Gangotri Temple

Gangotri is the sacred source of the Ganga, the most venerated river in Hinduism, whose waters are believed to purify sins and grant liberation. The legend of Bhagiratha, whose devotion brought the celestial river to earth to redeem his ancestors, is one of the great stories of Hindu tradition — giving the river its name Bhagirathi. As one of the Chota Char Dham, it is an essential Himalayan pilgrimage. Carrying Gangotri's waters home is considered supremely auspicious.

The white-stone Gangotri temple stands beside the roaring Bhagirathi river (as the Ganga is known here), amid soaring Himalayan peaks. Built in the 18th century by the Gorkha general Amar Singh Thapa and later restored, it honours the goddess Ganga at the spiritual source of the river; the actual glacial source, Gaumukh, lies about 19 km further upstream at the Gangotri glacier. A sacred rock (Bhagirath Shila) nearby is where King Bhagiratha is believed to have performed intense penance to bring the Ganga down from heaven. The rushing river, the crisp mountain air and the ringing temple bells make Gangotri one of the most stirring of Himalayan pilgrimages.