VISIT TO BADRINATH

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.