Rivers are worshipped as Great Mothers in Indian tradition. If deprived of their abundant grace, the land along with all life-forms would simply wither away. It is not just for material sustenance that we are inexorably dependent on rivers, but their waters provide hope, home and hearth for one's spiritual evolution as well. Gangotri and Yamunotri venerate our Great Mothers River Ganga and River Yamuna at the sites of their geological inception. Let the following travel guide to Gangotri and Yamunotri illumine your path ahead to reach their shrines, with utmost reverence for their spiritual sanctity and ecological sensitivity.
Yamunotri
River Yamuna engenders from Champasar glacier in Kalind Mountain. About a kilometer down the actual origins, situate the Yamunotri dham, a small temple built in honour of the sanctity of the place. The temple, apart from its idols for Yamuna Goddess and Ganga Maa, also attracts pilgrims for its thermal spring Surya Kund whose boiling water prepares the 'Prasadam' of cooked potatoes and rice to be taken home.
The Yamunotri temple can be only accessed after a strenuous trek of 6 km from a place called Janaki Chatti located downhill. One can stay at this site which offer a few guesthouses with basic facilities, or stay at Barkot/Hanumanchatti. The drive to Yamunotri temple usually goes like this Delhi-Haridwar-Barkot-Hanumanchatti-Jankichatti.
Do not be intimidated by the perils of the trek, the trail passes through such picturesque locales that they continually enrich one's appreciation for Mother Nature's bounty and divine beauty.
The temple opens for darshan only during the summer months. The idol is shifted to winter abode of Goddess in Kharsali village during the rest of the year.
Gangotri
River Ganga originates from Gaumukh glacier located within the official boundaries of Gangotri National Park. 19 km apart from this holy origin of Ganga's primary tributary of River Bhagirathi, situates the temple honouring Maa Ganga. The auspicious darshan of Ganga Maa at this spiritually serene place would fill one's heart with much divine light.
Pilgrims to the temple stay at Uttarkashi, the city emulating the real Kashi of Uttar Pradesh, or at Harsil, the enchantingly beautiful Hill station nearby. The temple's beautifully white exterior evokes the same purity one associates with Maa Ganga. One, after obtaining permission from the Office of DY Director, Gangotri National Park, can trek till the actual glacier and pay respects to the River as Her Source.
In the char dham pilgrimage, Gangotri is visited after Yamunotri. The route goes like this – Yamunotri – Uttarkashi-Gangotri. If one intends to skip Yamunotri and travel from Delhi/Haridwar/Rishikesh, route goes like this – Delhi – Haridwar- Rishikesh – Chamba – Uttarkashi – Bhaironghati – Gangotri.
The winter abode of Gangotri Maa lies at Mukhba village, near Harsil.
Other than the shrine, the temple's vicinity contains such relics of the mythological pasts of her origin- Bhagirath Shila, the site of tapasya of King Bhagirath to bring the heavenly river upon earth and the Shiva temple with its submerged Shivlingam, the site at which Lord Shiva received the mighty flow of the heavenly River in his matted locks.
Martin Wynn
