How to plan trip to Badrinath – Kedarnath ?

How to plan a trip to Badrinath – Kedarnath ?

Travelling to Kedarnath
Kedarnath and Badrinath are two destinations which are located on the Garhwal Himalayan range and these are most auspicious and holiest temples of Hindus. Kedarnath doors open in the month of May and it closes before karthik poornima . The mountains surrounding the temples are some of the steepest and dangerous mountains.
Kedarnath is devoted to lord shiva and it is one of the 12 jyotirlinga of the Shiva shrines . It is believed that during Mahabharata, Pandavas came to this place and there are many symbols of Pandavas in kedarnath.

The story of Kedarnath 
It is believed that Pandavas left Kashi and reached Himalayas where lord Shankar saw them and hid himself .The place where Shiva hide is called GuptKashi or Rudraprayag, and from here Pandavas went to Gaurikund where Nakul found a unique he – buffalo .Bheema pulled the tail of the Buffalo and the face of the buffalo is called Pashupatinath - -which is found in Nepal. The hind part of the buffalo formed the jyotirlanga at kedarnath as lord Shankar appeared there.
The hills close to badrinath and kedarnath are very steep and it is very risky to drive on these roads. If you have planned the trip to badrinath or kedarnath – prefer to take a driver who is expert on mountains because the roads are very dangerous at places.
From Chandigarh or New Delhi or Haridwar or Rishikesh, you can get a vehicle on rent to Badrinath – Kedarnath which can cost you more than Rs 10 per kilometer (10 seater).

How to reach Kedarnath 
First you will have to find out if the door of Kedarnath temple are opened or not for people.
The railway stations close to Kedarnath is Rishikesh .You can get state buses or rent a car to Gaurikund(that is the last stop) from Hrishikesh .From Gaurikund you have to walk uphill 14 km (walking is very difficult on the steep mountains to Kedarnath. You can see people in midway searching for pony and on the mid way pony charge very high) or you can hire a pony.
You can go by helicopter from Phata (Rudrapyarag) to the Kedaranth temple (which is uphill) which can cost Rs 6990 for the return journey for one person.
You can get car rentals and tourist buses to Kedarnath, from where you go either walking or on pony to the temple.
From Hrishikesh to Kedarnath it is 189 km .A tour package to Kedarnath and Badrinath can cost up to Rs 8000.

Expenses in Kedarnath
You will have to spend on pony and room at Gaurikund. Room rent is very high during May and June .You should be ready to pay around Rs 1000 for room. (The owner of the room said “the rent should not go above Rs200 but only for these tourist seasons it is high.” Many travelers to Kedarnath sleep in the open areas of the hotel in Gaurikund and even they have to pay a huge room rent.

Important tips

1. The buses do not go to Kedarnath temple, it goes to Gaurikund from where you have to travel uphill on your own or hire a pony .You can even take helicopter from Phata.

2. Traffic jam can be a big problem on the way as the roads are very narrow. Traffic jams can happen anytime which cannot be predicted .The local government keeps the road passage switching – one time one way traffic is allowed to pass for an hour, and your car or bus will be stopped for an hour one or two times on the way from Hrishikesh to Kedarnath or Nadritnath.

3. After 8pm the roads are closed from Hrishikesh.

4. Even parking is a big problem in Gaurikund and you should be careful. You cannot start the journey above the hill in evening from Gaurikund and it is very difficult (impossible) to reach uphill to the temple on foot therefore ,you should take the pony at the start because if you do not hire the pony at the bottom of the hill , the price asked for pony increases as you go up. Generally, you pay Rs 500 to Rs 1000 for the pony.

5. In Kedarnath and Badrinath the temperature is very low even during the month of May and June, and you can see icebergs in surrounding mountains close to the temple, therefore, you need to carry woolen clothes to protect from cold.

6. The Kedarnath temple closes at 2 pm and reopens at 4 pm and similar timings are seen in Badrinath (where temple closes at 11 pm and reopens in the morning).

How to plan your journey to Kedarnath and Badrinath?

How to travel to Tirupati from New Delhi?

How to go to Tirupati from New Delhi?

Here you can see the generalized information about the religious place Tirupati.(The information is  helpful if you are planning to travel to Tipupati for the first time and you are not aware of the local language.)

The temple of lord Venkateswara located on one of the hills of Tirumala of Andra Pradesh India receives one of the highest donations from its devotees and therefore people call lord Venkateswara, one of the richest Gods of the world!

There are many other names of lord such as Srinivas, Balaji and Perumal but most of the devotees who are unaware of the local names, pay a visit to the temple to get a glimpse of lord Vishnu, who is said to have lived here in Kali Yuga. It is said that the idol of lord was formed without human effort.

