I
stood there outside…starring at the temple for several long
minutes...
...It’s
a dream to be at this holy place and God calls only the lucky ones to
His abode…
The
sound of my elders echoed deep in my ears… I felt highly blessed…
for I felt like I was among the chosen few… who had gotten a chance
to enliven a dream… The dream of visiting and experiencing the
spiritual and the mystic aura surrounding “the holiest” of all
shrines… The Badrinarayan shrine in Badrinath… once again after
several long years…
The
temple also kept its promise… of leaving me awestruck and
captivated at first sight itself! Surrounded by pristine spotless
beauty, nestled in the verdant protective folds of the Himalayan
mountains - The Badrinath Temple was draped in a jamboree of bright
colors and it looked every inch beautiful and magnificent as when I
had seen it in as a small child of seven, as I had envisioned it
since then and as it had looked from a distance while standing on
the narrow footbridge over the Alaknanda river a few moments earlier…
Badri
Vishal Temple In the Garhwal Himalayas
Although
Badrinath temple is a place that originally dates back to the 9th
century but the present temple is a modern one which has been
renovated and restructured many a times from its original construct.
Adi Shankaracharya, the founder of the Advaita Vedanta school of
philosophy, had initially discovered the Badrinarayan idol in the
Alakananda River from the Narad Kund and installed it in the Garud
Gupha near the hot water spring of Tapt Kund. Seven centuries later,
it was moved to the spot where the current temple stands today by the
Garhwal kings and a swarna kalash (golden pot) was placed at its
shikhara by the Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore in the 18th
century. The building was again damaged by a massive earthquake in
1803 and was then refurbished by the king of Jaipur.
Badrinath
Temple, Char Dham Yatra
But
inspite of all the modernizations, the land still reverberates with a
heart of a divine era that it has witnessed, the love of the devotees
is inescapably palpable in the ambiance, the original idol has
remained untouched and this is what makes this tirtha so mesmerizing.
The
latticed windows and the exquisitely ornate stone façade are
impressive and superb and was one of the first features to strike me
visually. The temple is a tad different in its appearance and
resembles a Buddhist Vihara (temple) in its looks, the primary
reasons for this being the design of the temple top which is a row of
kiosks covered with curvy roofs and the brightly colored exteriors.
Latticed
artwork on the door of the Badrinath temple of
the
Char Dham in the Himalayas
The
temple stands 50 mtrs high, raised on a plinth overlooking the
Alaknanda river sandwiched between the two mountains of Nar and
Narayan named after the two sages by the same name. There was a
hustle and bustle of pilgrims around owing to the festival day of
Diwali but at the same time there was a sense of calmness in its
salubrious air and gorgeous natural settings that even this din of
pilgrim traffic could not rob away from us.
Badrinath
temple, one of the divya desams in the Garhwal Himalyas
Walking
up a few flights of steps we entered the Temple through an artistic
arched gateway. At the Gate, directly opposite the main Idol of the
Lord himself, is seated the idol of Bird Garud, the vehicle of Lord
Badrinarayan, sitting in prayer with his hands folded. Above Him
hangs a large bell gifted by the Garhwal rifles. The gate leads us to
a large courtyard with the main hall in the middle known as the Sabha
Mandap. The Sabha Mandap has intricately carved pillars and walls and
a wide space for pilgrims to spend some time in peace and connect
with their dear Lord Vishnu. In the centre of this is the Garbha
griha or the sanctum sanctorum wherein rests the divine picture of
Shri Badrinarayan or Lord Badrinath – the self manifest black
shaligram shila image of Lord Vishnu seated in pensive Padmasana pose
(lotus pose - the posture in which he had meditated in the holy
town…described in the introductory post) with His palms resting on
His lap.
River
Saraswathi
Badrinarayan
Vishnu Temple in the Garhwal Himalayas
There
were a very few pilgrims in the temple and hence there was no
jostling and pushing, everyone, including us, was taking the darshan
(blessings) peacefully and to their heart’s content. Though
photography is prohibited inside the temple, you can picture the
scarcity of the crowds from the fact that the priest personally
identified the numerous idols alongside the main idol for us. At the
entry of the sanctum is the gaddi of Adi Shankaracharya, the seat
where He meditated. The images of Kuber - the God of wealth, Ganesh,
Lord Vishu’s vehicle Garud, His two wives – Sridevi and Bhoodevi
as well as the sages Nar, Narayan, bhakta Narada are all seated
around the main deity. The priest also informed us that this is one
of a kind idol as this is the only idol of Lord Vishnu in this yogic
pose.
