The Holy sites of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath are together known as Char Dham of Uttarakhand or Chota Char Dham. It is challenging to pinpoint the precise time when they started to be regarded as a single circuit and the reason behind them being known as Char Dham is not known either. However, each of these temples has a history but the history of Chardham dates back thousands of years. However according to Indian Mythology, River Yamuna is the daughter of Surya Dev and Sandhya Devi and sister of Yam Dev and Shani Dev. At one time, Sage Asit lived on the grounds of what is now known as Yamunotri Tem.
Pilgrims from all parts of the nation come to Kedarnath to worship Lord Shiva. The mythological story states that the Pandavas had a fight with the Kauravas. The Pandavas eventually won the battle but they had killed many Brahmans, so Lord Vishnu advised them to apologize to Lord Shiva. They went to Lord Shiva but he was hiding from them because he didn’t want to forgive them so easily. He appeared in the form of a bull infront of them. Bhim, the most powerful of all recognized Lord Shiva and tried to catch the bull by it’s tail but the bull disappeared and then re-apperead in five different parts of the nation. The bull’s stomach fell in one part, it’s tail in the other and it’s hump in Kedarnath. Being impressed by this, the Pandavas made temples at these places to worship Lord Shiva. These 5 temples come under Panch Kedar.
According to mythological beliefs, the Kedarnath Temple was built by the Pandavas while seeking Lord Shiva’s forgiveness. It was discovered by Adishankara in the 8th century was restructured later. It is believed that Kedarnath was under snow during the Ice Age for 400 years.
It is believed that the place where Badrinath Temple stands today, used to be a Buddhist Shrine once. The structure of the Badrinath Temple was formed by the Gods bjut the Buddhist threw it in the Alakananda River. Adishankara found the structure and re-established the temple in the 8th century. However, the exact date of how old the Badrinath Temple is still unknown.
Gangotri is one of the four Chota Char Dham and its temple was built in the 8th century by a Nepalese General Amar Singh Thapa. The temple opens every year for the popular pilgrimage Chardham Yatra and welcomes thousands of devotees.
The river Yamuna originates from Yamunotri and the Yamunotri Temple was constructed in 1829 by the King of Tehri, whose name was Naresh Sudarshan Shah. There was a massive earthquake that destroyed the temple. Later it was reconstructed by the Queen of Jaipur Gularia Devi.
According to mythology, when the Pandavas were on their way to heaven, they had to cross a river. Draupadti who was Bheem’s wife was unable to cross the river, so Bheem being the most powerful of them all took a huge boulder and placed it. Thus the Darupadti crossed the river by crossing the bridge and now the bride is called Bheem Pul. Bheem Pul Badrinath is located just 3 kms away from the Badrinath shrine.
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