Char Dham are the four abodes of God in the four directions of India - Puri in the east, Rameshwaram in the south, Dwarka in the west, and Badrinath in the north. They are considered as the most revered sites for Hindus that have to be visited in one’s lifetime. They were selected by Adi Shankaracharya, the great reformer and philosopher of 8th century. His main purpose was all-India pilgrimage to the four cardinal points of the Indian subcontinent in a bid to unify people across the region. The cross-country Char Dham defined by Adi Shankaracharya consists of three Vaishnavite and one Shaivite sites.
History:- The great 8th century reformer and philosopher Shankaracharya called Adi Sankara was promi- nently involved in reviving the Hindu Dharma in India. He traveled throughout the country and grouped the four sacred places Badrinath, Rameshwaram, Puri and Dwarka as the Char Dham which are dedicated to the Vishnu Avatars (incarnations). Geographically speaking the Char Dham make a perfect square with Badrinath and Rameswaram falling on same longitude and Dwarka(old) and Puri on same latitude, representing the farthest north east west and south points of India.
Badrinath:- Badrinath is located in the North Indian state of Uttarakhand, in the Garhwal hills, on the banks of the Alaknanda River. It is the most important of the four sites of Char Dham. Badri refers to a berry that was said to grow abundantly in the area, and nath refers to Vishnu. The legend goes that Shankaracharya discovered a black stone image of Lord Badrinarayan made of Saligram stone in the Alaknanda River. He originally enshrined it in a cave near the Tapt Kund hot springs. In the sixteenth century, the King of Garhwal moved the Murti(Idol) to the present temple.
Dwarka:- Dwarka is located in the West is in the state of Gujarat. The city derives its name from word ‘dvar’ meaning door or gate in the Sanskrit language. It is located close to the area where the Gomti River merges into the Gulf of Kutch. The legendary city of Dwaraka was the dwelling place of Lord Krishna. It is believed that due to damage and destruction by the sea, Dvaraka has submerged six times and modern day Dwarka is the 7th such city to be built in the area.
Puri:- Puri is located in the East, in the state of Orissa, on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. It is also known to many as Jagannath Puri after the Jagannath Temple. The word “puri” in Sanskrit means ‘town’, or ‘city’. May be, Puri is a shortened name for Jagannath Puri. It is the only shrine in India, where Goddess Radha also referred to as Durga, Sati, Parvati, Shakti abode here with Lord Krishna, who is Jagannatha and Balabhadra. The main temple here is about 900 years old and constructed by Raja Choda Ganga Deva and Raja Tritiya Ananga Bhima Deva.
Rameshwaram:- Rameswaram is located in the South is in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is situated in the Gulf of Mannar at the very tip of the Indian peninsula. According to legends, this is the place from where Lord Rama, built a bridge Ram Setu. The Ramanatha Swamy Temple occupies major area of Rameshwaram. Rameshwaram is significant for the Hindus as a pilgrimage to Benaras is incomplete without a pilgrimage to Rameswaram. The presiding deity here is in the form of a Linga with the name Sri Ramanatha Swamy, which is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas.