Yamunotri Best Places to Visit - Yamunotri Sightseeing

Yamunotri Dham is the first of the Chardham in the Chota Chardham circuit Parikrama. Yamunotri symbolizes the originating point of the sacred river Yamuna and has a shrine dedicated to Goddess Yamuna. The temple of Yamunotri falls in Uttarakhand Uttarkashi district and is considered very holy by all the devout pilgrims who travel to the Chardham. According to common religious beliefs, worshipping at the temple of Yamunotri or taking a dip in the holy river Yamuna could free one from the mortal fear of death.

At Yamunotri there are also other places you could visit apart from the temple of Goddess Yamuna. Yamunotri Yatra tour packages offered by various tour operators will generally cover all of these places. Read on to learn about the main tourist places in Yamunotri-

Yamunotri Temple

The temple of Yamunotri belongs to the River Goddess Yamuna whose black marble statue decked with many jewels and garlands, is enshrined at the temple sanctum. Gorkha army chief, Amar Singh Thapa had constructed the Yamunotri temple around the 18th century but due to damages caused by inclement weather the temple had to be renovated around 19th century. An uphill trek of 13kms from Hanuman Chatti can make you reach Yamunotri temple which is cradled at an elevation of 3291m above the sea level. The temple opens for pilgrims on the day of Akshaya Tritiya in the month of May and shuts down for the winters on the day of Yam Dwitiya in the month of November. Prasad of cooked rice plus boiled potatoes cooked in the boiling waters of Surya Kund is offered to the Goddess at the temple and then distributed among the devotees.

Hanuman Chatti

Hanuman Chatti is a small town cradled at an elevation of 2400m above the sea level. The town is located at the meeting point of River Yamuna and Hanuman Ganga. Hanuman Chatti is well known for being the base camp of Yamunotri Dham Yatra trek. The enchanting scenic beauty of the place plus a temple dedicated to lord Hanuman makes Hanuman Chatti quite famous a place among the Chardham pilgrims and tourists. Hanuman Chatti serves as the starting point of many other exciting treks at Uttarakhand such as trek to Darwa Top, trek to Dodi Tal.

Surya Kund

Surya Kund is a thermal spring with extremely hot, boiling water located in vicinity to the Yamunotri temple. This Kund is said to belong to Surya dev who according to myths is Goddess Yamuna’s father. The temperature of the waters is said to be around 1900 Fahrenheit. Devotees to Yamunotri often tie raw rice and raw potato in a piece of cloth and dip into the boiling waters of the Kund to make Prasad for the temple’s deity. The presence of such boiling waters in a snowy setting high up in the Himalayas clearly speaks of the divinity of this place

Saptarishi Kund

Saptarishi Kund is an exotic natural lake cradled at an elevation of about 4421 meters above the sea level. To reach this Kund one has to trek a distance of 10kms from Yamunotri dham. The Saptarishi Kund is said to be the birth place of River Yamuna and is therefore highly revered by the pilgrims. On your way to the Saptarishi Kund you may get to see many rare Himalayan birds and vast stretches of magnificent glaciers

Divya Dhila

Divya Shila is a rocky pillar falling next to the Surya Kund. It is lodged at an elevation of nearly 3000m and is considered a sacred rock where all pilgrims pay their first tribute before entering into the temple of Yamunotri.