After
spending some time in the mandap, we moved towards the
circumambulation of the temple which is also one of the distinctive
features of the temple. The entire circular route has smaller shrines
of Gods and Goddess, each dedicated to a devotee of the Lord and
facing the Lord directly in such a way as if ensuring that Their
Master doesn’t vanish away from their eyes even for one moment!
Lord Vishu’s consort Goddess Laxmi has a shrine just next to the
main temple. Besides this, there are other shrines of dakshinmukhi
Hanuman, Narsimha, Nar-Narayan, Ghanta Karna (known as the lokpal or
the guardian deity of the region) and an Ashta bhuja (eight armed)
Ganesha surrounding the main temple.
After
the circumambulation, we took the evening Arti (prayer) coupon to
attend the prayers of the Diwali night…and I waited eagerly for the
dusk to fall…
Tired
and exhausted we returned to our hotel rooms for a brief rest before
we ventured out again to explore the other places in and around
Badrinath…
Puja
Schedule, Temple Timings, Festivals and other Related information:
The
prayer ceremonies commence in the morning from 6.30 am and go on till
dusk. Among these, the Nirmalya darshan, the first puja ceremony is
considered to be the most auspicious of all.
Temple
Timings: 4 am - 12 noon, 3 pm - 9 pm
Visiting
Season: The Temple doors are closed down around October (dates are
fixed on Basant Panchami (Feb)) at the advent of winters and are
opened again for worship at around Mid April (dates are decided on
Vijayadashmi (mid-Oct)). Thus the temple is shut down for 6 months
every year during which prayers to the BadriVishal continue at the
Narsimha temple in Joshimath. Before closing the temple doors, the
priests light a lamp before the idol in the sanctum. It is said that
during this period of 6 months, bhakta Narad who had attained
salvation here, continues with the prayer services. This belief is
further strengthened based on the fact that when the temple is again
reopened after six months in spring, the lamp is still seen to be
flickering!
Badrinath
is one among the 108 divya desams (holy shrines for Vaishnavites) of
Lord Vishnu. The temple is the holiest of the four dhams (sites) of
Hindus, in Garhwal ranges, and draws pilgrims from all over India. It
is the most visited of the char dhams, when doing the entire circuit,
it comes last in the course but many do it standalone too.
Badrinath
temple is also known as Vishal Badri. It is the largest and the most
popular of the pilgrimages among the five badris or the Panch Badris
namely Badri Vishal or the Badrinath Temple (described above),
Yogadhyan Badri, Bhavishya Badri, Vridha Badri and Adi Badri.
Coupons
for any special pujas are available in the temple premises itself.
Photography is strictly prohibited inside the temple.
Festivals:
The Mata Murti ka Mela is celebrated on Bavan Dwadashi (Sep-Oct),
when the statue of Uddhavji is taken to the Mata Murti temple, 3 km
away, and brought back on the same day. Krishna Janmashtami (Jul-Aug)
and Badri-Kedar Utsav (Jun-Jul) are other notable occasions.
Tapt Kund
The
Badrinath - abode of Vishnu at a height of 3133 msl. The temple,
which has a colourful facade typical of Budhist temples , lies
between the Nar and Narayan mountains and on the bank of river
Alaknanda. One of the attractions near the temple is the Tapth Kund
which is a natural thermal spring. Badri refers to a berry which grew
abundantly in the area and Nath means Lord.
Legend says Goddess
Lakshmi took the form of berries to provide nourishment to Lord
Vishnu who was observing a long penance at that place. It is believed
that 2000 years back the great sage Shankaracharya from Kerala
re-instated the idol which was thrown into Alaknanda by the Budhists
and established an order of Priests called Namboodiris from Kerala
which is still being continued. The mountains around Badrinath is
mentioned in the Mahabharath. The Pandavs shed their body ascending
to Heaven through the Swargarohini.
There
is a village , Mana, 3 km up which is known as the "last village
on Indian side" and inhabited by semi nomadic Indo-Mangolian
tribe called Marchas. Indo-China border is a few kilometers away.
Mana occupied a prominent place on the Indo-Tibet trade route which
pass through Mana pass, but the border was closed by China in 1950s.
Mana was a prosperous village in 17th century as per the accounts of
the Jesuit priests.
You
can find many sanyasis and Bhiragis there at Badrinath.... A picture of a Bhiragi at Saraswathi Kund the starting place of river Saraswathi.
It is very simple to visit Badrinath compared to Kedarnath. Hope you will have a blissful visit.
It is very simple to visit Badrinath compared to Kedarnath. Hope you will have a blissful visit.
