4 Dhams of India

Posted on April 8, 2020 by Ghoomophiro

In India, there are many different religions and cultures that we follow but the majority of the peoples are Hindu. Which is why there are many stories of Hindu Gods and Goddesses in the past that left their mark in the Hindu culture.  Thousands of people go there every day just to visit and worship the marks left by Gods and Goddesses.

What are 4 Dhams?

4 Dhams known as Char Dham in India are the names of the most pilgrimage sites in the whole of India. Many Indians just want to visit them once in their life before they die, the Char Dhams are one of the most sacred places for Hindus.

Char Dhams of India

1. Jagannath Temple, Puri

• Location: Odisha
• Main deity: Lord Jagannath
• Nearest railway station/Airport: Puri Train station or Bhubaneshwar Airport 
• Opens on: Every day for 24 Hours
• Places to stay: Hotel Jagannath Darshan, Basanti Hotel and Hotel Oyo 6295.

The Jagannath temple is located at Puri in the state of Odisha. Here in this temple, Shri Krishna resides in the form of Lord Jagannath. This temple is the only one in the whole India where you will see Lord Krishna’s sister Subhadra and brother Lord Balabhadra getting worshipped with Lord Krishna who resides here as Lord Jagannath.

Odisha people also celebrate a special day in this temple which is known as ‘Ratha Yatra’ Ratha means chariot Yatra means journey. This is one of the most important Dham in the Char Dhams of India. In this temple it is also believed that all of them represent the main 3 deities, Lord Jagannath represents Lord Vishnu, Lord Balabhadra Represent Lord Maheshwara which is another name of Lord Shiva, and Subhadra Represent Lord Brahma.

2. Ramanathaswamy Temple

• Location: Tamil Nadu
• Main deity: Lord Shiva
• Nearest railway station: Rameswaram Train station
• Opens on:  Every day from 5 am to 1 pm and 3 pm to 9 pm 
• Places to stay: Vel Residency Hotel, Hotel Royal Residency, and Hotel Park Plaza.

In the southern part of India, there is a place called Rameswaram which is famous for being one of the Pilgrimage sites in Indian because of the Ramanathaswamy Dham. The place also has a history that during the Treta-yuga Lord Rama built a bridge of stones from here to Sri Lanka during his quest of finding Goddess Sita.

The temple is well known because while the Time Lord Rama stayed there he made a Shiv-Ling to worship Lord Shiva and since that time Shiv-Ling remains there and Lord Shiva is worshipped there in the form of Linga and named Shri Ramanath Swamy. In this story also Lord Rama represents Lord Vishnu, his brother Lord Lakshman represents Lord Shiva, and Hanuman represents Lord Brahma.

3. Dwarkadhish Temple

• Location: Gujarat
• Main Deity: Lord Krishna
• Nearest railway station: Dwarka Train station
• Opens on: Every day from 6:30 am to 1 pm and 5 pm to 9:30 pm
• Places to stay: Shri Krishna Hotel, Hotel Gomti, and Hotel Nand Nandan, VITS Hotel

The Dwarkadhish Temple is located in the State of Gujarat in the city of Dwarka. This temple is situated where the Gomti River meets The Arabian sea. The temple is known as one of the Dhams as it’s the place where Lord Krishna in the Dwapar-yuga decided to make this place his residence.

Since that time this place is worshipped and the Dwarkadhish temple also resembles Lord Krishna. On the day of Lord Krishna’s birth, which is known as Janmashtami, the whole city of Dwarka celebrates it with so much energy and decorates the whole city and the temple is filled with the ‘Bhog'(offering) for Lord Krishna in the Dwarkadheesh temple.

4. Badrinath Temple

• Location: Uttarakhand
• Main deity: Lord Vishnu
• Nearest railway station: Rishikesh railway station, after that you need to take a bus to get there.
• Opens on: 30 April 4:30 am till October\November.
• Places to stay: Sarovar Portico Badrinath, New Hotel Snow Crest, and GMVN Tourist Rest House.

The Badrinath temple lies in the Garhwal Hills in the state of Uttarakhand. This divine temple of Badrinath was the first Dham in the all 4 Dhams to be found. It is said that in the Sat-yuga at this place Narayana the incarnation of Lord Vishnu came here for Tapasya. When he came there at the spot the berry tree which is called Badri in Sanskrit.

So at that place, the berry tree grows to save Narayana from sun rays and rains. It is also believed that it was Goddess Lakshmi who became that tree to save Narayana from sun and rain so he can finish his Tapasya in peace. That is why the place is called Badrinath, just like Shiva- Parvati since that time Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Narayana are also called Badri-Nath.

So as we saw that other than Badrinath temple every other Dham is very close to the railway station and opens on every day of the year. While for Badrinath temple you might need to do some planning of how you will go and where you will stay all kinds of things because you will be going in the hills.