Yamunotri Temple

The Yamuna is honoured as a sacred river from the Rig Veda onwards, and the Puranas praise her waters as a destroyer of sins; the Padma Purana, as quoted in Uttarakhand news reports, calls her the remover of sorrow and the giver of blessings. The source of the river, high in the Garhwal Himalaya, has long been a place of pilgrimage for sadhus and the people of the Yamuna valley, and tradition associates it with the sage Asita, who is said to have lived and meditated here.

The actual source of the river is the Yamunotri (Champasar) glacier on the Kalind mountain, at about 4,421 m, roughly a kilometre above the shrine. Because it is so hard to reach, the temple was built lower down, beside the hot springs at the foot of the slope, and pilgrims make their offerings there. Wikipedia notes that a small shrine existed at the site before the present temple was built.

The history of the present temple is not well documented, and sources disagree. The Uttarakhand government's Char Dham registration portal says it was originally built by Maharaja Pratap Shah of Tehri Garhwal; Wikipedia also gives the date 1839 and the name of Raja Sudarshan Shah of Tehri; and many guides say it was rebuilt in the 19th century by Maharani Gularia of Jaipur. What is clear is that the rulers of Tehri Garhwal patronised the shrine, and that the temple has had to be rebuilt more than once: Wikipedia records that it was destroyed twice by snow and floods.

Worship at Yamunotri is in the hands of the Uniyal family of priests from Kharsali village, which is also the goddess's winter home. The temple is managed by the local Shri Yamunotri Mandir Samiti, whose officers announce the opening and closing dates each year. For a short period from 2019 Uttarakhand placed the Char Dham temples under a Devasthanam Management Board, but the law was repealed in 2021 after protests by priests.

Until roads were built, pilgrims walked all the way from Hanuman Chatti. The road now ends at Janki Chatti, which shortened the trek by about 7 km, and the last 6 km are covered on foot, by pony, palki or doli. Pilgrim numbers have risen steeply in the 21st century: All India Radio reported more than 14 lakh visitors to Gangotri and Yamunotri together in the 2025 season, and yatra registration with the Uttarakhand government is now mandatory.

Yamunotri is a small Himalayan temple set on a narrow terrace above the left bank of the Yamuna, hemmed in by steep slopes. It has a modest sanctum with a pyramidal, tiered roof, typical of the shrines of the Garhwal hills rather than the great stone temples of the plains, and is brightly painted. Because the site is exposed to snow, landslides and floods, the temple has been rebuilt and repaired several times.

In the sanctum Goddess Yamuna is worshipped as an image in black stone (Wikipedia calls it black marble). Tradition also places an image of Goddess Ganga beside her, so that pilgrims can worship both river goddesses together.

The sacred features around the temple are as important as the building. Surya Kund, the hottest of several hot springs here, is so hot that pilgrims cook rice and potatoes in it, tied in muslin cloth, and take the cooked rice home as prasad. Beside it is the Divya Shila, a rock pillar that is worshipped before entering the temple. Pilgrims also bathe in the Jamuna Bai Kund, a pool fed by the warm springs.