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Shri Badrinath Temple

Badrinath Dham is considered to form one of the four Char Dham and Chota Char Dham pilgrimage sites. The temple is located in Garhwal hill tracks in Chamoli district along the banks of Alaknanda River at an elevation of 3,133 m (10,279 ft) above the mean sea level. The temple is also one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Badrinath holy shrines for Vaishnavites. The name Badrinath was derived from Badri meaning ‘berries’ and Nath meaning ‘Lord’. The Temple is also called as Badrinarayana Temple

Timings

Temple is open from 4.30 AM to 9 PM. Closed between 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM.

Entry Fee

No Entry Fee

  1. Badrinath Dham is considered to form one of the four Char Dham and Chota Char Dham pilgrimage sites. 
  2. The temple is located in Garhwal hill tracks in Chamoli district along the banks of Alaknanda River at an elevation of 3,133 m (10,279 ft) above the mean sea level. The temple is also one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Badrinath holy shrines for Vaishnavites. 
  3. The name Badrinath was derived from Badri meaning ‘berries’ and Nath meaning ‘Lord’.
  4. The Temple is also called as Badrinarayana Temple
  5. The temple finds mention in several ancient books like Bhagavata Purana, Skanda Purana and Mahabharata. 
  6. According to the Bhagavata Purana, there in Badrikashram the Personality of Godhead (Vishnu), in his incarnation as the sages Nar and Narayana, had been undergoing great penance since time immemorial for the welfare of all living entities”. 
  7. The Skanda Purana states that there are several sacred shrines in heaven, on earth, and in hell; but there is no shrine like Badrinath”. 
  8. The area around Badrinath Temple is also celebrated in Padma Purana as abounding in spiritual treasures. 
  9. The Mahabharata revered the holy place as the one which can give salvation to devotees arriving close to if, while in other holy places they must perform religious ceremonies. 
  10. It is said that Badrinath Temple was originally installed by Adi Shankaracharya and it was renovated several times after its installation.It is believed that this temple has been turned from a Buddhist shrine into a Hindu temple by Adi Shankaracharya.


PURANIC SIGNIFICANCE:



  1. The Perumal serves as a "Teacher" (Guru) for himself and thereby explains the Gnana to the world in 5 different ways.
  2. The characters of Aathma.
  3. Character of Paramathma
  4. What the Aathma has to attain.
  5. The ways, to attain it and
  6. The obstacles that are found for the Aathma while attaining it.
  7. The Perumal, Badrin Narayanan explains all these 5 different things known as "Artha Panjaga Gnanam". 
  8. For a human, 5 relations are the most prominent ones. 
  9. They are Mother, Gather, Guru, God and the pre generation peoples. In this, Guru is so important and it is non - equivalent to anything. Without a proper guru, one cannot attain anything. 
  10. So, the Perumal here serves as the guru and explains the Gnana to the world.
  11. In the same way, the Perumal is born as both Naran and Narayanan and he gives the seva to both Naran and Narayanan and he gives the seva to Naran thereby explaining the Gnanam towards him.
  12. While going towards Badrinath, one can visit enjoy and get the seva of Perumals in Haridwar, Vishnupaadham, Thiriveni Sangamam, Rishikesh, Deva Prayag, Kandam (Kadinagar), Rudra Prayag, Karna Prayag, Nandha Prayag, Joshi mutt, Hanuman Chatti, Bramagha dam, Taptha Kundam and Simha Dwaram.
  13. Badrinath is 10,380 feet above from the sea level. 
  14. Bhaktas who travel Badrinath, first should visit Haridwar, where Brahma Kundam (theertham) is found where bhaktas have a spiritual bath in that theertham before going to Badrinath. This place is also called as "Vishnu Paadham"
  15. From here, we can see the Ganga river originating. 
  16. It is said that river Ganga originates from the thiruvadi (feet) of Sri Vishnu. The Dwaram (the small entrance (or) hole) from where the Ganga river originates is said to be Haridwar. 
  17. People get this Ganga water closed in a small vessel and take to their houses and keep them as sacred. 
  18. Haridwar is called as "Kapilasthan", because Kapila Munivar did the tapas here and worshipped Goddess Maya and because of this, the place is also called as "Mayapuri". There are temples for Goddess Manasa Devi, Chandi Devi, Maya Devi, Anjani Devi, Neeleshwarar, Dattatreyar, Navagrahas, Mahadeva and Mrithyunjaya Mahadevar.
  19. Lots of Ashrams are found. 
  20. Some of them are Kailash Ashram dedicated to Aadhi Sankarar, Sri Vananda Ashram started by Swami Sivanandar, Gita Ashram, Swarga Ashram, Paramathma Niketan.
  21. Badrinath is said to be one among the great Dhamas (holy Shrines). Other great Dhamas are Rameswaram, Dwaraka and Jaganath. 
  22. There are 5 Badris namely Vishal Badri, Dhayana Badri, Yoga Badri, Vridha Badri and Bhavishya Badri and five prayags are Devaprayag, Rudra prayag, Karnaprayag, Nandaprayag and Vishnu prayag.


