Char Dham
Char Dham are the four places in India with high pilgrimage importance. These four places are namely Rameshwaram, Jaganath-Puri, Badrinath-Kedarnath and Dwarka. Adi Shankaracharya defined the term Char Dham as the three Vaishnavite, than one Shaivite and the last a state of mixed ones. It is some of the most holy places that a Hindu should visit, at least once in a lifetime. The origin of these four temples here is still not well known and has remained to be a mysterious fact. Shankaracharya is said to have established the Advaita school of Hinduism, which was also accountable for the origin of the Char Dham. The four Hindu temples are lying across the four corners of India. The Badrinath temple is in the north, followed by the east temple of Jaganath Puri, the Dwarkadhish Temple located at Dwarka in the west, and Rameswaram in the south, the Ramanathaswamy Temple.
Badrinath Dham
Badrinath temple is in the Badrinath town that is situated between the Nar and Narayan mountain ranges with the overshadowing peak of Neelkanth that towers at 6,560 m in height. The slopes above the confluence of river Alaknanda and Dhauliganga have Joshimath which is the winter seat of Chardham. Of the Chardham, Badrinath Dham is closed during winters and opens for pilgrims from April to October each year.
Other beautiful sites around Badrinath Dham that are quite interesting and important to pilgrims and lie within 3kms of Badrinath Dham are -Mana, Vyas Gufa, Maatamoorti, Charanpaduka, Bheemkund, and the Mukh of Saraswati river. Dwarka Dham.
Dwarka Dham
Rameshwaram Dham
Rameshwaram Dham being located towards the extreme south of India is the very place, as per the legend, where Lord Rama along with his brother Laxman and his ardent devotee Hanumana built Ramasetu to reach Srilanka to rescue Mata Sita who had been abducted by Ravana- the ruler of Srilanka.
The major area of Rameshwaram is occupied by the Ramanatha Swamy temple. The Ramanatha Swamy temple is the temple of Lord Shiva. As per Hindu mythology pilgrimage of Hindus to Banaras is complete only when the pilgrimage to Rameshwaram is undertaken. Here the presiding deity is in the form of Linga and is named Sri Ramanatha Swamy. It is one of the 12 jyotirlingas.
Puri Dham
Puri Dham is located in the Puri city of Orissa and lies in the eastern part of India. The presiding deity is Sri Krishna who is established here as Lord Jagannatha. The Puri Shrine is the only shrine in India where goddess Subhadra, the sister of Lord Krishna is worshipped along with her two brothers- Lord Jagannatha and lord Bala Bhadra. Puri is also the site of Govardhana Matha which was converted by Adi Shankaracharya. Oriya people celebrate a special day in this Dham in the form of Rathayatra which is in the form of Chariot festival.
