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Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameswaram together are known as the:
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Answer: Option A — Char Dham
Detailed Solution
Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameswaram together are known as the "Char Dham" ("four abodes"), the four most sacred pilgrimage sites of Hinduism, located at the four corners of India.
The Char Dham:
- North: Badrinath (Uttarakhand): dedicated to Lord Vishnu as Badrinarayan; on the Alaknanda river.
- East: Puri (Odisha): the Jagannath Temple, dedicated to Lord Jagannath (Vishnu/Krishna).
- West: Dwarka (Gujarat): the Dwarkadhish Temple, dedicated to Lord Krishna.
- South: Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu): the Ramanathaswamy Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva; one of the 12 Jyotirlingas.
- Three of them are Vaishnava (dedicated to Vishnu or his avatars), and one (Rameswaram) is Shaiva.
- The concept of the Char Dham is traditionally attributed to Adi Shankaracharya (8th century), who also established the four mathas near these places (at Joshimath near Badrinath, Puri, Dwarka and Sringeri).
- Hindus believe that visiting the Char Dham in one's lifetime helps attain "moksha" (salvation).
The "Chota Char Dham" of Uttarakhand:
It is a smaller circuit in the Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand: Yamunotri (source of the Yamuna), Gangotri (source of the Ganga/Bhagirathi), Kedarnath (Shiva, a Jyotirlinga) and Badrinath (Vishnu).
The "Char Dham Highway Project" ("All-Weather Road", about 825-900 km) is being built to improve connectivity. The Supreme Court allowed the widening of roads for defence needs in 2021.
In recent years, more than 45 lakh pilgrims have visited the Uttarakhand Char Dham each season.
Other sacred groups:
- Panch Kedar: five Shiva temples in Uttarakhand (Kedarnath, Tungnath, Rudranath, Madhyamaheshwar and Kalpeshwar).
- Saptapuri: seven sacred cities: Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Varanasi, Ujjain, Kanchipuram and Dwarka.
- 12 Jyotirlingas: the most sacred shrines of Shiva.
- 51 Shakti Peethas: shrines of the Goddess.
- Panch Badri: five Vishnu temples in Uttarakhand.
- The "Bharat Gaurav" tourist trains of Indian Railways run circuits covering the Char Dham.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Panch Kedar are five Shiva temples in Uttarakhand.
- ✗Saptapuri are seven sacred cities.
- ✗Jyotirlingas are twelve shrines of Shiva.
Quick tip
Remember: Char Dham = Badrinath (north), Puri (east), Dwarka (west), Rameswaram (south) (Adi Shankaracharya); Chota Char Dham (Uttarakhand) = Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, Badrinath; Saptapuri = 7 sacred cities.
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Monuments & Religious Places — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Monuments & Religious Places, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's important monuments, temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras and pilgrimage sites, who built them and when, their architectural styles, and India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Questions ask who built a monument, where it is located, or which dynasty or style it belongs to. For example, the Qutub Minar was begun by Qutbuddin Aibak, and the Sun Temple at Konark was built by the Eastern Ganga king Narasimhadeva I. Revise the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as a list, noting the most recent additions. Practise the monuments and religious places questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.