Every pilgrim on the Char Dham road passes them, and most never learn their names. The Panch Prayag are the five sacred confluences where the Alaknanda gathers her tributaries — and where the Ganga is truly born.
Prayag means confluence — a place where rivers meet. In Sanatan tradition confluences are intensely sacred, points where energies merge and karma dissolves.
The Panch Prayag are the five confluences of the Alaknanda as she descends from the glaciers to Devprayag, where she finally meets the Bhagirathi and becomes the Ganga.
If you visit only one, make it Devprayag. This is where the green Bhagirathi (from Gangotri) and the grey Alaknanda (from Satopanth) visibly merge — you can see the two colours meeting — and downstream of this point, the river is called the Ganga for the first time.
It is about 70 km from Rishikesh on the Badrinath road. There is a Raghunath temple and a confluence ghat where you can bathe.
All five lie on the Rishikesh → Badrinath highway, so any Char Dham or Badrinath road journey passes every one. A dedicated Panch Prayag trip takes 4-5 days from Rishikesh, stopping properly at each rather than driving past.
Best season: September-November and March-June. Budget ₹22,000-35,000 per person. We build this into Char Dham journeys or run it standalone — with time to actually stop, bathe and understand each one.