Devaprayag:


This is the place where the Alaknanda and Bagirthi rivers mingle to one another and the river falls down as "Aadhi Ganga", In Devaprayag, Brahma devar, King Dasarathan and Sri Ramar are believed to have done tapas. 

And a Mutt is installed by Aadhi Sankarar here.


Rudraprayag:


  1. Rudraprayag is the place where river Mandakini joins the Alaknanda river. 
  2. Here a temple for Rudran is found Mandakini river rises from Kedarnath and it joins Ganga and then towards Madhya Maheshwar near Gupta Kasi. 
  3. In Gupta Kasi a famous temple for Ardhanareeswarar is found (Ardha Nareeshwarar is one of seva given by Lord Shivan where he is found as one part of his body and another side for Uma devi).


Karnaprayag:


Karnaprayag is the place where Karnan did strong tapas to get all sorts of mantra arrows.


Nandaprayag:


Nandaprayag is the place where the Nandakini river rises and joins Alaknanda. It is said that king Nanda did a severe tapas here in this place.


Vishnuprayag:


  1. It is believed that this is the place where Pandu King did strong tapas towards the Emperumaan Sri Vishnu and it is said that the Pandja Pandavas were born here.
  2. Next to Vishnu Prayag is a place called Hanuman Ghat where Lord Hanuman and Bheeman met each other. 
  3. Once, Bheeman thought he was the strongest person in the world and was travelling along this side. At that time, Hanuman laid there as an old monkey. 
  4. Bheema saw an old monkey lying before him in the path and shouted at the monkey to give way for him. 
  5. But, the old monkey (Hanuman) told that since he is so weak, he would not be able to move and told that if Bheema could move the tail, he could move it and go along with his way. 
  6. Bheeman thought he could move the tail with his one hand, but he could not do that. Using his full strength, he tried, but he could not even move the tail for an inch. Finally, he thought the old monkey might be some Arakkan (or) Magic man. 
  7. But finally, Anjaneyar showed his original Roopam and explained to him that there are brothers (since both are Vaayu Puthras). 
  8. Bheema fell to the feet of Sri Anjaneyar and asked that he should be along with them during the war against the Gauravars (Duriyodhanan and his troop). 
  9. Sri Anjaneyar told that he will be along with them in the flag which is found on top of the Chariot of Arjuna.
  10. Since, Naran and Narayanan came to this sthalam, two mountains on the names of them are found. 
  11. The Nara Parvatham (mountain) is found on the Eastern bank of Alaknanda river and Narayana parvatham on the west bank of Alaknanda river. 
  12. These two mountains are almost covered by snow, at all times.
  13. Nara Parvatham is also called as Kubera Bhandar since lots of precious gems and diamonds are found onits glaciers. 
  14. Once, there lived an arakkan (demon) by name "Sahasrakavacha", who gave lots of trouble for the Rishis and yogis.
  15. All of them prayed towards the perumal to help them out from the Arakkan. 
  16. At that time, both Naran and Narayanan did tapas towards the perumal. 
  17. On hearing that these two persons were doing severe tapas towards the Emperumaan, Sahasrakavachan rushed towards them to kill them. 
  18. Both Naran and Narayanan fought strongly with the demon and finally killed him. Thus, they permanently stayed in Badrinath to help all the Rishis and Yogis from lots of Arakkans.
  19. About 5 miles away from Badrinath, is a place found which is called as "Dharma Shila". 
  20. It is believed that only in this place, Dharma Rajan and his wife kala did tapas towards the perumal. 
  21. As the Varam from the perumal, Dharma Raja and his wife asked that the perumal should also be found along with them and that's the reason why Dharma shila is found near Badrinath.


