What is the Char Dham?

The two meanings

The all-India Char Dham is made up of four sites at the four corners of the subcontinent: Badrinath in the north, Dwarka in the west, Puri in the east, and Rameswaram in the south. Together they are seen as marking out the sacred land of India. A complete circuit of all four is considered one of the most powerful pilgrimages a Hindu can undertake in a lifetime.

The second use of the name refers to four temples in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand: Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath. This route is also called the Chota Char Dham, meaning the smaller Char Dham, to tell it apart from the all-India set. Because it sits in the high mountains and was made more accessible in the modern era, it is the journey most people today mean when they say 'Char Dham yatra'.

What the four abodes represent

The word dham means a home or abode of the divine. Each site is tied to a deity or sacred river. Badrinath is a temple of Vishnu. Kedarnath is one of the most revered shrines of Shiva. Yamunotri and Gangotri are the source points of the Yamuna and Ganga rivers, both seen as goddesses and as purifying waters. Reaching these high places, after a hard mountain journey, has long been understood in the tradition as both a physical act and an inner one.

Where the idea comes from

The tradition of the all-India four sites is widely linked to Adi Shankaracharya, the philosopher who is said to have travelled across India establishing centres of learning and worship. The exact history is debated, but the idea of unifying the whole land through four sacred points is very old. The Uttarakhand set became widely known much later and grew into its current form over many centuries.

Today

The Uttarakhand Char Dham draws very large numbers of pilgrims each year, especially in the warmer months when the mountain passes are open. The temples close through winter. Roads and travel have made the journey easier than it once was, though parts of the route, especially Kedarnath, still involve a long walk or a pony ride. The all-India Char Dham is a longer, costlier undertaking, and completing it is seen as a major life event. Both journeys are shared by Hindus from many regions, sects, and backgrounds.