Uttarakhand · North

YamunotriYamunotrī

Source of the Yamuna and seat of goddess Yamuna, westernmost Char Dham shrine

Principal temple: Yamunotri TempleYamuna (black marble idol)
Nearest airport: Jolly Grant Airport, Dehradun
Nearest railway station: Dehradun railway station, ~200 km (approx.)

Overview

Yamunotri, in the Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand, is the source of the Yamuna River and the seat of the goddess Yamuna, at an altitude of about 3,293 m. It is one of the four sites of the Chota Char Dham pilgrimage and the westernmost shrine in the Garhwal Himalayas, on a flank of the Bandarpunch mountain. Its temple enshrines a black marble idol of Yamuna; nearby hot springs, chief among them Surya Kund, are used by devotees to cook rice and potatoes taken home as prasada.

See sources [1–4]

Yamuna (black marble idol)

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Main temples

Photo: Atarax42 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Yamunotri Temple
Yamuna (black marble idol)
The shrine of the goddess Yamuna near the river's source, destroyed twice by snow and floods and rebuilt; the Divya Shila rock beside Surya Kund is worshipped before Yamuna.
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Key festivals

NovUpcoming
Kapat closing
Yama Dwitiya, the second day after Diwali (November); the idol is taken to Kharsali village for the winter
May
Kapat (door) opening
Akshaya Tritiya (May)

Festival dates follow the Hindu calendar and move from year to year — confirm them with the temple before you travel.