(Lord Vishnu is a Hindu god responsible for the prosperity and happiness of living creatures on earth.)

How the temple is one of the richest of the world?

Some of the devotees travel to Tipupati to give huge donations in the form of gold jewelries and money. The donation is sometimes given on fulfillment of a vow. For instance : A Bangalore based businessman gave Rs 1 crore in 2007 and in 2009, a local minister donated diamond studded crown to lord Venkateswara of worth Rs 45 crore. There are many popular businessman and movie actors of India who frequently pay a visit to lord Venkateswara‘s temple and give huge donations.

What is written in Vedas about the place?

As per the Rig Vedas’ verse, “people who are devoid of money and thought should pay a visit to the god(travel to Tipupati) on the hills to get rid of their sins and to develop a vision in life.”

How can you reach Tirupati?

Travel to Tipupati from New Delhi

If you are in New Delhi, you can either take a flight from New Delhi to Tirupati or book a ticket in train to go to Tirupati. There are some direct trains operating from New Delhi to Tirupati and trains from New Delhi can take about one and a half day to reach Tirupati. A train journey to Tirupati from New Delhi may cost you not more than $100.

If you take a flight, the lowest price to go to Tirupati from New Delhi can be around $200.

Travel to Tipupati From Bangalore

You can get deluxe AC / Non AC bus service from Bangalore or you can even take the services of a tour package from Bangalore which arranges for visit (darshan) and other requirements.

There are some direct trains operating from Bangalore and nearby cities, you can even take it.

Although Chennai is a close metro city, you don’t have as many conveyances from Chennai as you can find from Bangalore to Tirupati.

What is TTD?

If you are new to Tirupati ,you should first search for information about TTD which provides tickets and room reservations close to temple premises.TTD is a government operated organization and when you reach Tirupati you will have to buy tickets to pay a visit to lord Venkateshwara’s Temple. You sometimes get the tickets at offices below the hills and sometimes you have to take your vehicle up the hills to get the tickets.

There are many different types of tickets available at Tirpuati. The cost of tickets for visit varies depending in different seasons and months of visits. The cost may vary from $1 to $20.(For example : for Rs 1000 ,five people may get darshan ticket , which comes with additional prayers and you get a shorter darshan queue as compared to the devotee with a low cost ticket.)

TTD is responsible for the security of the temple and it provides rooms to the devotees coming to the temple. Generally you can get residence on the hills at a cost of Rs 50($1 -2) through TTD and you can even get high priced large homes.

You can stay at any of the resorts which are mostly clean and maintained properly by TTD but these are not hotels as you don’t get meals at these places. To get meals, you will have to search for a restaurant and there are many small restaurants which offer mostly south Indian food for less than $1 a plate.

What is a Darshan and how can you get a darshan?

Darshan tickets can be bought at counters operated by TTD. Sometimes the tickets are available at counter downhill. You should make sure of the availability of the tickets and then you will have to line up in the queue to get the tickets. Sometimes the queues are very long and it is tiring to wait for your turn. Sometimes all the family members have to join the ticket line to get the ticket for darshan and later again a queue has to be formed for the visit at temple.

Checklist for people who travel to Tipupati  from other parts of India -

1. At Tirupati, you may find that North Indian food or other type of food is rather expensive and even difficult to get. If you are ready to eat south Indian food, you may get it easily.If you don’t want to eat south Indian dishes, you should take something of your choice with you. You get tea and coffee easily and you may even get freshly prepared health drinks (Bornvita, Horlicks etc) for kids.
2. You may face language problem with locals. You should try to understand what the hoteliers or the taxi wallas are saying. Sometimes miscommunication increases expenses. You can gain correct information from railway counters or airport information counter .Even TTD employees may not be aware of your language.
3. You can get ticket downhill or uphill, you should enquire about the availability of the tickets on arrival.
4. You can buy tickets for various different darshan types. For example: a quick darshan facility takes less than two hours to get darshan. You can get paid service which is called Arjitha Seva and pilgrims get clothes, extra Prasadam (laddus) and other items in these sevas. You can even book tickets for seva from internet.
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What is the prasadam?

Prasadam is the food item (laddu and rice items) given to the pilgrims. It is generally given for your ticket type. If you have a Sudarshan ticket you get one laddu and if you have ticket for other darshans or seva, you can get more. So when you enter the temple and get your darshan, you should keep the ticket safe for getting the prasadam after the darshan.

What is Hundi?

Hundi is the huge pot wherein you drop your donations.