Page 20 - Flash Preview

A Travel Bliss-Chardham

It was a fine Saturday morning, when I visited the Chardham along with my family. It was a long road
trip but the destination was much more beautiful than I had ever expected. We left home with food
and water at 9 in the morning and it took us about 2-3 hours to reach our first destination, Kedarnath.
Kedarnath temple is one of the four pillars of famed char dhamyatra. It is believed that if you visit
Kedarnath temple all your sins will be washed and you will be granted a position in heaven. It was an
absolute must for us to look at the scenery. Kedarnath is a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Kedarnath
is situated on the hill top and it took us our blood sweat and tears to climb about 350 stairs and reach
that milestone. What we saw at the tip of the mountain was beyond our imagination. It was beautiful,
peaceful and full of energy. We moved through a small cave and poured ganga jal on the Shivling.
As we seeked blessings from the almighty, we prepared
ourselves for our second destination on the Chardham Checklist,
it was Badrinath. Badrinath is an ancient religious centre. It is
also famous for its natural beauty. The religious importance of
Badrinath was introduced by Shankaracharya. The place gets its
name from the word ‘badri’ , meaning ‘berries’. Badrinath
temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu,the Preserver in the Hindu
Trinity, the other two being Creator and Destroyer. The deity of
The temple is Badrinath. Badrinath is another form of Vishnu.
The deity is also known in the names like Badri Vishal and
Badrinarayan. Badrinath temple was as beautiful as its name.
The temple pandit told us the background story of how this
temple came to existence. There were statues of lord Ganesha,
Goddess Parvati, etc. We took prasad from the temple and proceeded towards our third and the final
destination, Gangotri and Yamunotri.

Yamunotri, also Jamnotri, is the source of the Yamuna river and the seat of the Goddess Yamuna
Hinduism. Gangotri, the origin of the River Ganges and seat of the goddess Ganga, is one of the four
sites in the Chota char dham pilgrimage circuit. Yamunotri and Gangotri temple was situated high up at
a mountain with beautiful scenery all around it, birds chirping and singing in harmony. It was serene and
ethereal. Visiting the chardham was like food for the soul. We had felt so content and at peace before.
For those, who are reading this and wondering how come they visited all four dhams in one day, let me
tell you these are the temple replicas situated in Mathura and made by Lord Krishna dedicated to his
parents Nanda baba and Yashoda mata.
Chardham has our highest recommendat-
ion to visit if you can’t visit the original ones.

20
Suraj School Bhiwadi
Suraj School Rewari