Winter Char Dham | 06 Jan 2025
Recently, Uttarakhand has launched the Winter Char Dham circuit to promote year-round tourism and attract visitors to the state during the off-season winter months.
- Char Dham shrines (4 revered shrines) are four holy sites i.e., Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath and are located in the Garhwal Himalayas. They are traditionally visited between May and November.
- During the winter months, the presiding deities of these temples are brought to shrines at lower altitudes at:
- Kedarnath: Omkareshwar Temple in Ukhimath (Rudraprayag)
- Badrinath: Pandukeshwar in Chamoli.
- Gangotri: Mukhba in Uttarkashi
- Yamunotri: Kharsali in Uttarkashi
- During the winter months, the presiding deities of these temples are brought to shrines at lower altitudes at:
- The Char Dham Project aims to enhance connectivity to the Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri by improving conditions of highways.
- Adi Shankaracharya (exponent of the Advaita Vedanta) established the Char Dhams in four different directions of the country which include Badrinath, Puri, Dwarka and Rameshwaram.
- Advaita Vedanta is a non-dualistic philosophy that asserts the ultimate reality (Brahman) is singular and formless, with individual souls (Atman) being identical to it, and liberation (moksha) is achieved through the realization of this oneness.
Read More: CharDham Project