Char Dham

The Char Dham (चारधाम ), also rendered the Chatur Dhama (चतुर्धाम) is a set of four Hindu pilgrimage sites in India, consisting of Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameswaram. 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. Many Hindus believe visiting these sites can help achieve moksha (liberation or salvation).

The Char Dham is not to be confused with the Chota Char Dham, which is a devotional circuit in Uttarakhand.

Description
According to Hindu legend, Badrinath became prominent when Nara-Narayana, an avatar of Vishnu, performed tapas there. As the area then had a profusion of berry trees, 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 the sun. A local interpretation holds that Lakshmi 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 his devotee Ravana. It is believed that Rama's footprints are imprinted there.

The third dhāma, Dwaraka, was established in the Dvapara Yuga when Krishna made the city his residence.

At the fourth dhāma, Puri, Vishnu is worshipped as Jagannath, his avatar for the current epoch, Kali Yuga.

The monk Adi Shankara organised four (institutions/monasteries) 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.

The table below gives an overview of the four Amnaya Maṭhas founded by Adi Shankara.

Puri
Puri, located in the east, is located in the state of Odisha. Puri is one of the oldest cities in the eastern part of the country. It is situated on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. The main deity 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. The present temple was rebuilt from the tenth century onwards, on the site of the pre-existing temples in the compound, but not the main Jagannath temple, and begun by Anantavarman Chodaganga, the first king of the Eastern Ganga dynasty. Puri is the site of the Govarḍhana Maṭha, one of the four cardinal maṭhas created by Adi Shankara. Nilakantha Das suggested that Jagannath was a deity of Jain origin because of the appending of Nath to many Jain tirthankaras.

The word Jagannath means the “world personified' in a Jain context, derived from Jinanath. Evidence of the Jain terminology such as of Kaivalya, which means moksha or salvation, is found in the Jagannath tradition. Similarly, the twenty two steps leading to the temple, called the Baisi Pahacha, have been proposed as symbolic reverence for the first 22 of the 24 Tirthankaras of Jainism.

According to Annirudh Das, the original Jagannath deity was influenced by Jainism and is none other than the Jina of Kalinga taken to Magadha by Mahapadma Nanda. The theory of Jain origins is supported by the Jain Hathigumpha inscription. It mentions the worship of a relic memorial in Khandagiri-Udayagiri on Kumara Hill. This location is stated to be the same as the Jagannath temple site. However, Starza, a Jain text mentions Jains restored the Jagannath shrine, but the authenticity and date of this text are unclear. This is the plume for Oriya people to celebrate a special day in this Dham which is known as Ratha Yatra (Chariot Festival).

Rameswaram
Rameswaram is located in the state of Tamil Nadu, in the southern part of the Indian peninsula. According to legends, 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 earlier by Ravana, the ruler of Lanka. The Ramanathaswamy Temple, dedicated to Shiva, occupies a significant area of Rameswaram. The temple is believed to have been consecrated by Rama. Rameswaram is important for the Hindus as a pilgrimage to Varanasi is incomplete without a pilgrimage to Rameswaram. The presiding deity here is in the form of a Linga with the name Sri Ramanatha Swamy; it also is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas.

Dwarka
Dwarka is located in the state of Gujarat, on the western coast of India. The city derives its name from the word "dvara" meaning door or gate in the Sanskrit language. It is located confluence where the Gomti River merges into the Arabian Sea. However, this river Gomti is not the same Gomti River, which is a tributary of Ganga River. The city lies in the westernmost part of India. 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 had submerged six times, and modern-day Dwarka is the 7th such city to be built in the area.

Badrinath
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 Uttarakhand. It is in the Garhwal hills, on the Alaknanda River banks. The town lies between the Nar and Narayana mountain ranges and in the shadow of Nilkantha peak (6,560 m). There are other interesting sightseeing spots like Mana, Vyas Gufa, Maatamoorti, Charanpaduka, Bhimkund, and the Mukh of the Saraswati River, within 3 km of Badrinathjee. 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 Chardham.

While the three other Dhams remain open throughout the year, Badrinath Dham only stays open for pilgrims' darshan from April to October each year.

Chota Char Dham
Another circuit of four ancient pilgrimage sites in the Indian state of Uttarakhand viz. Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath is referred to as Chota Char Dham to differentiate it from this bigger circuit of Char Dham sites. The Chota Char Dham shrines are closed in winter due to snowfall and reopen for pilgrims with the advent of summer.