Namaste everyone, I hope you are all doing great.
I recently came back from one of the most memorable trips of mine with friends to the Northern part of India in Uttarakhand state.
We packed our bags, all psyched up started our long journey from gurugram's plains to the mighty Himalayas. It was a fine afternoon with clouds in the sky. We passed Delhi, crossed Meerut, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Devprayag, Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag and finally reached Joshimath.
It was a long drive and not an easy one too. We travelled all night and had to stop a few times in the night for one reason or another. Anyways, we reached Vridh Badri Temple.
It was one of the best valleys I have been to, the views were spectacular and eye-catching, and the weather made it ten times better.
There was a very short trek to the Temple. This temple is situated at an elevation of 4530 feet above sea level.
Vridh Badri trek starts from here
We passed through a beautiful little village situated on the steps of this mountain. I wished it to be my village and waking up to these beautiful views. You have to be there to experience it.
Passing through Animath Village
The onset of monsoon season (rainy season) was the cherry on top. The morning breeze, mist and slight rain made it one of the most memorable places for me.
Vridha Badri Temple
Vridha Badri or Briddha Badri - an austere shrine, is located in the Animath village (1,380 m (4,530 ft), above sea level) 7 km (4.3 mi), from Joshimath on the Rishikesh–Joshimath-Badrinath road. The Vridha Badri legend says that Vishnu appeared in the form of a Vridha or old man before sage Narada who performed penance here. Thus, the idol installed at this temple is in the form of an old man. [source]
Vridha Badri temple
When we reached the temple priest was preparing for the morning prayer. The priest offered his prayers to Lord Vishnu and give us the prasad. We sat there for some time, it was so peaceful and relaxing there.
Weirdly, this temple was not on our itinerary and we happen to be there because we took a wrong turn a few kilometres back and when we noticed that we were going in the wrong direction we couldn't find a u-turn in time as the road was just a single lane. Fortunately, we saw this trek and couldn't resist it. So, sometimes wrong turns lead you to the right paths.
View from Vridha Badri Temple
I didn't want to leave this beautiful place but we had to go as this place didn't have any staying options. So we climbed back up to the road where we parked.
The temple is the one with the red roof and the saffron flags in the above picture.
We left the place to reach our destination, the Kalpeshwar Temple
Kalpeshwar Temple
Kalpeshwar is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva located at an elevation of 2,200 m (7,217.8 ft) in the picturesque Urgam valley in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand state in India. The temple's ancient legend linked to the Pandavas, heroes of the epic Mahabharata, is the fifth temple of the Panch Kedar (five temples) of Shiva's five anatomical divine forms; the other four temples in the order of their worship are Kedarnath, Rudranath, Tungnath and Madhyamaheshwar temples; all in the Kedar Khand region of the Garhwal Himalayas.[source]
We have been to 4 of the five panch-Kedar. This is different from all other Shiva Temples from above as it is the only cave temple from the five kedars.
It was still morning when we reached the Urgam Valley, which is one of the most secluded places in the region.
Unlike the other Kedar temples you don't have to trek on foot to reach here. You can park your vehicle just beside this bridge and on this bridge's other side is the cave temple.
Short trek to Kalpeshwar Temple
Entry gate of Kalpeshwar temple
Nandi, Lord Shiva's vahana
We reach the temple at the perfect time, Aarti just started and we attended it. Also, photography of the main sanctum of the temple is not allowed. So, I will just share the idols placed outside of the main shrine.
Tridents (weapon of Lord Shiva)
holy water coming from the mountain
Let me know what are your thoughts about the place. We had fun on this trip, the mountains get new energy in the rainy season but also they become dangerous and there is always the risk of landslides and falling rocks.
Thanks for reading.
Namaste 🙏
Note:
- All the content is mine unless otherwise stated.
- Photos were taken from my phone (hence the low-quality photos) and were edited using the "Snapseed" app.
- Text dividers are from @cryptosharan.
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