Pilgrimage
What is Pilgrimage?
★ Pilgrimage is a meaningful journey to a sacred place.
★ Sanskrit word is Yatra.
★ Holy places on water pool are called tirtha sthan.
★ Members of every major religion participate in
Pilgrimages.
Why Pilgrimage?
★ Visiting a sacred place is believed to purify the self and bring
one closer to divine.
★ Stepping out of our busy lives ,to seek a time of quiet and
reflection.
★ Searching of deeper Spirituality , eliminating sins and
attaining salvation.
★ Getting back to our roots.
★ Seeking inspiration.
★ May kindle light of devotion in our hearts.
Famous Yatras
For Hindus, we have many Yatras, many tirtha sthanas, and many holy cities to
go for a pilgrimage.
List of few famous ones
★ Char Dham yatra
★ Chota char dham
★ Mansarovar
★ Amarnath
★ Twelve Jyotirlinga pilgrimage
★ Vaishnodevi
★ Tirupati
★ Shirdi
Chota Char
Dham Yatra
Badrinath,Gangotri,Yamunotri
and Kedarnath
(Garhwal Himalayan Region)
Chota Char Dham
The pilgrimages starts with Haridwar or Hardwar.
Hari = Lord Vishnu
Har = Lord Shiva
Dwar = Gate
So Haridwar / Hardwar is gateway to Badrinath (Lord Vishnu) or Kedarnath
(Lord Shiva).
Badrinath
The Abode of Lord Vishnu
Badrinath
★ Is located in the Himalayas 3,170 meters (10,400 feet) above sea level on
the banks of Alakananda river.
★ Journey to Badrinath from Rishikesh (Haridwar) is an arduous mountain
route.
★ Stays closed for six months a year.
★ Adi Sankaracharya built a temple dedicated to Lord Narayana (Vishnu )
here.
★ Priests light a single lamp before closing the temple for winter and when
it is reopened in the spring, the lamp would be still burning (Akhand Jyoti).
Legend of Badrinath
★ Badri is a type of berry and Nath is the Lord.
★ It is believed that Lord Vishnu was practicing penance at this location.
★ In order to save Him from the harmful rays of the Sun, His divine consort
Lakshmi took the form of a Badri plant and provided shade to Him.
★ Pleased by Her fervor and devotion, the Lord told Her that this place
would be famous by Her name. Hence, Badrinath!
Kedarnath
The Abode of Lord Shiva
Kedarnath
★ Kedarnath is located in the Himalaya mountains on the banks of the
Mandakini river.
★ Legend goes that two rishis Nara and Narayana did a lot of tapas here
and thus were given darshan by Lord Shiva.
★ They requested Lord Shiva to stay at Kedar and bless all pilgrims who
came there. So Lord stayed at Kedar and hence is known as Kedarnath.
Kedarnath
★ It is also mentioned in Mahabharata that Pandavas after the war prayed
to Lord Shiva.
★ Lord went to Kedarnath in form of bull and dived into earth leaving only
hump.
★ Pandavas worshipped the hump as Shivling and built temple around,
which was original Kedarnath temple.
★ The temple was built by Pandavas and revived by Adi Sankaracharya. It is
one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the holiest Hindu shrines of Shiva.
Yamunotri
The abode of goddess Yamuna
Yamunotri
★ Yamunotri, located 3293 meters above sea level, is the source of river
Yamuna.
★ The temple was built in 19th century by queen Gularia of Jaipur.
★ Yamuna is famous for its thermal springs, glaciers and scenic locales. One
such thermal spring is Surya Kunda. Temperature of water here is
approximately 87.7o Celsius (190 o F)
★ There are many hot water pools which are used to cook rice and potato
as prasad.
★ Yamuna is sister of Yama, God of death. It is believed that a holy dip in
sacred Yamuna river relieves from a painful death
Gangotri
The abode of goddess Ganga.
Gangotri
★ Is the origin of river Ganga (Ganges) located in the Greater Himalayan
Range, at a height of 3,100 metres (10,200 ft).
★ According to Hindu mythology, Goddess Ganga manifested herself in the
form of a river to absolve the sins of King Bhagirath’s predecessors,
following his severe penance of several centuries.
★ But Ganga could not descend as earth will not be able to stand the force
of Ganga’s descent. Only Lord Shiva will be able to do it. So Bhagiratha
prayed to Shiva, who agreed to receive Ganga on His head.
Gangotri
★ Ganga became arrogant and thought she would sweep Shiva with her.
★ Shiva decided to teach her a lesson and imprisoned her in His matted
locks. She could not come out even as a drop.
★ Bhagirath pleaded with Shiva to release Ganga.
★ Having punished her for pride, Lord let her out in 7 gentle streams.
★ The sacred stone where King Bhagirath worshipped Lord Shiva, where
Ganga descended first on earth is known as Bhagirath Sila.
Char Dham Yatra
Rameswaram, Dwarka, Puri
and Badrinath
Rameswaram
★ Is Located in southern coast of India in Tamil Nadu
★ It is mentioned in Ramayana that Lord Rama was a great devotee of Lord
Shiva and worshipped Shiva by making Lingam from mud, before making
the bridge to cross over to Sri Lanka.
★ Rameswaram = Lord of Rama
Dwarka
★ Is located on western coast of India in state of Gujarat.
★ Was the ancient kingdom of Lord Krishna.
★ After killing His evil uncle Kamsa, Lord Krishna left Mathura for good with
the Yadavas and established his Kingdom in the city of Dwarka, which
became very prosperous.
★ It is also one of the four seats of learning established by Adi
Sankaracharya.
Puri
★ Is located on the eastern coast of India in the state of Orissa.
★ Is a temple dedicated to Lord Krishna, Balarama and their sister
Subhadra.
★ Legend has it that the statue of Lord Jagannatha (Krishna) was found at
the roots of a fig tree.
★ Lord Jagannath removes all negative tendencies of all the pilgrims who go
there.
★ It is also one of the four seats of learning established by Adi
Sankaracharya.
Kailash Manasarovar
Kailash Mansarovar
★ Kailash is one of the world’s most revered holy places.
★ Mount Kailash is located 20 miles from Mansarovar. It appears like a giant
Shivalinga placed on 16-petalled lotus.
★ Standing tall at 22,000 feet, Mount Kailash is known to be the abode of
Lord Shiva
★ Due to its high altitude and remote location in western Tibet, only a few
thousand pilgrims are able to do the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra every year.
★ No man made temple.
★ Natural cave in which
water forms naturally on
the roof of the cave.
★ Every fortnight during
Amarnath waxing of moon ,water
drips to form a perfectly
shaped Shivling of ice
around 2 feet tall.
★ During the waning of the
moon,Shivling becomes
smaller and disappears.
Twelve Jyotirling Pilgrimage
★ Somnath Jyotirling in Veraval, Gujarat
★ Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga in Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh
★ Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
★ Vaijanath Jyotirlinga in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh
★ Nageshwar Jyotirlinga in Parali, Maharashtra
★ Kedareshwar Jyotirlinga in Kedarnath, Uttar Pradesh
★ Tryambakeshwar Jyotirling In Nasik , Maharashtra
★ Rameswaram Jyotirlinga in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu
★ Bhimashankar Jyotirling in Dakini, Maharashtra
★ Vishwanath Jyotirling in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
★ Grishneshwar Jyotirling in Aurangabad, Maharashtra
