Garwhal All Set To Host Char Dham Yatra 2009 in April

April 1, 2009 - PRLog -- As Hinduism is the widely followed religion in India, pilgrims from all the country and across India come to pay the holy pilgrimage to the scared shrines of Char Dham that include the temples of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri in Uttrakhand, India. These temples remain close otherwise due to extreme climatic conditions of heavy rain and snow fall, with chilling winters. The shrines are opening from April 27, 2009 onwards for the pilgrims for the holy darshan.

The tour to Char Dham will take the pilgrims to the sacred spots of Uttrakhand, India where Lord Shiva  has been enshrined in many forms along with Lord Vishnu enshrined in Badrinath. Pilgrims to Char dham yatra also have golden opportunity to visit the Panch Badris at Badrinath and twelve 'Jyotirlingas' of Kedar or Lord Shiva at Kedarnath.

Devotees to these temple can have a holy dip in the sacred waters of Yamuna (in Yamunotri), Bhagirathi (in Gangotri), Mandakini (in Kedarnath) and Alaknanda (in Badrinath) which are the perennial source of water. Devotees flock in large number to these shrines to purge away their sins and ascertain salvation from this materialistic world. The kunds, hot and cold water springs here are also much honored. All these kunds, tanks, have religious significance for the pilgrims.

Like every year, this year also, thousands of devotees are expected to pay a holy pilgrimage to the temples of Char Dham. This tour will can be undertaken from April and it will last in November 2009 for this season. The pilgrims will follows the Hindu tradition of 'Parikrama' or clockwise circumambulation.  Starting their journey from Yamonotri devotees will head towards Gangotri, Kedarnath and finally they will reach Badrinath. If the pilgrims wish they can extend their journey to Tunganath and Rudranath.

The Government of Garwhal and Kumaon has taken every possible step to ensure safety and comfort of pilgrims. According to statistics of last year visit approximately 768025 devotees visited Badrinath Temple, 55,5918 visited Kedarnath Shrine, 32,91,11 pilgrims visited Gangotri and 28,7688 visited Yamunotri respectively.

The history is going to repeat this year also where many pilgrims are expected to arrive in a large number to these shrines. The Government of Garwhal has made an official announcememt for the dates of yatra according to which

1. Yamunotri, Gangotri dwar will open on 27-04-09 and close on day of Deepavali.

2. Badrinath will open on 01-05-09 and close on 10 days after Deepavali.

3. Kedarnath will open on 30-04-09 and close on eve of Bhaidooj.

The helicompter service sare also arranged for the devotees. You can book Pawan Hans Limited operated from Agastyamuni.

Pilgrims can even make  advance reservations for Bhojwasa, Gangotri for which they can take permission from Forest Department of Uttarakhand and after obtaining the same they can contact the nearest PRO office.

For Tour Reservations of Char Dham Yatra please visit http://www.visit-himalaya.com/himalayan-pilgrimage/char-d... and avoid heavy rush.