The Char Dham, or the Chatur Dhama,[1] is a set of four Hindu pilgrimage sites in India,[2] consisting of Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameswaram.[3] [4] Badrinath, Dwarka, and Puri are shrines of Vishnu, whereas Rameswaram is a shrine of Shiva.
Defined by Adi Shankara, each dhāma represents a particular yuga, with Badrinath representing Satya Yuga, Rameswaram representing Treta Yuga, Dwarka representing Dvapara Yuga, and Puri representing Kali Yuga.[5] Many Hindus believe that visiting these sites can help them achieve moksha.[6]
The Char Dham is not to be confused with the Chota Char Dham which comprises Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, Badrinath. It is a Hindu pilgrimage circuit in Uttarakhand which was named by the religious tourism industry.
According to Hindu legend, Badrinath became prominent when Nara-Narayana, an avatar of Vishnu, performed tapas there. Many berry trees then grew in the area, so the site was initially named badarikāvaṇa, the forest of berries. Per legend, a large berry tree grew above Nara-Narayana to save him from the rain and sun. Locals say that it was Lakshmi who became the berry tree to save Narayana. After completing tapas, Narayana said declared that people should always invoke her name before his. Therefore, Hindus refer to "Lakshmi-Narayana."
Within the satya yuga, the area came to be known as badrināth, the lord of the berry trees, in recognizance of Nara-Narayana’s penance. The temple to him is located on the banks of the Alaknanda River in the Chamoli district of Uttrakhand.
The second dhāma, Rameswaram, has its origins in the Treta Yuga when Rama installed a lingam there and worshipped it to get atonement from Shiva for slaying Ravana, a devotee of Shiva.[7] It is believed that Rama's footprints are imprinted there.[8]
The third dhāma, Dwaraka, was established in the Dvapara Yuga when Krishna made the city his residence. [9]
At the fourth dhāma, Puri, Vishnu is worshipped as Jagannath, his avatar for the current epoch, Kali Yuga.
The monk Adi Shankara organised four to correspond to the four sites of the Char Dham: the headquarters at Dwarka in the West, Puri in the East, Sringeri Sharada Peetham in the South and Badarikashrama in the North.[10]
The table below gives an overview of the four Amnaya Maṭhas founded by Adi Shankara.[11]
| Shishya (lineage) | Direction | Veda | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | Rig Veda | Bhogavala | ||||
| South | Yajur Veda | |||||
| West | Sama Veda | Kitavala | ||||
| North | Atharva Veda | Nandavala |
Puri is located in the state of Odisha and is one of the oldest cities in the eastern part of the country, on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. The main deity worshipped there is Krishna, revered as Jagannath. It is the only shrine in India where Subhadra, the sister of Krishna, is worshipped along with her brothers, Jagannatha and Balabhadra. As per temple records, King Indradyumna of Avanti built the main temple of Jagannath at Puri.[12] Starting in the tenth century, the first king of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, Anantavarman Chodaganga, rebuilt the present temple on the site of the pre-existing temples in the compound, excluding the main Jagannath temple.[13] Puri is the site of the Govarḍhana Maṭha, one of the four cardinal maṭhas created by Adi Shankara.
Rameswaram is located in the state of Tamil Nadu, in the southern part of the Indian peninsula. According to legend, this is the place where Rama, along with his brother Lakshmana and devotee Hanuman, built a bridge (Rama Setu) to reach Lanka to rescue his wife Sita, who had been abducted by Lanka's ruler Ravana. The Ramanathaswamy Temple, dedicated to Shiva, occupies a significant area of Rameswaram. The temple is believed to have been consecrated by Rama. The site is important to Hindus as a pilgrimage to Varanasi is considered incomplete without a pilgrimage to Rameswaram. The presiding deity is in the form of a Linga with the name Sri Ramanatha Swamy; it also is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas.
Dwarka is located in the state of Gujarat on the westernmost coast of India. The city derives its name from the word "dvara" meaning door or gate in the Sanskrit language. It is located where the Gomti River merges into the Arabian Sea. However, this river Gomti is not the same as the Gomti River, which is a tributary of Ganga River. The legendary city of Dvārakā was the dwelling place of Krishna. It is generally believed that due to damage and destruction by the sea, Dvārakā was submerged six times, and modern-day Dwarka is the 7th such city to be built in the area.[14] [15]
Badrinath is located in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand at an altitude of 3,133 meters (10,279 feet). The temple of Badrinath is dedicated to Lord Vishnu.[16] It is in the Garhwal hills, on the Alaknanda River banks. The town lies between the Nar and the Narayana mountain ranges and in the shadow of the Nilkantha peak (6,560 m).Nearby within 3 km, there are also other interesting sightseeing spots like Mana, Vyas Gufa, Maatamoorti, Charanpaduka, Bhimkund, and the Mukh of the Saraswati River. Joshimath is situated on the slopes above the confluence of the Alaknanda and Dhauliganga rivers. Of the four Maths established by Adi Shankaracharya, Joshimath is the winter seat of Char dham.
While the three other Dhams remain open throughout the year, Badrinath Dham only stays open for pilgrims' darshan from April to October each year.
Another circuit of four ancient pilgrimage sites in the Indian state of Uttarakhand is referred to as Chota Char Dham to differentiate it from this bigger circuit of Char Dham sites. It consists of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath. The Chota Char Dham shrines are closed over winter due to snowfall and reopen for pilgrims with the advent of summer.[17] [18] [19] [20]
This temple was built in approximately 1135–1150 by Codaganga, a king of the Eastern Ganga dynasty