[9] Originally, the appellation Char Dham referred to a pilgrimage circuit encompassing four important temples cities — Puri, Rameswaram, Dwarka, and Badrinath — located roughly at the four cardinal points of the subcontinent.
An archetypal All-India pilgrimage circuit, the formation of the original Char Dham is credited to the great 8th century reformer and philosopher Shankaracharya (Adi Sankara).
[citation needed] Accessible until the 1950s only by arduous and lengthy walking trails in hilly area with height repeatedly exceeded 4000 meters, the sanctuairies constituting the nowadays Chota Char Dham were regularly visited by wandering ascetics and other religious people, and those who could afford a traveling entourage.
As pilgrims were able to travel in mini buses, jeeps and cars to nearest points of four shrines, the Chota Char dham circuit was within the reach of people with middle income.
Even before the rains begin, safety is a major concern, as extensive road building and heavy traffic have critically destabilized the rocks, making fatal landslides and bus/jeep accidents a regular occurrence.
Although temperatures at the shrines in the early winter months of October and November are inhospitable, it is said that the mountain scenery surrounding the sites is most vivid after the rains have had a chance to moisten the dust of the plains below.
Landslides and land subsidence in the region, for example in Joshimath, have particularly increased under the influence of large development projects that are not sufficiently adapted to local conditions, such as the Chota Char Dham Highway.