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Adi Shankaracharya, Badrinath, Char Dham, Haridwar, Hindu, Hindu temples, India, Joshimath, Kedarnath, Lord Ganesha, Mexico, sacred Hindu sites, Travel, Vedanta
Hey everybody 🙂 Hope you’re all doing gr8 and visiting me from time to time 🙂
I know it’s been three months since my last post but… hey, here I am 😉 🙂 Thrilled and excited to share this post close to my heart wherein I have written a bit about myself and my travels to the sacred Hindu places in India. It’s an introduction to my recent travels in the Garhwal Himalayas of India, which I will cover in my next two posts 🙂
So without further ado, let me begin 😉
If you’re my regular reader, you may have realized by now that I’m a spiritual person. And if you’re my first-time reader, now you know 😉
Maybe my spiritual side had been lying dormant for a long while, I don’t know. But it emerged and started developing with the beginning of the year 2000. That was when I started reading the Bhagwat Gita, the Vedas and several other books on Hinduism, Vedanta, etc. and practiced meditation. In the subsequent years, my voracious appetite for reading books on religion and spirituality gained momentum.
Till 2001, I had always travelled to religious destinations with my family, visiting most of the sacred places in my home state of Maharashtra and some prominent ones in the neighbouring states of Goa, Karnataka and Telangana.
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Although, there was one time in the mid-90s when I had visited the ancient sacred Bhimashankar temple, situated in the lap of Sahyadri hills of Maharashtra, on a two-day monsoon trek with a dozen or more fellow members of a hiking club.
Our destination had been one of the numerous forts of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the 17th century founder of the most influential and important Maratha Empire of India. Due to heavy fog and incessant rain, we missed the path. Somewhere, I got separated from the rest in the thick mist of the Bhimashankar forest. Alone in the forest with nature for company 🙂 I have faint memories of my other treks but this one was truly memorable. The fort hike was abandoned but we trekked on and stopped by this ancient temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. For night halt, the only place available in the forested hills was a hay shed. There were rats moving around the place. My legs were covered with large red spots from mosquito bites. But what made it an unforgettable experience was discovering a glorious waterfall close by in the early morning hours and basking in its crystal clear cold waters 🙂
Then in 2002, while on a visit to New Delhi with my eldesr sister and lawyer Shilpa, I did a same day Taj Mahal, Agra fort, Mathura and Vrindavan tour. As my sister was busy at the court, I had gone alone. Due to heavy road traffic, the bus got delayed and I had to visit Mathura – the birthplace of Lord Krishna – and Vrindavan during night time. Besides the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura, I have fond memories of the yummy milk sweets that I had at Vrindavan 🙂
In 2003, I visited the sacred ancient city of Kashi (Varanasi or Benares) with my elder sister and clinical psychologist Swapna, who was attending a conference in the city. Since my sister was busy during the day, I went solo to the city temples and to those in the holy city of Prayag or Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad) and Sarnath. Visiting Kashi Vishwanath temple, holy ghats, Benaras Hindu University (BHU), Prayag temples and sights, boat ride to the Triveni Sangam (the confluence of three holy rivers- the mighty Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati), etc…I did it all 🙂
Somewhere in 2002, I had a strong desire to visit Tirupati temple, the most visited shrine in India. The opportunity presented itself in Feb 2004, when I made an 8-day solo trip to Tamil Nadu covering Chennai, Tirupati temple, Kanchipuram, Mamallapuram (or Mahabalipuram) and Puducherry (or Pondicherry). That was my first solo adventure outside my home state 🙂 The lovely experience helped me eight months later in travelling solo for more than two weeks to Spain and France 🙂
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In early 2005, I visited several temples and sights of Jammu and Kashmir with my sister Swapna. In Jammu, the shrine of goddess Vaishno Devi, the second most visited shrine in India, which is within a cave located in the Himalayas 🙂 Close to Srinagar, the temple of goddess Kheer Bhawani and within Srinagar, the hilltop Shankaracharya temple 🙂
And then in Nov-Dec 2006, I did a nearly one-month solo temple tour of Tamil Nadu and Kerala 🙂 A magnificent trip of which I have photographic memories because I had not carried my camera and mobile phone 🙂 In those days, cameras and mobile phones were not allowed inside the temple for security reasons. So it was useless carrying them along.
