Rishikesh - view from Muni ki reti with Ganga flowing by

The next stoppage after Haridwar is Rishikesh which is another 27 Kms. from Haridwar and is the actual launching pad for onward journey to the Garwal Himalayas.  The Gharwal Nigam Vikas Mandal, GMVN for short has a tourist office here and during the yatra period advance bookings as well as spot bookings are undertaken by them for packages to any one, two, three or all four destinations that are covered under the Chardham yatra pilgrimage.  Busses, shared taxis/jeeps etc. are also available for hire for the Chardham Yatri from this place.  Rishikesh is home to many famous temples as well as shops selling curios.

Chardham Yatra is usually performed starting from the westernmost Yatra and then proceeding on to the Easternmost destination.  Accordingly, the first Yatra destination is the Yamunotri.  It is considered sacred to Hindus as it is considered to the source of mighty river Yamuna, named after daughter of Yam or God of death.  From Rishikesh the journey commences and passes through Narendra Nagar (at a distance of 16 Kms. from Rishikesh), Chamba (62 Kms.), Dharasu mor/bend (120 Kms.), Bramhakhal, Barkot (175 Kms.), Syanachatti (204 Kms.) and Hanumanchatti (209 Kms.) - which is the final motorable road head on this circuit.  Since the roads are not very good, it is advisable to restrict ones journey to within 150 Kms. per day to avoid over exhaustion.  The GMVN has many small rest houses/hotels enroute for overnight stay which may be booked in advance.  After reaching Hanuman Chatti one can hire the local jeeps which can travel another distance of 12 Kms. upto Janiki Bai Chatti (2576 meters) via Phool Chatti and this torturous journey will take upto 1 hour 15 minutes depending upon road conditions, like overnight rains etc.  From here one can either trek for the remaining 7 Kms. upto Yamunotri (3323 meters) or else hire ponies, dandies or palkis and rates are displayed on the board but usually higher rates are quoted and one has to do a bit of haggling & bargaining to get the right price.
After having visited Gangotri, the pilgrims next head to Kedarnath, the abode of Lord Shiva which is one of the most auspicious pilgirimages.  This place finds mention even in the Mahabharatas and the legend goes that in order to seek redemption from the sin of having killed their kins, the Pandavas sought the blessings of lord Shiva but he was not akin to this idea and fled from Kashi to live incognito to Guptkashi.  However, on being detected fled to Kedarnath with Pandavas in pursuit.  Here lord Shiva assumed the shape of a bull and started grazing, but Bhim detected at dusk when all cattles proceeded towards their homes except lod Shiva, in form of Bull.  On realizing that his alibi had been revealed he tried to push himself through the ground but his hump or back portion was caught by Bhima and this part has remained exposed as such and a temple was built by great Hindu benefactor Shri Shri Adi Shakaracharya during the 12th Century A.D.  Eversince, this place has been reverened by the Hindus as one of the holiest places of pilgrimage and it is considered that a person is brefet of all sins if he makes pilgrimage to Kedarnath.