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RETREATPILGRIMAGES
Gomukh
The Ganges, also known as Ma Ganga,
is the most revered, sacred river in
Hindu lore. When Ma Ganga was asked
to descend to Earth from the heavens,
she was insulted, so she decided to
sweep away everything in her path with
her waters once she reached the
terrestrial plain. In order to protect the
Earth from Ma Ganga’s force, Lord
Shiva sat in the Himalayan mountain
town of Gangotri and caught the
powerful river in his hair, saving the
Earth from cracking open. Thanks to
Shiva, Ma Ganga’s celestial, purifying
waters then flowed through India, and
the devout travel to her banks to wash
away sins and find salvation. A multi-
day trek to Gomukh—the Gangotri
Glacier that is the site of Ma Ganga’s
headwaters—is the ultimate pilgrimage,
Bhardwaj says.
Kedarnath
This north Indian town nestled in the
Himalayas is where Lord Shiva is
believed to have meditated. Pilgrims
make the 11-mile uphill trek to the
Kedarnath Temple—which, due to
extreme weather conditions, is open
only from the end of April to early
November—to worship him.
“Passionate yogis who meditate there
for a while often experience intense
energies,” Bhardwaj says.Himachal Pradesh
This northern Indian state in the
foothills of the Himalayas is home to
countless goddess temples and
monasteries, Bhardwaj says, as well as
the 14th Dalai Lama’s monastery, where
he currently lives and gives public
discourses. “It’s an especially interesting
place because of the combination of
Hindu and Buddhist traditions,”
Bhardwaj says.Badrinath
Badrinath Temple, dedicated to Vishnu,
one of the Hindu triad of gods along
with Shiva and Brahma, is also one of
the four Char Dham pilgrimage sites.
Visiting the char dhams, which means
“four abodes”—Badrinath, Dwarka,
Puri, and Rameswaram—is something
every Hindu must do during his or her
lifetime, Bhardwaj says. “I think of
Badrinath as the little brother of
Kedarnath,” he says. “While Kedarnath
is the homeland of Shiva, and has this
intense energy as a result, Badrinath
radiates a more holy, more Hindu energy.”