Quick answerPujas at the four Char Dham temples can be booked in advance and cost ₹750 to ₹3,500. At Kedarnath, Sahastra Naam Archana is ₹1,200, Rudrabhishek ₹1,500, Shringaar Aarti ₹2,100 and the pre-dawn Maha Abhishek ₹3,100. At Badrinath, Balabhog Archana starts at ₹750 and Maha Abhishek is ₹3,500. You do not have to be present — the ritual is performed in your name and gotra, and the pandit will record it on request. Rates on this page were last checked on August 22, 2026.
📋 How puja booking works
1. WhatsApp us your name, date of travel & chosen puja
2. We confirm availability with temple pandit
3. Pay advance (50%) to secure your slot
4. Pandit conducts puja in your name on the day
5. Video of puja shared on WhatsApp if requested
🕌 Kedarnath — Lord Shiva
POPULAR
Maha Abhishek
₹3,100
⏰ 4:00–6:00 AM
Milk, curd, honey, ghee, sacred water — most powerful Shiva puja. Conducted at pre-dawn.
The names on the rate card mean specific things, and the price difference between them is not arbitrary. Abhishek is a bathing ritual: the deity is anointed with panchamrit — milk, curd, honey, ghee and sugar — followed by sacred water. Maha Abhishek is the same thing performed in the pre-dawn window before the temple opens to general darshan, which is why it is the most expensive and the most restricted; at Kedarnath it runs roughly 4am to 6am and the number of slots is fixed. Archana is a recitation ritual rather than a bathing one — Sahastra Naam Archana is the recitation of 1,008 names, offered with tulsi, bael leaves and flowers. Shringaar is adornment: the deity is dressed with flowers and jewels, and at Kedarnath the evening Shringaar Aarti is the ritual most pilgrims describe afterwards as the one they remember.
At Badrinath the vocabulary is Vaishnav rather than Shaiva. Balabhog is the morning food offering to Lord Badrinarayan, which is why it is the cheapest item on the card at ₹750. Shodashopachaar is the full sixteen-step worship — sixteen distinct offerings, from the invitation of the deity through to the farewell — and it takes correspondingly longer.
What the price does and does not cover
The figures on this page are the pandit's dakshina plus the cost of the offering materials. There is no temple entry fee at any of the four dhams, and anyone telling you there is at the gate is not from the temple. Prasad is included and comes back to you afterwards. What is not included is the separate VIP or special darshan arrangement, which is a different thing entirely — a puja books a ritual in your name, not a place in a shorter queue.
Booking a puja through a stranger outside the temple is the single most common way pilgrims lose money on this route. The pattern is always the same: cash only, no receipt, no name, and a claim of a special connection to the head priest. Our guide to Char Dham scams covers the variants. Whoever you book with, the test is simple — can you find their registered address, and will they put the booking in writing before you pay anything.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Every puja on this page can be reserved before you travel — you send the pilgrim names, the gotra, the travel date and the puja you want, we confirm the slot with the temple pandit, and the ritual is performed in your name on the day. Advance booking matters most for the pre-dawn Maha Abhishek at Kedarnath and Badrinath, which has a hard daily cap and fills weeks ahead in May and June.
Between ₹1,200 and ₹3,100 depending on the ritual. Sahastra Naam Archana is ₹1,200, Rudrabhishek ₹1,500, Shringaar Aarti ₹2,100 and Maha Abhishek — the pre-dawn one — is ₹3,100. Badrinath runs from ₹750 for Balabhog Archana to ₹3,500 for Maha Abhishek. These are the pandit and offering charges; they are not temple entry fees, because there are none.
No. A puja can be performed in your name and gotra whether or not you are standing there, which is why many families book one for a relative who cannot make the journey. If you want proof it happened, ask for the video — the pandit records it and we send it on WhatsApp the same day.
Maha Abhishek is the pre-dawn ritual performed between roughly 4am and 6am, before the temple opens to general darshan, and the abhishek is done directly on the lingam with panchamrit — milk, curd, honey, ghee and sacred water. Rudrabhishek is a morning puja with the same panchamrit offering but accompanied by recitation of the Rudrashtadhyayi, and it is performed after the temple opens. Maha Abhishek is the more restricted and the more expensive of the two.
It is if you know who you are paying. The recurring scam on this route is a stranger outside the temple offering a "special puja" for cash, with no receipt and no connection to the temple. Book through an operator with a verifiable address and a registered pandit, pay a part-advance rather than the full amount up front, and get the booking confirmed in writing. We are at Saptrishi Road, Haridwar, and we take 50% in advance with the balance after the puja is done.
For May and June travel, six to eight weeks ahead. Those are the busiest weeks of the year and the pre-dawn slots at both Kedarnath and Badrinath are the first thing to go. September and October are far easier — a week or two is usually enough. Outside the season the temples are closed and no puja can be performed at the shrine itself.
Rates last verified: August 22, 2026 · Season: 19 April – 13 November 2026. Puja rates are set by the temple pandits and can be revised during the season; the figures here are what we were quoting as of that date. Pujas cannot be performed at the shrines once the temple doors close for winter.