Amazing Facts About 5 Holy Prayagas || పంచ ప్రయాగలు గురించి మీకు తెలియని నిజాలు || With Subtitles
Panch Prayag is an expression in Hindu religious ethos, specifically used to connote the five sacred river confluences in the Garhwal Himalayas in the state of Uttarakhand, India. The five prayags - prayag meaning "place of sacrifice" in Sanskrit - also termed as “Prayag pentad”, namely the five river prayags, are Vishnuprayag, Nandaprayag, Karnaprayag, Rudraprayag and Devprayag, in the descending flow sequence of their occurrence.
Prayag in Hindu tradition signifies confluence of two or more rivers where ablutions (bathing) before worship, religious rites called the Shraddha (the last rites) for the departed and worship of the river itself as manifestation of God are a prevalent practice. While the Prayag at Allahabad, where the three rivers namely, the Ganges, the Yamuna and the Saraswati confluence, is considered the holiest, the Panch Prayag of Garhwal Himalayas are the next in the order of piety. The Prayags are rich not only with stories from puranas and legend but also in scenic beauty of the Himalayan snow-covered peaks and enchanting valleys. It is also deduced that the Panch Prayag located on the road to Badrinath refer to the Svargarohana (ascend to heaven) route followed by the Pandavas to attain salvation after they completed circumambulation of the earth.
It starts with the Vishnu Prayag on the Alaknanda River, which is one of the two source streams of the most sacred river Ganges in the Garhwal Himalayas; the other streams are the Dhauliganga, Mandakini, Pindar and the Bhagirathi - the head stream of the Ganges.
Alaknanda descending from the foot of the Satopanth (a triangular lake, which is located at a height of 4,402 m (14,442.3 ft), above the sea level and named after the Hindu trinity: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Bhagirath Kharak glaciers near the Nanda Devi peak, in Uttarakhand cascades over a length of 229 km (142.3 mi) encompassing the five prayags and is joined at Dev Prayag by the Bhagirathi, a shorter river source vis-à-vis Alaknanda to form the main stream of the Ganges. It flows down south towards Rishikesh and Haridwar, two holy places on the bank of the Ganges in Uttarakhand.
At each of the confluences, with large influx of pilgrims who visit the state for the pilgrimage of the Panch Kedar and Sapta Badri temples, large religious towns have developed. Pilgrims take a dip in the river at these locations before embarking on visiting the holy shrines in the “Deva Bhumi” (god's land) as Uttarakhand is commonly known. The religious towns are named after the confluence sites as: Devaprayag, Nandprayag, Karnaprayag, Rudraprayag, except Vishnuprayag, where there is no town but it is about 12 km (7.5 mi) from Joshimath town another famous Hindu religious centre), along a winding road that further leads to Badrinath Temple and beyond. Some pilgrims do ablution at all the five prayags before worshiping Vishnu at Badrinath.
Follow our video for detailed explanation of the Pancha Prayagas and their speciality. Do not forget to like and share the video link in your circles...
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