Chardham Temples

Chardham means the 4 sacred temples Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameshwaram present in the four directions(North, West, East and South) of India. It was coined by Adi Sankaracharya who lived in the 8th Century AD. Chardham Yatra is considered to be sacred and believed that every Hindu should do this once in a life time.

Dwarka: Dwarkadhish temple is in Gujarat state on the banks of river Gomti close to Arabian seashore and famous for Lord Krishna. It is a very ancient city and is one of the destinations of Char Dham. It is believed that Lord Krishna moved here from Mathura after killing his uncle Kansa. The temple is just on the sea shore and one can walk to the beach using a hanging bridge called Sudama Sethu.

The main temple is 5 storied structure, also called Jagat Mandir was rebuilt and enlarged in 15th century. The original temple was destroyed by Sultan Mahmud Begade in the year 1473 CE. Beyt Dwarka is nearby which is at the border to Pakistan and Lord Krishna is believed to have lived here. One needs to be careful with Thugs who try to extract money from the devotees in the name of Poojas, etc. Mobile phones and cameras are not allowed inside the temple and there is a locker to store the same. Nageshwar Mahadev Jyotirlinga is also close to Dwarka.

Darshan Timings: 6.30 am to 1pm and from 5 pm to 9.30 pm

Rameswaram: Rameswaram is one of the destinations of Char Dham in South Indian state of Tamil Nadu on the shores of Bay of Bengal sea. The main temple is called Sri Ramanathaswamy temple and is the only Siva temple of the 4 Char DHam temples. It is also one of the 12 Jyotirlingas and there are two lingams.

It is believed that the main Siva Lingam in sand was built by Lord Rama and Sita on his way back to Ayodhya after killing Ravana. The second linga is called Vishwalingam or Spatika lingam and believed to have been brought by Hanuman from Himalayas. This needs to be worshipped before the actual lingam and available for Darshan only for an hour in the morning. The temple is quite big and devotees from all over India visit here.

The recommended process of Darshan is to take bath in the 22 Theerthams(wells) inside the temple and it starts with dip in Agni Theertham by the sea. They charge around Rs.50/- for person to go through all the wells where the water is poured with a small bucket of water. Then change the wet clothes to dry and go for Darshan.

Darshan Timings: 5am to 1pm and 3pm to 9pm

Puri: Puri temple is one of the Char Dham temple located in the East Indian state of Odisha and dedicated to Lord Jagannadh which is one of the form of Lord Vishnu. The famous Rath Yatra happens here every year and also across other locations in India and the world.

Badrinath: Badrinath temple is one of the Char Dham temple located in the North Indian state of Uttarakand and is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. It is open only for 6 months in a year during the summer because of the extreme weather conditions. Badrinath is also part of the chota chardham which also includes Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri.

You can read more about the other temples here.