Chardham Weather Guide - Best Season to Visit Chardham

Chardham Yatra is an important spiritual expedition for all devout Hindus. Embarking on the Chardham Yatra at least once in lifetime is looked upon as a way to attain ‘moksha’ or salvation which every living soul aspires for. Chardham Yatra takes you on a tough journey high up on the Himalayas of Uttarakhand as the four dhams or ‘char’ dhams, namely Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath are laid out at very high altitudes across the snow-clad mountains of the Garhwal Himalayas. At such a high altitude the weather conditions are always unpredictable and extremes of weather prevail in some parts of the year making the region unsuitable for travel.

Chardham of Uttarakhand

Chardham of Uttarakhand

Also, the road conditions at the Himalayas are very much dependent on the prevailing weather conditions. Therefore Chardham Yatra cannot be undertaken all round the year. It is especially a seasonal spiritual expedition that can take place only at a particular Yatra season during a year and the opening and closing of Yatra dates vary from year to year depending upon the weather conditions on that particular year. If you are planning to set out for the Chardham Yatra, you must keep the Chardham weather guide handy to steer clear of unforeseen troubles.

What is Chardham Weather Guide?

Chardham weather guide is a rough mapping of the weather conditions at the Chardham in a particular year. It consists of the approximate average temperatures of the region across the various months of the year. It tells you about the various seasons at the Chardham and also about the seasonal variations in temperatures. Also there are other details included in the weather guide such as degree of sun shine, precipitation, humidity, speed of air currents and so on.

Kedarnath Temple during Winter

Advantages of Chardham Weather Guide

The key advantages of Chardham weather guide include-

1. Knowing when to travel
2. Escaping perils of journey
3. Having a comfortable, hassle-free journey
4. Being able to pack in necessary items as per the weather conditions
5. Having a proper mindset for travel
6. The Weather Guide

The weather at the Chardham consists of three different seasons- the summers, the monsoons and the winters. The summer season spans across months late April, May and June. The monsoons start from July and continue till mid September. The winters start beyond the month of October and continue till mid April.

Summers are cool and pleasant and the day time in the summer months are bright and sunny. The average temperatures during summers usually hover around 17-18 degree centigrade. Monsoons consist in sporadic downpours of moderate rate. Due to the rains, temperature drops to some extent at the Himalayas and the average temperatures range between 11 degree and 12 degree centigrade during that time. Rainfall causes the soil at the Chardham route to loosen out which is why the region becomes highly landslide prone during the monsoons. Around months September-October, the region experiences pre-winters when average temperatures are usually around 10 degree to 11 degree centigrade. Nights may be pretty cold though during the day time, weather conditions remain quite tolerable. Beyond the month of October winter season creeps in and the chills can be felt everywhere. Temperature drops sharply until it reaches below the freezing point. Heavy snow fall starts during this time and the region gets cloaked in thick sheets of snow.

Advices

Taking into account the general weather conditions at the Chardham you are advised to choose the summer season or the pre-winter season for journeying to the Chardham. Don’t travel during the monsoons as the route becomes dangerous during that time due to frequent landslides. After the month of October too journey should be avoided as the severity of cold is not bearable and heavy snowfall blocks the routes to Chardhams.