Hello and welcome to my blog!
I am back with another episode of my favourite series on Hive (yes, I am a little biased). I will share one of the holiest places in Hinduism, the Badrinath Temple, one of the Char Dham Pilgrimage site located in the Garhwal region in Chamoli District of Uttarakhand (one of the northern provinces of India (Bharat)).
An Epic Road Trip
Located in the Chamoli District of Uttarakhand, at an elevation of about 3300 meters above sea level. It can be challenging to reach there and the temple remains open only for about 6-7 months (May to Nov) and remains closed during winter due to heavy snowfall on the roads and at Badrinath Town. Also, going there in the Monsoon season (July-Sept) can be challenging as there can be frequent landslides and road closures.
We went in October and will recommend it as the weather is pleasant, but still carry some warm clothes as the temperature drops down significantly at night.
The nearest airport, Jolly Grant Airport is still quite far from the temple site, around 300 km! Same goes for the nearest railway station, Rishikesh railway station is 295 Km away from the temple. So the only option after landing at one of the airports or railway stations is to take the road and there are a few routes that visitors like to take.
We were coming from Gurugram, crossed Delhi, entered UP (Meerut-Muzzafarnagar) entered Uttarakhand and crossed Roorkie, Haridwar-Rishikesh, Devprayag, Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag, Gopeshwar, experienced sunrise at Joshimath and finally reached Badrinath in the morning!
This has to be one of the longest road trips I have been on. Maintaining roads at high altitudes in challenging conditions is not easy and some are damaged and converted to just single-lane roads making the travel dangerous and slow.
One of the most beautiful sights you will get to see is when the sun rises over the mountains and shines through the clouds. We experienced it in Joshimath town, just 40 km from our destination Badrinath.
Passing by this old town with narrow roads and beautiful sights on a fresh early morning is such a rejuvenating experience, it vanishes your travel tiredness in a moment and you feel refreshed.
After driving for an hour or so we finally reached our destination, the Badrinath Town. The sun was shining bright now with few clouds in the bright blue sky.
Badrinath Town
It is a small town, established by Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century. It is located on the banks of river Alaknanada and the Badrinath Temple is the main attraction here. Pilgrims used to walk hundreds of kilometres on foot to come here for penance, Yoga and various other spiritual practices.
It has now become one of the most visited pilgrimage sites as millions of visitors come here each year. There are a lot of construction activities going on in and around the town to accommodate the ever-increasing number of visitors. You will find a lot of Aashrams or Dharmshalas charging nominal fees. A lot of new hotels and rest houses are being built here as well.
There are a lot of shops selling souvenirs and items used for prayers and offerings. You will see a lot of bright colours on the streets, especially shades of red, orange and yellow.
It is a happening place, people have come from the far ends of the country just to come here and you will get to interact with a lot of them coming together despite their unique languages, customs, places and cultures. I talked to some of them who were on the Char Dham Yatra visiting four different temple sites located at nearly four different edges of the country, for most of them it was their last challenge but for us, it was our first major Dham and we still have three more to go.
History
Badrinath Temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu, one of the principal deities of Hinduism who is one of the Trimūrti (trinity in Hinduism). Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver) and Shiva (the destroyer).
According to Vamana Purana, the sages Nara-Narayana, one of the avatars of Lord Vishnu performed rigorous penance here. The word Badri comes from Badari, which is a local word for Berry tree and it is believed that when Vishnu performed Penace here a Berry Tree grew to give shade to him and that tree was a form of his divine consort Goddess Laxmi and that's how this place is known as Badri-Nath that means the lord of Badri or Goddess Laxmi. Interestingly she got a boom from Vishnu where he said that your name will always be taken before my name and that's how the name Laxmi-Narayan came to be and same goes for Shree which is another name for Goddess Laxmi.
According to Hindu traditions, in the 8th century CE, Adi Shankracharya (one of the most prominent figures in reviving Hinduism) found a Shaligram stone and established a temple. He helped revive Hinduism in the Himalayas and helped unite the people of this large country.
Tapt Kund (Hot Spring)
Tapt Kund is a group of Hot Sulpher springs outside the temple believed to be medicinal and visitors bathe and clean themselves before going into the temple which is just a few meters from the springs.
I suspect that this natural hot spring contributed to the divinity of this place and became such a famous site for penance. There is a lot of rush around these kunds. It is located on the right bank of the river Alaknanada which flows just a few meters away from these springs.
Some work is going on to lower the risk of getting flash floods in the river. They were using excavators to dig out silt that came along the river and make the river bed deeper to hold more water. You can hear the noise in the above video which I took standing on a metal bridge built over the river.
Badrinath Temple
There are multiple entrances to the temple but none are as beautiful and colorful as the main entrance.
It is one of the busiest temples so expect a long queue and a lot of people. The main entrance has stairs that lead you inside the temple. The temple is about 50 feet tall and divided into three parts, the Garbha Graha or sanctum sanctorum (where the 1 feet idol of Badrinath is placed), Darshan Mandap (rituals are performed here) and the Sabha Mandap (where pilgrims assemble). Photography or videography of the inner sanctum sanctorum is strictly prohibited.
There are some old pillars with intricate carvings of Gods and Goddesses on them.
There are beautifully carved and painted walls along with pillars surrounding the main temple.
There are a lot of other deities worshipped inside the temple complex.
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You can perform special prayers inside the temple, there are a lot of options. A whole menu of prayers you can choose to perform here! Some of the prayers can be performed in your name even if you can't travel to the temple physically. You can find more info on the prayer/path/bhog offered here from their official website.
I am not a religious person but I still felt a lot of positive energy from being there. Maybe it was the clean weather and the beautiful sights outside the temple, who knows? But everyone should visit the place just to experience that energy! I can't describe it.
Spending a day here is enough to see what this place has to offer. I love nature and the river flowing through the valley makes for an amazing experience.
Just like sunrise, sunsets are magical too. The clouds were back to play hide and seek with the sun.
I wished we stayed here for much longer and sat on the banks of the river during the night, but we were on a tight schedule and there were a few more places we had to visit, and it takes a lot of time to get from point A to B in these hilly areas. But the views are beautiful and sometimes the journey is as good as the destination!
Thank you for taking the time to come on this virtual tour with me with the help of this blog post. All the pleasant memories came back rushing when I sat down to write this post. Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did!
Stay tuned for more such adventures...
Namaste 🙏
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