a great place in my heart after I read the mythologies behind this shrine. Today we were taken to visit the holy confluences of River Alaknanda i.e. Vishnuprayag, Karnaprayag, and Nandprayag and also visited the Narasimha Temple nestled at Joshimath. By the evening I was tired and so the moment I had my dinner and lied down on my bed I didn’t even realize that when did I sleep?

Day 10: Sightseeing

Badrinath – Mana Village – Pipalkoti

I had already made my mind to participate in the Mahabhishekam Puja organized every morning so I woke up very early in the morning and drove towards the Badrinath Temple to do the philosophy of Lord Badri an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. After performing the special puja and doing Darshan at Badrinath some of us left for the hotel but I decided to explore the beauties of Mana Village, the last Indian Village which is reckoned as the origin of Mahabharata. Later at night, I drove towards the Pipalkoti for overnight halt.

Day 11: Stepping Towards the End of This Divine Journey

Devprayag – Haridwar

Today we were taken to Devprayag, the place from where the holy River Ganga gets her name and is the confluence point of Bhagirathi and Alaknanda and then drove towards Haridwar which is home to various temples and Mansa Devi Temple is the most important one amongst them. I had heard a lot about Ganga Aarti in Haridwar and so I didn’t want to miss out witness the glory of this spiritual place.

Day 12: Journey Concludes

Delhi – Home

Early morning our entire group was transferred to the destination city from where we started our journey and after reaching Delhi Railway we all moved towards our home but before leaving I exchanged my number with some of my group fellows. It was such an amazing journey which I don’t think I would ever forget.