Deahradun to Gangotri

Dehradun to Gangotri

In the old days, the pilgrims used to visit all the four dhams on foot. The pilgrimage used to start from Rishikesh. After 1960s and 1970s, the roads were constructed in the hills. So, the char dham road route got started from Rishikesh. As the new roads started coming up, dehradun also got connected with these Dhams via different places. Today, Dehradun has also become a base for Char dham journey. Normally, the Yamunotri and Gangotri routes have different courses from Dehradun via Mussoorie. While, the Yamunotri route passes via Kempty falls while the Gangotri route passes via Dhanolti. The road branches off at 2 km Short of Mussoorie town, one for Yamunotri and other for Gangotri. The road for Gangotri goes via Dhanolti and Chamba. At Chamba, the road becomes common with the road coming from Rishikesh to Yamunotri and Gangotri.

Place	Altitude (mtr)	Distance	Progressive distance
Dehradun	701	-	-
Jabarkhet	1810	34	34
Kingcreg	1920	9	43
Suakholi	1925	7	50
Dhanolti	1940	16	66
Surkanda	1955	6	72
Chamba	1534	23	95
Chinyalisaur	970	73	168
Dharasu	1036	5	173
Uttarakashi	1158	28	201
Gangotri	3140	97	298

Dehradun: It is the capital of Uttarakhand. This place is considered the most pleasant place to live. Doon valley was once the part of Tehri Garhwal in 17^th century under the king of Tehri. Dehradun is now know for its education and government institutes for e.g Doon school, Forest Research Institue, Indian Military Academy etc

Dhanolti: This place has become one of the hill stations popular amongst tourists. This place is 25 km from Mussoorie. A must see place for tourists. The place is more greener than other nearby stations full of alpine, cedar, rhododendrons .

Surkanda: This is a religious place, where devotees visit to worship the Goddess. The place is 6 km from Dhanolti, and one has to trek further to reach the temple from main road head. A must see place, where from one can view majestic Himalayan peaks.

Chamba: This place is 23 km from Surkanda Devi. From Chamba one can view Bandarpoonch and other snow peaks. Due to submergence of old route of Tehri town for dam, a new route has been constructed via Kamand. At Chamba, one can refresh himself by having tea / breakfast. The total distance from Rishikesh to Chamba is 62 km, and normally it takes 2 hours to reach Chamba  from Rishikesh.

Chinyalisaur: This town is an altitude of 970 mtr. and 73 km from Chamba. At this place one can halt for little break for refreshment as it is an average 2 and half hours continuous journey from Chamba. The sacred Bharirathi river touches this town and the Tehri Dam reservoir ends  here. The same Bhagirathi river becomes Ganga at Deo prayag confluence after merging with Alaknanda river.

Dharasu: This town from Chinyalisaur is at 5 km distance. At Dharasu, Khurmola rivulet meets Bhagirathi. From here two roads branch off to Gangotri  and Yamunotri. The road to Yamunotri is along the valley of Khurmola.

Uttarakashi: Uttarakashi is a border district with the headquarter of the same name. This place is located on the banks of river Bhagirathi. This place is famous for its historical monuments, temples, ashrams etc. The town has lot of hotels and rest houses for the tourists.   A lot of people stay overnight here before their departure for Gangotri.

A new road has been construction, which shortens the route by 52 km via Suakholi and meets Chinyalisaur.

A short description of this new route is as follows:

Place	Altitude	Distance	Progressive distance
Dehradun	701
Suakholi	1925	50	50
Ritu ki Beli	1825	8	58
Alamas bend	1780	7	65
Bhawan	1600	6	71
Moryana	1500	15	86
Chinyalisaur	970	30	116
Dharasu	1036	5	121
Uttarakhashi	1158	28	149
Gangotri	3140	97	246

Gangotri : The name means where the Ganga descends on earth. At an altitude of 3140 mtr. this holy place has found a great importance in our religious texts and every sacred ritual and religious activities. The Ganga river is heart line of Indian subcontinent. After reaching here, a person gets spell bounded by the beauty and serenity surrounding him. The spiritual atmosphere here is serendipitous and charming. One should visit this place once in his life time to know the spiritual values in Hinduism.    
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