About of Badrinath Temple


Badrinath Temple



Badrinath or Badrinarayan Temple is a Hindu temple located on the banks of the Alaknanda River in the Chamoli district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. This is a temple dedicated to the Hindu deity Lord Vishnu and this place is one of the holiest places mentioned in Hindu religion. In Char Dham temple, Badrinath is one of the ancient temples. There is evidence of the construction of this temple in the 7th-9th century. In the name of the temple, the city around it is also called Badrinath. Geographically, this place is situated at a height of 3,133 meters (10,269 feet) above sea level, in the Garhwal region, between the high peaks of the Himalayan ranges. The temple is open for a limited period of six months of the year (from late April to early November) due to the harsh weather conditions of the Himalayan region during winter. Badrinath is one of the busiest pilgrimage centers in India; In 2012, the arrival of about 10.4 lakh pilgrims was recorded here.


The Badrinath temple worships "Badrinarayan", a form of Lord Vishnu, the god of Hindu. Here is his 1 meter (3.3 ft) long statue built from Shaligram, which is believed to have been established by Aadi Shankaracharya from the nearest Narada Kund in the 8th century. This statue is considered by many Hindus to be one of the eight self-expressed regions (self-manifested statues) of Lord Vishnu. Although the temple is located in North India, the priests here called "Rawal" are Brahmins of the Namboodari community of the state of Kerala in South India. The Badrinath temple was included in the Uttar Pradesh State Government Act - 30/199 under the Temple Act - 18/1939, which later came to be known as the "Shri Badrinath and Shri Kedarnath Temple Act". Presently, a seventeen-member committee nominated by the Government of Uttarakhand administers both the Badrinath and Kedarnath temples.


Description of Badrinath temple in Holy Granth


This temple is mentioned in many ancient Holy Granth like Vishnu Purana, Mahabharata, and Skanda Purana. It is also described in the Nalayir Divya Prabandha composed by the Alvara saints before the eighth century. Badrinath Nagar, where this temple is located, is also counted in the Chhota Char Dham in addition to the holy Char Dham of the Hindus and is also one of the 108 divine countries dedicated to the Lord Vishnu. According to another concept Badrinath temple is also known as Badri-Vishal and associates the entire group with "Panch-Badri" with the four other nearby temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu - Yogadhyana-Badri, Bhavishya-Badri, Vriddha-Badri, and Aadi Badri.


Mythological tales about Badrinath temple

According to mythological tales, Badrinath and the entire area around it were at one time located as Shiva Bhoomi (Kedarkhand). When the river Ganges descended on the earth, it was divided into twelve streams, and the stream flowing through Badrinath known as Alaknanda. It is believed that when Lord Vishnu was finding a suitable place for meditation, he found this place very close to Alaknanda. Lord Vishnu incarnated in the form of a child near Neelkanth mountain and began to cry. Hearing his cries, Mata Parvati's heart melted, and she tried to persuade the child, and as a child, Lord Vishnu demanded that place from Mata Parvati for meditate. This holy place is presently known as Badrivishal.

According to another story related to this region in the Vishnu Purana, Dharma had two sons - Nar and Narayan, who had done penance at this place for many years for the expansion of the religion. In search of an ideal place to set up his ashram, he visited four places namely Vriddh Badri, Yog Badri, Dhyan Badri, and Bhavishya Badri. He eventually found hot and cool water behind the Alaknanda River, the area near which he named Badri Vishal. It is also believed that Vyasa Ji wrote the Mahabharata at this place, and Nara-Narayan was born as Arjuna and Krishna as a next birth respectively. There is also another belief of the Mahabharata that the Pandavas offer the souls of their ancestors for peace at this place. For this reason, even today, pilgrims in the Brahmakapal area of Badrinath offer the souls of their ancestors for peace.

Historic Aspects of Badrinath Temple

There are many beliefs about the origin of the Badrinath temple. According to some sources, this temple was a Buddhist monastery till the eighth century, which was converted into a Hindu temple by Adi Shankara. The architecture of the temple is a major reason behind this argument, which is similar to a Buddhist vihara (temple). Its bright and painted body also appears to be similar to a Buddhist temple. Other sources suggest that this temple was established as a pilgrimage site by Adi Shankaracharya in the ninth century. Another belief is that Shankaracharya stayed in this place for six years (from 814 to 820). During his residence in this place, he lived in Badrinath for six months, and then the rest of the year in Kedarnath. Hindu followers say that the statue of Badrinath was installed by the deities. When the Buddhists were defeated, they threw it into Alaknanda. Shankaracharya discovered this statue of Badrinath from the Alaknanda River and installed it in a cave near the hot glasses called Tapta Kunda. Afterward, the statue was relocated and the third time removed from Taptakund then Ramanujacharya founded it.

