Kolkata’s East arc to North’s divinity
Kolkata, the city of joy, heritage, culture and flavours. Kolkata is the perfect mixture of woven culture, traditions and culinary marvel. This city has an emotion which can be felt, a heritage which has to be seen and a history which you must know. The city of Durga Puja, which takes place every autumn, gathers the hearts and minds of more than 15 million people of the city. The so-called designed pandals make you experience the connection with divinity. Just for an example, even the non-religious people get the feelings of celebrations related to the scriptures. This is also the city of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda: the Saint of Every Face and His Student Who Gave the Spiritual Message of India to the World. Their legacy of real-life examples, experience-based spirituality, and authenticity to the Divine has influenced the spiritual expression of the people of Bengal for over 100 years. Then there is Birla Mandir, Kalyan Mandir, located within the city. The entire city is woven in a spiritual rhythm. Every citizen here starts with prayer.
The Chardham Yatra has a unique quality that comes from this city and reflects its rich culture, its spiritual identity, and the way that Bengalis live both intellectually and devotionally. The Chardham Yatra does not just reflect the commitment to pilgrimage. The Chardham Yatra also represents a homecoming. A place where the devotion of Kolkatans for many years is finally expressed as fully and dramatically as possible through the snow-capped mountains of the Garhwal Himalayas and the many temples built hundreds or thousands of years ago. There is also geographical and cultural significance connected to the city. How? Kolkata is situated on the banks of the river Hooghly, which is one of the distributaries of the river Ganga. Ganga’s main source is Gangotri. So, starting the journey from Kolkata is the best thing ever.
Bengali Monsoon meets Himalayan Rain
Kolkata and Bengali people have a deep-rooted love for the monsoon. Rabindranath Tagore wrote some of his greatest works concerning the monsoon season. The Bengali adda, or social gathering, becomes philosophical on rainy afternoons. The scent of the first rain on the old streets of Kolkata is one of the most emotional experiences for many Bengalis throughout the year. Tagore also had a profound love for the Himalayas from his multiple visits to them, and so for the Bengali pilgrim who travels from Tagore's city to the Himalayas during the monsoon, it represents the culmination of their journey.
For the Kolkata pilgrim, the Garhwal Himalayas in August - washed clean by rain, with moving clouds, cascading waterfalls, and swollen rivers - are not an unusual or hard-to-manage weather experience but rather the most spectacular and lovely version of a season that they already know and appreciate, however, with the overwhelming size that the flat Bengal delta cannot give to it.
The Char Dham yatra in the Himalayas is one of the most comprehensive and holiest pilgrimage routes, believed by millions of people. It holds much more value in a spiritual context apart from a geographical context. Char Dham has four dhams and is one of the bucket-list, a sought-after quest by people across the globe and not only in India. This will be the most comfortable, relaxing and soul-enriching journey that you will ever experience!