A Pilgrimage That Crosses Time Zones and Calls Everyone: Char Dham from East and Central India
The Himalayas have a way of making the distance feel all irrelevant. Whether you’re sitting on a beach in Goa or in a busy office in Kolkata, the pull of the four sacred shrines does not really diminish with the geography. If anything, the more significant journey feels when you finally make it. For the pilgrims from eastern and central India, that journey is just becoming easier and more accessible in every kind of season. The East Awakens: Kolkata and Coimbatore Bengal has a deep and ancient relationship with the pilgrimage culture, and the Chardham Yatra from Kolkata has been gaining remarkable momentum in recent years. Kolkata pilgrims tend to just travel in large family groups and communities, and they bring with them an energy and devotion that is genuinely infectious. A chardham yatra from Kolkata typically involves a flight to Dehradun via Delhi, with the helicopter circuit beginning the following morning. The packages available today make this incredibly smo...