Gangotri town is situated in Uttarkashi district of
Uttarakhand. It is a pilgrim town which is located on the banks of river
Bhagirathi. It is located on the Greater Himalayan Range, and is at a
height of 3,042 metres. Gangotri, which is the origin of the sacred
river Ganga, attracts tourists from all over the country, every year. It
is one of the four sites in the Char Dham pilgrimage centres.
It was Amar Singh Thapa who created the temple in the early 18th
century AD. The Gangotri temple is a day's worth of travel from
Rishikesh, Haridwar or Dehradun or a couple of day's travel, if one is
traveling from Yamunotri. It is also believed to be the place where
Goddess Ganga herself presides. Gangotri is also the source of the river
Ganga. The river is called Bhagirathi at the source and then it takes on
the name Ganga, from Devprayag and ultimately it meets Alaknanda.
Gaumukh is the origin of the river, and is a 19 kms. trek from Gangotri.
According to a legend, Lord Shiva rewarded King Bhagirath after his
remorse and that is when Ganga came down on earth. But because of her
pride as well as of the fact that the earth would be destroyed if Ganga
came down in her full force, Shiva got hold of her in his hair.
Subsequently, it is said that Goddess Uma or Parvati would bathe in the
Ganga daily and after that only she descended on the earth. Because of
this reason, Ganga is also known as Bhagirathi
