Yamunotri Dham Yatra

Yamunotri
Yamunotri Temple is located at an altitude of 3,291 meters in Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand, in the western region of the Garhwal Himalayas. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Yamuna and has a black marble idol of the Goddess. The actual temple can only be reached by a 13-kilometre (8.1 mi) trek from the town of Hanuman Chatti and a 6-kilometre (3.7 mi) walk from Janki Chatti; Horses or palanquins are available for rent. The climb from Hanuman Chatti to Yamunotri sees many waterfalls.

The River Yamuna originates from the Yamunotri glacier, which rises up to 6,315 meters above sea level, and lies against a steep slope just below the top of the Kalind peak. From here Yamuna comes down into Saptarishi Kund and from there gushes southwards in a series of waterfalls. To the west of the Kalind Parbat is located Banderpoonch, which is a dominant mountain in central Himalayan area of Garhwal and divides the watershed of Yamuna from that of the Ganges. Coming out from Kalind Parbat, Yamuna is also known as Kalindi. As per a legend, Lord Hanuman doused the fire of his tail after burning Ravan’s Lanka in the chilly waters of Yamuna at Banderpooch. That is why the peak is called Bander (monkey) Pooch (tail) – monkey’s tail. Another legend sees Yamunotri as the hermitage of ancient sage Asit Muni. The Muni used to bath both in Yamuna and Ganga, but in his old age he couldn’t travel to Gangotri. Realising his problem, a stream of Ganga started to flow beside that of Yamuna.