I started from Chennai in Tamil Nadu and travelled to places in and around prominent temple towns like Trichy, Thanjavur, Madurai, Chettinad and Rameshwaram, the hill station of Kodaikanal and right down to the southern tip of India – Kanyakumari – before entering Kerala. From there, I travelled in and around the temple cities of Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur, the scenic backwater region with picturesque locales like Alappuzha, Kochi, Thekkady, Palakkad, etc. the tea gardens of Munnar before re-entering Tamil Nadu for Coimbatore and the hill station of Ooty.
Coincidently, the Sabarimala pilgrimage from Tirupati temple had begun at the same time that I had started my trip from Chennai. So there were black-clad male pilgrims at each temple town on my route. The Sabarimala shrine in Kerala is open to males only, females are not allowed.
Among other spiritual places, I also visited the Vivekananda Rock Memorial. The memorial dedicated to Swami Vivekananda, stands on one of the two rocks located about 500 meters off Kanyakumari, where the three oceans – Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean – meet.
The most amazing experiences that I had on this month-long trip prepared me for a nine-month stay in Mexico, when I left India in August 2007 🙂
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In 2013, I began my solo adventures across India to realize my dream of visiting each and every state of the country. I fulfilled my dream in Dec 2015.
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During 2013-2015, I visited all the sacred Hindu destinations that crossed my path. Here’s the link to some of those that I have covered in my blog:
The World-Famous Jagannath Temple of Puri
Gujarat Travelogue (Part IV): Dwarka
Gujarat Travelogue (Part III): Somnath & Diu
Amazing Madhya Pradesh (Part I): Indore
Amazing Madhya Pradesh (Part II): Ujjain
Amazing Madhya Pradesh (Part III): Omkareshwar & Maheshwar
My Adventures in Coffee Land (Part II): Mangalore to Madikeri
My Adventures in Coffee Land (Part III): Madikeri to Chikmagalur
My Adventures in Coffee Land (Part IV): Chikmagalur to Udupi
Travelling through the North East of India (Part I): Manipur
Travelling through the North East of India (Part IV): Assam
East India Travel -1: Bhubaneswar
East India Travel – 5 : Visakhapatnam
Elephanta Caves – A World Heritage Site Off Mumbai Coast
Regal Rajasthan Travelogue (Part IV): Udaipur
One of the most influential figures in the history of Hindu philosophy, the 8th century Vedic scholar and Hindu saint Adi Shankaracharya established a set of four Hindu pilgrimage sites in each corner of India. Visiting these four sites called Char Dham (“four abodes”), has become a path to achieve moksha (liberation or salvation).
The four Dhams are related to four epochs:
In the East, Dham of Kaliyuga – Jagannath Puri in Odiisha
In the West, Dham of Dwaparayuga – Dwarka in Gujarat
In the North, Dham of Satyuga – Badrinath in Uttarakhand
In the South, Dham of Tretayauga – Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu
A small circuit of four pilgrimage sites in the state of Uttarakhand (also called Dev Bhoomi or “Land of the Gods”) are referred to as Chota Char Dham to differentiate it from the original bigger circuit. These four are located in the Himalaya Mountains – Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.
By 2015, I had visited three of the Char Dhams – Puri, Rameshwaram and Dwarka. Only Badrinath remained to be visited, and only Haridwar and Ayodhya from the long list of most sacred Hindu temple towns and cities.
This year, in May, after so many years, I finally got my calling for Badrinath. The sacred shrine is open only for six months from April/May to October/November. It remains closed during the harsh winter season. The peak visiting time for Char Dham Yatra (or pilgrimage) is April/ May to August or September after which the weather becomes cold. Since I dislike crowded places, I decided to plan my visit on my birthday as per Hindu calendar i.e. Karwa Chauth day which fell on the 1st of November this year.
I had discovered my birth details as per Hindu calendar in 2021, using google search :). Not only was it a Karwa Chauth day and a Thursday, but it was also a Sankashti Chaturthi day – the feast day of my favourite deity, Lord Ganesh – in the holy month of Kartik 🙂
My 9-day travel plan from 28 October to 5 November 2023 covered Rishikesh, Joshimath, Badrinath Dham, Mana, Kedarnath Dham and Haridwar.
In my next post, I will share the story of my travels through Rishikash and Joshimath to Badrinath Dham and Mana village. And subsequent to that post, my travels to Kedarnath Dham and Haridwar.
Discovering Sacred Hindu places in India –II : Rishikesh, Joshimath and Badrinath Dham and Mana
Discovering Sacred Hindu places in India –III : Kedarnath Dham and Haridwar
You’re going to love these stories and I just can’t wait to share them 🙂 Until then, take care 🙂 So long… and keep visiting me 🙂
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