Choose a pilgrimage, the year you plan to travel and, if you know it, the month, and this free planner sets out the journey from our pilgrimage guides: the places in the order the guide gives, the season and the way to reach each one in the guide’s own words, and the festival days that bring the biggest crowds, with their dates for your year. If you give a month, it marks the busy days that fall in it.
How it works
The route comes from our guides. For the Char Dham, the guide gives the traditional clockwise order: Puri, Rameswaram, Dwarka and Badrinath. For the Chota Char Dham, the order is west to east: Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. The Jyotirlinga guide does not give one order for all twelve, because the order of the hymn is not a ranking. It groups them instead: Somnath and Nageshwar in Gujarat, Mahakaleshwar and Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Trimbakeshwar, Grishneshwar and Bhimashankar in Maharashtra, Rameswaram on the far south-east coast and Kedarnath on its own, and the planner follows those groups. For the Shakti Peethas it lists the best-known sites that our guide describes, since no list of the peethas is the only true one.
The season is in the guide’s words. For each place the planner shows what our guide says about the weather and the crowds, word for word, and the nearest airport and railway station the guide names. Nothing is added.
The busy days are worked out for your year. Where a guide names a festival that fills a temple, such as Maha Shivaratri at the Jyotirlingas, the Shravan month, Kartik Purnima, Dev Deepawali at Kashi, the Rath Yatra at Puri, Janmashtami at Dwarka or the two Navratris at the Shakti Peethas, the planner gives its date in the year you choose. The dates come from our festival calendar, the same one as the festival dates for any year tool, worked out at a city near each place from our list of 82 cities, such as Varanasi for Kashi, Nashik for Trimbakeshwar or Madurai for Rameswaram. No city of the list is near Hinglaj, in Pakistan, so its card gives no dates. The Shravan and Kartik months are given both ways: by the purnimanta count of north India, from one full moon festival to the next, and by the amanta count of Gujarat, Maharashtra and the south, from new moon to new moon.
Reading the result
The plan opens with the guide’s own words on the circuit, its order and its season. Then each place has a card: its name, linked to our guide, where it is, how to reach it, the guide’s lines on the season, and the busy days of your year. If you chose a month, busy days in that month are marked “in your month”, and a line at the end names the places where they fall. Print the plan prints the plan alone. For the Himalayan shrines, each card says that the temple is closed in winter and that the opening dates are announced each year.
Where traditions differ
- The order of the journey. The Char Dham guide itself says that most families today do not follow the traditional order strictly and divide the circuit into separate trips, because of the distances. The Chota Char Dham guide says that many travellers vary the order because of roads, weather and bookings. Follow the order that works for you.
- Which temple. For three Jyotirlingas, Vaidyanath, Nageshwar and Bhimashankar, more than one temple claims the name. The planner lists the one our guide covers in detail and names the others; a devotee who prays at any of them is not in error.
- Which list of peethas. The lists of Shakti Peethas give 51, 52, 108 or 18 places. The planner uses the best-known sites named in our guide.
- The dates at the temple. A festival can fall a day apart from one city to another, because the tithi is read at local sunrise or at night. The planner works out each date at a nearby city on our list, so check the temple’s own calendar for the day itself.
What it does not do
It does not give opening or closing dates of the Himalayan shrines, darshan timings, entry fees, booking rules or travel conditions: the temples and the state set them and change them, and our guides do not quote them either. It does not work out the Tirumala Brahmotsavam or Vaikuntha Ekadashi, or the Ambubachi festival at Kamakhya, whose dates the temples announce. It does not plan transport, distances or costs. If you are elderly, pregnant or have a heart or breathing condition, our guides ask you to speak to a doctor first, especially before Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Badrinath, because of the height.
Frequently asked questions
↳ What is the order of the Char Dham yatra?
Our Char Dham guide gives the traditional order as clockwise: Puri in the east, then Rameswaram in the south, Dwarka in the west and Badrinath in the north. It adds that most families now make the four visits as separate trips.
↳ In what order is the Chota Char Dham visited?
West to east: Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath, beginning at the sources of the Yamuna and the Ganga. Haridwar and Rishikesh are the usual starting points.
↳ When do Kedarnath and Badrinath open?
In spring, and they close in autumn, but the dates are announced each year by the temple committee and the state, so neither our guides nor this planner quote them. Read the official announcement before you book.
↳ When is the Shravan month in 2027?
At Varanasi, by the purnimanta count of north India, from Guru Purnima on 18 July 2027 to Raksha Bandhan on 17 August 2027; by the amanta count, from the new moon of 2 August 2027 to the new moon of 31 August 2027. Its Mondays bring large crowds to the Jyotirlingas.
↳ Is there an order for visiting all twelve Jyotirlingas?
No single order. Our guide says the order of the hymn is not a ranking and suggests grouping the visits by region, which is what the planner shows: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rameswaram and Kedarnath, with Mallikarjuna, Vaidyanath and Kashi Vishwanath as journeys of their own.
↳ Which years can I plan for?
Any year from 1900 to 2074. The busy days are worked out for the year you choose, so a plan for next year shows next year's dates.