Introduction
The Dham Yatra destinations will cover sacred places like Haridwar, Rudraprayag, Kedarnath, Badrinath, and Rishikesh. The duration of this journey will approximately take 6 nights and 5 days. From Dehradun to here, there is a distance of 800 km. One of the major adventurous activities that you can undergo here is trekking. You need to have a budget of a minimum of Rs.25,000 for doing this Do Dham Yatra.
Itinerary
On the first day, you will be starting your journey from Dehradun and it will proceed to Rudraprayag. You will be traveling through better roads. You will be passing through Devprayag and Srinagar as well. So, if you want you can pause your journey there for some time. After reaching Rudraprayag, you can take a room in any hotel, and on that very evening itself, you can explore the town area which is situated on the banks of the Alaknanda and Mandakini rivers.
From Dehradun, you will take 7 hours to reach Rudraprayag. On the second day, starting from Rudraprayag after your breakfast, you can visit the temple situated there. Your journey will be proceeding towards Gauri Kund, which is approximately 40 km away from here. After reaching GauriKund, you will be going towards Kedarnath, which is 14 km away from there. If you are interested you can start trekking from Gauri Kund to Kedarnath.
There are facilities available for you to ride ponies as well. Once you reach Kedarnath, you need to check into a hotel there and on the eve, it will be a great experience to visit the Kedarnath Temple and enjoy the very famous ritual of the temple, Arti. From Rudraprayag to GauriKund, it may take nearly 2 hours to travel.
The tour
On the third day, your journey will be starting from Kedarnath and you will be proceeding to Rudraprayag, i.e., you will be trekking back to GauriKund. From there you will be turning to Rudraprayag and on the way back you will pass through Guptkashi. You need to stay in Rudraprayag that day. It may take around 3 hours to drive to Rudraprayag. The fourth day is completely dedicated to the journey to Badrinath from here soon after breakfast.
In between, you will stop at Karnaprayag, which is around 33 km away from Rudraprayag. This place is also situated near the Alaknanda and Pindar rivers. From there, you will be continuing your journey and will reach Nandprayag, which is situated around a distance of 20 km from Karnaprayag.
Alaknanda
This is a sacred place where the two rivers, Alaknanda and Mandakini, join. This is a great place that will make your mind calm, and peaceful along with making you feel happy and rejuvenated. You have to travel for around 1 hour to reach a place called Pipalkoti, from where you can have your lunch. You can visit several pilgrim centers like the Narsingh Temple in Joshimath.
Usually, during the winter time, Badrinath temple won’t be accessible for the pilgrims due to the snowfall which happens there. Hence, during this time, the pilgrims will be worshiping Lord Vishnu, who is the deity in this Narsingh Temple.
Places nearby
You can also visit the Shankaracharya Math nearby. After traveling around 15 km, you will be entering Pandukeshwar, where Yog Dhyan Badri Temple is situated. This is considered one of the sacred Sapta Badri; the seven temples of the Great Lord Mahavishnu. From here, you need to travel just 1 km to reach Badrinath and there you need to check into a hotel. That evening will be sufficient for you to get into the Badrinath temple and enjoy the ritual of Arti there.
Day 5 is dedicated to travel from Badrinath to Rudraprayag. After having a sacred bath in the Tapt Kund, you can visit once again. Then you can return to the hotel and have your breakfast. You will then proceed to the Mana Village. From the Mana village, on the way, you will be pausing your journey at Vishnuprayag, which is situated 120 km away from Badrinath.
Rudraprayag
This is yet another place where the rivers Alaknanda and Dhauliganga meet. Then you will be traveling to Rudraprayag, where you will stay that night. From Badrinath to Rudraprayag, you need to spend 7 hours driving. On the final day, from Rudraprayag, you will be going towards Haridwar after having your breakfast. There, you can explore the town, the whole city, etc. It will take appropriately 7 hours to reach Haridwar from Rudraprayag. This Dham yatra can be done in a helicopter as well, which will only take 2 days to complete all these places.
Also Read: Top 10 Himalayan Treks: Kedarkantha