Gangotri, the origin of the River Ganges and
seat of the goddess Ganga, is one of the four sites in the Chota Char Dham
pilgrimage circuit. The original Gangotri Temple was built by the Nepalese
general Amar Singh Thapa. The river is called Bhagirathi at the source and
acquires the name Ganga (the Ganges) from Devprayag onwards where it
meets the Alaknanda. The origin of the holy river is at Gaumukh, set in the
Gangotri Glacier, and is a 19 km trek from Gangotri.
Places to visit near the Gangotri Temple
1. Bhagirath Shila is believed to be the
holy rock where King Bhagirath prayed to Lord Shiva.
2. Pandava Gufa, located 1.5 km from
Gangotri, is the place where the Pandavas are believed to have meditated and
rested en route Kailash. Pilgrims will have to trek up to
the Pandava Gufa.
In the pilgrimage journey of Chota Char Dham, Gangotri is often visited
after Yamunotri (located on the western region of Garhwal Hills). Pilgrims
generally make Uttarkashi as their base camp. The time taken from Uttarkashi to
Gangotri temple is about 4 hours by road.
According to Hindu mythology, Goddess Ganga took the form
of a river to absolve the sins of King Bhagiratha's predecessors, following his
severe penance of several centuries.
Submerged Shivlingam
According to this legend, King Sagara, after
slaying the demons on earth decided to stage an Ashwamedha Yajna as a
proclamation of his supremacy. The horse which was to be taken on an
uninterrupted journey around the earth was to be accompanied by the King's
60,000 sons born to Queen Sumati and one son Asamanja born of the second queen
Kesani. Indra, supreme ruler of the gods feared that he might be deprived of
his celestial throne if the "Yajna" (worship with fire) succeeded and
then took away the horse and tied it to the ashram of Sage Kapila, who was then
in deep meditation. The sons of the King Sagara searched for the horse and
finally found it tied near the meditating sage. Sixty thousand angry sons of
King Sagara stormed the ashram of sage Kapila. When he opened his eyes, the
60,000 sons had all perished, by the curse of sage Kapila. Bhagiratha, the
grandson of King Sagar, is believed to have meditated to please the Goddess
Ganga enough to cleanse the ashes of his ancestors, and liberate their souls,
granting them salvation or Moksha.
More
Information on Gangotri Temple, visit official website
1 comment:
Thanks for information.i really like your blog and information keep it up and i m also waiting for your next blog ...... char dham yatra char dham
Post a Comment