The
four most holy pilgrimages of India - to
Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath
and Kedarnath - collectively
referred to as Char Dham in the icy
Garhwal Himalayas, is a rejuvenating
spiritual experience for the devout Hindu, releasing
one from the cycle of birth and death, thereby delivering
salvation. Badrinath, one of the four sites,
in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand
(Uttaranchal) state, was founded by the Hindu saint
Shankaracharya in the 9th
century.
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More about
Badrinath
Climate
Badrinath has
very cool summers from Jun-Oct (average temperatures
8-16 deg. celsius), in winter the place is
snow-bound and the temperature touches zero
at night. The best season to visit
is from Jun-Oct.
Language
The main languages are
Hindi, Garhwali and English (in tourist
spots).
The temple's deity known
as Badri Narayan, is a form of Lord
Vishnu. The temple is open from
May first week to Nov second
week. Known as "Tapobhumi",
a land of meditation and penance, and
"Bhubaikunth", heaven on earth, it
is surrounded on either side, by two mountain
ranges known as Nar and
Narayan, with the
Neelkanth peak, providing a
spectacular backdrop.
Facing the Badrinath temple is a
hot water spring, known as "Tapt
Kund". Other famous springs, here, are the
Narad Kund and the Surya
Kund. Badrinath is presided over by a
Namboothiri Brahman from Kerala, the
Rawal, who also acts as the
head priest for Kedarnath.
Places of
interest in and around Badrinath include Mana
Village (set up by an Indo-Mongolian
tribe, its the last village on the Indo-Tibetian
border), Bheem Bridge (a natural
bridge made of a huge boulder over river
Saraswati), Vasudhara
Falls, Satopanth Lake, Pandukesar temples,
Govind Ghat (gateway for the Valley of Flowers and
Hem Kund Lake (Sikh place
of worship), Hanuman Chatti village
(with a nursery of a rare birch tree), Kheerau
Valley, Kagbhushandi Lake
and Joshimath. |
