Planning the Char Dham Yatra

The four shrines and the order

The Char Dham of Uttarakhand, sometimes called the Chota Char Dham to separate it from the all-India circuit of Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameswaram, is four temples at the heads of four river valleys. Yamunotri is the source shrine of the Yamuna, Gangotri of the Bhagirathi, Kedarnath stands on the Mandakini and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Shiva, and Badrinath on the Alaknanda is the seat of Vishnu as Badrinarayan.

Tradition takes them from west to east, clockwise: Yamunotri, then Gangotri, then Kedarnath, and Badrinath last. It also happens to be the most practical route by road, because each valley connects to the next through the middle hills without doubling back to Rishikesh. Many pilgrims do only two shrines, the Do Dham of Kedarnath and Badrinath, or a single one.

How many days you need

By road from Rishikesh or Haridwar, a full Char Dham takes 10–12 days without rushing. The drives are long: Rishikesh to Barkot, Barkot to Uttarkashi, Uttarkashi to Guptkashi or Sitapur, and Joshimath back to Rishikesh are each a full day. Yamunotri and Kedarnath each need a day of walking, and Kedarnath is best with a night at the temple or near it.

A typical 11-night plan sleeps at Barkot (2 nights), Uttarkashi or Harsil (2), Guptkashi or Sitapur (2, with Kedarnath in between, or 3 with a night at the temple), Joshimath or Badrinath (2) and Rishikesh (1). The Do Dham of Kedarnath and Badrinath takes 6–8 nights. Helicopter packages from Dehradun compress the full circuit into 5–6 days, at a much higher cost.

Use the drives between shrines well, because the road has its own temples and confluences. Devprayag, where the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda meet to form the Ganga, is on the way up or down. Uttarkashi has the Vishwanath temple and is a good place to rest between Yamunotri and Gangotri. Harsil, 25 km below Gangotri, gives a quieter night among apple orchards. Guptkashi has its own Vishwanath temple facing the Kedar valley, and the Omkareshwar temple at Ukhimath, winter seat of Kedarnath, is a short detour. Above Badrinath, Mana village with Bhim Pul and Vyas Gufa takes an hour or two. On the Kedarnath to Badrinath leg, the road through Chopta lets fit pilgrims add Tungnath, the highest of the Panch Kedar temples, for one more night.

pilgrimage town · 3,293 mYamunotripilgrimage town · 3,100 mGangotri

Registration and rules

Every pilgrim, Indian or foreign, must register before travelling, on the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board's registration portal or its app. Registration is free and gives you a QR-coded slip that is checked at points on the road and at the shrines. Counters in Rishikesh and Haridwar handle walk-in registration, but online is faster. Do not travel without it.

The rules change every season. In recent years the state has at times limited the number of pilgrims per day at each shrine, set time slots, changed which documents are needed, and made helicopter booking depend on registration. Check current status before you travel, and only use the official portal; fake registration and helicopter sites appear every year.

• Carry the ID you registered with, plus a printout and a phone copy of the registration.
• Register every person in your group, including children.
• If your dates change, update the registration rather than travelling on the old one.

Walking, ponies and helicopters

Two shrines need a walk. At Yamunotri, a paved path of about 6 km climbs from Janki Chatti; fit walkers take 2.5–4 hours. At Kedarnath, the path from Gaurikund is about 16–17 km and climbs around 1,600 m, a long day of 6–9 hours for most. Both paths have tea stalls, water points, toilets and medical posts.

Ponies, palkis carried by four bearers and porters with back-baskets operate on both routes at rates notified by the district administration. Book only at official counters, pay the notified rate and keep the receipt. The welfare of pack animals on the yatra routes has drawn official attention; if an animal looks injured or overworked, choose another.

Helicopter shuttles fly to Kedarnath from helipads at Guptkashi, Phata and Sersi, a flight of under 10 minutes. Seats are sold only on the IRCTC HeliYatra portal after Char Dham registration, at about ₹6,000–13,000 return plus GST in recent seasons. Seats sell out quickly when released, and flights stop in poor weather. Gangotri and Badrinath need no walk, as roads reach the temples.

Where to sleep along the way

GMVN tourist rest houses sit on every leg, with dorm beds and doubles, and are the backbone of saver trips. Temple towns have dharamshalas run by trusts and communities, simple lodges, and better hotels in the larger towns of Barkot, Uttarkashi, Guptkashi and Joshimath. At Kedarnath itself, beds are in tent camps, huts and simple cottages.

There are no luxury hotels on the Char Dham circuit. The best rooms are in Guptkashi, Sitapur, Harsil and Auli, and our signature trips pair the yatra with Taj Rishikesh or Ananda in the Himalayas before and after. In May and June, book every night before you leave home.

Health, altitude and safety

All four shrines are above 3,000 m, and many pilgrims go up too fast. The yatra administration runs health screening points and medical relief posts on the routes and has advised older pilgrims and those with heart, lung or blood pressure conditions to get a check-up before travelling. Talk to your doctor before you go, carry your medicines and prescriptions, and follow the screening staff's advice.

Walk slowly, drink water, eat light and avoid alcohol. Sleep low before high days: Barkot before Yamunotri, Harsil before Gangotri, Sitapur before Kedarnath and Joshimath before Badrinath. Do not drive after dark, and keep spare days for landslides, especially if your dates touch late June or September.

Respect at the shrines

These are working temples, not monuments. Dress modestly, remove shoes where asked, and follow the queue system and the priests' instructions. Photography and phones are restricted inside the sanctums and, in recent seasons, near the temple premises at some shrines; check the notices at each temple. Carry your rubbish back down, refuse plastic where you can, and use the dustbins and toilets on the paths. The four valleys are fragile, and lakhs of visitors each season make every bottle count.