Yamunotri
Goddess Yamuna · Source of the Yamuna
Yamunotri is the source-shrine of the river Yamuna, daughter of the Sun God and sister of Yama, lord of death. Hindu tradition holds that bathing in the Yamuna cleanses pilgrims of the punishment Yama would otherwise inflict for sins committed in this lifetime, a redemption promise found nowhere else in the Char Dham circuit. The river itself emerges from a frozen glacial lake, Saptarishi Kund, at 4,421 metres on Kalindi Parbat. Worship centres on the Divya Shila, a sacred rock at the temple, with offerings of rice and potatoes that pilgrims first cook by suspending them in the 88°C Surya Kund hot spring. This unique thermal-cooking ritual returns to the worshipper as prasad. The Yamuna Bai Kund nearby provides warmer water for the ritual bath that precedes worship.
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