City-information
for Char Dhama
This is where the holy Yamuna River begins. Yamunotri is about 234 km north of Haridwar. The Yamuna River flows west to east at Yamunotri. Yamunotri is the source of the Hanuman Ganga and the Tons River, which are tributaries of the Yamuna.
Yamunotri is near a hot spring, at the foot hill of Kalinda Parvata, on the bank of the Yamuna at an elevation of 3,185 metres (10,000 ft). Yamunotri stands on the western flank of the always snow-covered Bandarpoonch mountain 6,315 metres (20,730 ft).
The hard climb from Hanuman Chatti, where the road ends, takes five or six hours. On the way up is the confluence of the Yamuna and Nil Ganga, called Shani Prayag. There is a temple here dedicated to Shani. Worship at this temple is supposed to rid one of the ill-effects of unfavorable stars.
Technically the source of the Yamuna is Saptarishi Kund, a glacial lake. To get there you have to climb right up the mountain, a very hard 12 km trek to the base of Kalinda Parbat.
You need a guide and at least one day's acclimatization at Yamunotri to reach Saptarishi Kund.
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