OTHER STORY:


  1. The hill on the opposite side of the Badrinath Temple is called INDRANEELA PARVATHAM and also believed to be one of the Paadal Petra Thevara Sthalam. 
  2. We could see the difference in colour compared to other hills during day time also ( It will be in blue colour during early morning ).  
  3. It was believed that Indran had worshipped this hill as Lord Shiva.

Do's and Don'ts

  1. Do bathe and wear clean clothes before you enter the temple.
  2. Do respect ancient customs and co-pilgrims while at temple.
  3. Smoking and drinking is prohibited in this temple.
  4. Chewing betel leaves, tobacco, gutka and spitting inside the temple is strictly prohibited.
  5. Photography is not allowed.



Dress Code

  1. For men the dress code is Shirt & Trouser, Dhoti or Pyjamas with upper cloth.
  2. For women the preferred dress code is saree or half-saree with blouse or chudidhar with pyjama and upper cloth.
  3. Shorts, mini-skirts, middies, sleeveless tops, low-waist jeans and short-length T-shirts are not allowed.
  4. The weather is cold throughout the year. Rainfalls and snowfalls often occur there. one should wear proper winter clothes with mufflers and gloves. An umbrella is also a must to carry.


How to reach

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BEST TIME TO VISIT:


  1. This temple is open only six months in a year, from mid of May to the third week of November. But, it depends only upon the temple authorities. 
  2. The temple is closed for the next six months due to heavy snow-fall in winter.
  3.  The best time will be May, June and July.



By Flight: 

  1. Jolly Grant Airport (35 kms from Dehradun) is the nearest Airport to Badrinath situated at a distance of 314 kms. 
  2. Jolly Grant Airport is well connected to Delhi with daily flights. 
  3. Badrinath is well connected by motorable roads with Jolly Grant Airport. 
  4. Taxis are available from Jolly Grant Airport to Badrinath.


By Train: 

  1. The nearest railway station to Badrinath is Rishikesh. Rishikesh railway station is situated 295 kms before Badrinath on NH58. 
  2. Rishikesh is well connected by railway networks with major destinations of India. 
  3. Trains to Rishikesh are frequent. 
  4. Badrinath is well connected by motorable roads with Rishikesh. 
  5. Taxis and buses are available from Rishikesh, Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Joshimath and many other destinations to Badrinath.


By Road: 

  1. Badrinath is well connected by motorable roads with major destinations of Uttarakhand state. 
  2. Buses to Haridwar, Rishikesh and Srinagar are available from ISBT Kashmiri Gate New Delhi. 
  3. Buses and Taxis to Badrinath are easily available from major destinations of Uttarakhand state like Dehradun, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Pauri, Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag, Ukhimath, Srinagar, Chamoli etc. Badarinath is connected with Ghaziabad by National Highway 58.


Nearby Cities and Rivers

River:



Alaknanda River: The temple is situated on the banks of the Alaknanda River, one of the primary headstreams of the Ganges.


City:


Badrinath Town: The temple is located in the town of Badrinath in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, India.