According to a traditional story, Shankaracharya expelled all Buddhists from the region with the help of the Paramara ruler King Kanak Pal. After this Kanakpal, and his successors took over the management of this temple. The kings of Garhwal established a group of villages to afford the expenses of temple management. Apart from this, many villages were also settled on the road leading to the temple, the income from which was used to make arrangements for the pilgrims to food and stay. Over time, the Paramara rulers adopted the name "Boland Badrinath", which means speaking Badrinath. He also had another name "Sri 108 Badrischarayaparayana Gadhraj Mahimahendra, Dharmavaibhav, Dharmakshak Shiromani". By this time, the throne of the Garhwal kingdom was known as the "throne of Badrinath", and devotees paid obeisance to the king before entering the temple. This tradition continued until the late nineteenth century. In the sixteenth century, the then king of Garhwal brought the Badrinath statue from the cave and installed it in the present temple. After the temple was built, the Queen of Indore, Ahilyabai, offering the golden Kalash Chhatri to Badrinath temple. In the twentieth century, when the Garhwal kingdom was divided into two parts, the Badrinath temple came under British rule, although the management committee of the temple was still the king of Garhwa.

Alaknanda river

Sthaptya Architecture of Badrinath Temple

The Badrinath temple is built on a surface about 50 meters high from the Alaknanda River, and its entrance is facing the river. The temple has three structures: the Garbhgrah, the darshan mandap, and the sabha mandap. The temple is made of stone and has arched windows. The main entrance can be reached through the wide staircase, which is called the lion gate. It is a long arched doorway. There are three golden Kalash on the top of this gate, and a huge bell hangs in the middle of the roof. There is a mandap on entering the temple. A large, pillared hall leading to the Garbhgrah or main temple area. The walls and columns of the hall are decorated with intricate carvings. The devotees perform special pujas and aarti etc. sitting in this mandap. Sabha Mandap is a place for the sitting of the temple Pujari, Naib Rawal, and Vedpathi scholars in the assembly hall itself. The roof of the Garbhgrah is conical in shape and is about 15 meters (79 ft) long. There is also a small cupola on the rooftop, which is gilded.

In the Garbhgrah has a 1-meter tall statue of Lord Badrinarayan built from Shaligram, which is placed in a gold canopy under the Badri tree. This statue of Badrinarayan is considered by many Hindus to be one of the eight self-manifested statues of Vishnu. The statue has four hands of God - two hands are raised up, one has a shankh and the other has a chakra, while the other two hands are present in the lap of God in Yogamudra (Padmasana). A diamond is also inlaid on the forehead of the statue. The Garbhgrah also has a statue of Kubera the god of wealth, Devarshi Narada, Uddhav, Nara, and Narayana. Fifteen more idols are also worshiped around the temple. These include statues of Lakshmi (wife of Lord Vishnu), Garuda (the vehicle of Narayana), and Navadurga. Apart from these, outside the Garbgrah in the temple complex are also statues of Lakshmi-Narasimha and saint Aadi Shankaracharya (788–820 BC), Nar and Narayana, Vedanta Deshik, Ramanujacharya and Ghantakarna, a local deity of the Pandukeshwar region.

Badrinath Yatra

Yatra to Badrinath Dham is one of the important four temples of the Chota Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand. The Chota Char Dham Yatra is conducted every year. Other than the Badrinath, the other temples are Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri. The date of opening of the Temple is fixed every year to join the Char Dham Yatra. 

How to reach

  • By Air: The nearest airport to Badrinath is Jolly Grant Airport which is 314 kilometers away and is well connected to Delhi Airport. Taxi service is available from Jolly Grant Airport to Badrinath.
  • By train: Rishikesh is the nearest railway station of Kedarnath. The distance of Rishikesh railway station from Kedarnath is 295 Km and the well connected by railway networks with major destinations of India. Badrinath is well connected by motorable roads with Rishikesh. Taxi and bus services are available from Rishikesh and other places to Badrinath.
  • By Bus: Badrinath is well connected by motorable roads with major destinations of Uttarakhand state. Buses to Haridwar, Rishikesh, and Srinagar are available from ISBT Kashmiri Gate. 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. Badrinath is connected with Ghaziabad.

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