CHARDHAM
In the Puranas Hari (Vishnu) and Hara (Shiva) are referred as eternal friends. It is said wherever Lord Vishnu resides, Lord Shiva resides nearby. The Char Dham follows this rule. So Kedarnath is considered as the pair of Badrinath, Rama Setu is considered the pair of Rameswaram, Somnath is considered as the pair of Dwaraka and Lingaraja is considered the pair of Jagannatha Puri. However, according to some traditions, the Char Dham are Badrinath, Ranganatha-Swami, Dwaraka and Jagannatha-Puri, all of which are Vaishnava sites, and their associated places are Kedarnath, Rameswaram, Somnath and Lingaraja Temple, Bhubaneswar (or maybe Gupteshwar) respectively.
This Yatra or pilgrimage is a tour of four holy sites - Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath – nestled high up in the Himalayas. In Hindi, 'char' means four and 'dham' refers to religious destinations.It is believed that while Lord Vishnu resides, Lord Shiva also lives closer. These four Dhams are also not considered as exceptions. Therefore, the pair of Badrinath to Kedarnath, Rangnath Swami of Rameshwaram, Somnath is considered as a pair of Dwarka, Lingaraj appears as a complete pair of Puri Dham.Since the two sound quite similar, people often also confuse Kedarnath to be one of the main Char Dhams. Kedarnath is part of the Chhota Char Dham, which also includes Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. All these are in the Indian state Uttarakhand.But, a holy journey of these shrines is called Chota Char Dham, which is nestled in the lap of the Himalayas and is known as a sacred place as per the Hindu religion. Bada Char Dham includes Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri, and Rameshwaram, and these four abodes are present in the four directions of the country.