Do you know?
Badrinath is one of the four Char Dham pilgrimage sites for Hindus and is visited by pilgrims from all over the world. It stands at a height of around 10,700 feet and is surrounded by snow clad mountains from all sides. Moreover, it remains open for pilgrims from the end of April to the beginning of November. During winter, the temperature falls below freezing point and when there is snowfall, Badrinath becomes breathtakingly beautiful. Though this, it remains far from normal eyesight due to landslides and snow falls.
During the floods of 2013, there had been heavy loses in the state. A number of lodges, hotels and accommodations were destroyed. Besides, the road to the temple faced major devastation. Despite this, there had been tremendous footfall at Badrinath. In the year 2017, despite bad weather warnings record breaking 8 lakh 85 thousand pilgrims visited the temple. Moreover in 2018, 8 lakh 50 thousand pilgrims were witnessed till the month of October. What really makes the temple so important is its historical value. Let’s read it to understand the undeterred trust, faith and dedication of its pilgrims.
History Of The Badrinath Temple
The Badri Vishal statue is considered one of the self-manifested or svayam vyakta kshetras. The legend says that the idol of Lord Vishnu was created by Gods. In addition, Adi Shankara discovered it in the Alakananda river in the 8th century. It is believed that Buddhist monks placed it over there. Adi Shankara enshrined it in a cave near Tapt Kund, a hot spring near Badrinath. While, later on, Brahmanujacharaya removed the statute from the cave and placed it at Badrinath. Adi Shankara established this as a pilgrimage site and spent six months of the year in Badrinath, while the rest at Kedarnath. The temple has undergone many renovations due to its age and climatic conditions. After the Himalayan earthquake in 1803, the temple was rebuilt by the King of Jaipur. It was completed 70 years later during the First World War.
Some Interesting Facts About Badrinath You Didn’t Know
1) Badrinath forms one of the four Chota Chardhams situated in Uttarakhand. The other four are Yumnotri, Gangotri and Kedarnath. It is also part of Paanch Badri Temples of Lord Vishnu. The other four are Yogdhyan Badri at Pandukeshwar, Bhavishya Badri at Subhain, near Tapovan, Vridha Badri at Animath village, and Adi Badri at Karnaprayag. These 5 Badri temples have evidences of the presence of Lord Vishnu. Besides, a pilgrimage is considered incomplete without visiting atleast two of these 4 Badri temples.
2) The statue of Badrinath placed here is considered by many Hindus to be one of the eight swayam vyakta kshetras, or self-manifested statues of Vishnu.
3) Badrinath temple is mentioned in many of Hindu holy scriptures like Skanda Purana, Vishnu Purana and Mahabharata. Besides, the area around Badrinath is considered most sacred.
4) Legend says that the place got its name because Lord Vishnu meditated here under the Badri tree. While, foreign magazines claim that the presence of dense Badri forests has contributed to the name.
5) The architecture of the temple resembles to that of a Buddhist monastery. The bright colors and the pagoda hints towards a Buddhist influence. It is believed that till 8th century, it was a Buddhist temple ,which was later converted into a Vishnu temple by Adi Shankara.
6) South Indian priests - When Adi Shankaracharya established the mandir (temple) at Badrinath, he also assigned the head priest or the Rawal of the temple. Infact , the head priest is responsible for all the priestly duties of the temple. He selected a Brahmin from the Nambudiri Brahmin family hailing all the way from the south Indian state of Kerala. The family lineage carries out the pujas up till this date. This was how Adi Shankaracharya brought together culturally different Hindus from different cardinal points of India and established the unity of Hindus across geographical barriers.
7) The door opening period: Though, the Kapat(door) to the sanctum sanctorum opens for six months and remain closed for the next six months, the opening and closing dates for the Badrinath temple aren’t fixed. These dates are decided by astrologers, priests, and purohits upon inspecting the horoscope of Tehri Naresh. On the Basant Panchami, every year, the announcement is made from the royal court of Tehri Naresh, situated near Narendra Nagar.
This year 2020, due to the fear of transmission of Novel Coronavirus, and a country-wide lock down from the month of March, the announcements were made late in date. The gates will open from 15th May, 2020 at 4:30 in the morning. Moreover, the online registration, opened from 30th April, 2020. In addition, the gates will remain open till October/ November.
8) The Kapat procession: This is a temple door opening session. The procession begins from royal court of Tehri Naresh and travels till Badrinath temple. The procession is called Gaadu Ghada or Tel Kalash Yatra. Here a pot full of semolina oil is taken through different Himalayan villages where they are worshipped at various Lakshmi Narayan temples in these villages. It takes almost a week for the procession to reach Badrinath temple. Infact, this involves much fanfare from locals till Badrinath. Therefore, everyone from sadhus (saints), priests, villagers, and even the local police join this procession with great devotion and bhakti. Though, this year it was different. The procession was a silent one. The procession passed villages like Dimmar, Simli, Karanprayag, Langasu, Pandali, and Pandukeshwar through Badrinath, where followers prayed from their own places, instead of joining in.
9) Maha Abhishek of Badri Vishal: This pooja takes place from 4:30 – 6:30 early morning every day. The bookings for this and other pooja are done either at the temple office or online. This year the booking started early May.
10) The Queen of Indore, Ahilyabai, visited the temple after its completion and donated a golden umbrella to the temple.
11) In 20th century, the kingdom of Garhwal was divided into two halves and the temple fell under the authority of British rule. But fortunately, the temple management committee was led by King of Garhwal. Even today, the priests are selected by a consultation between Garhwal successors and Travancore royal families.
12) The Badrinath statue of the Lord Vishnu is in a meditating posture called padmasana. The mythological story behind it is that a sage found him lying down and Goddess Lakshmi was massaging his feet. Seeing this, sage chastised him. Hence, to do penance for his action, the lord sat under a Badri tree in a meditating position for a long time.
Interesting Facts About The Location Of Badrinath Temple
1. Tapt Kund is a hot water spring, situated above the Alakananda river. It is believed to be the home of Lord Agni, and have a temperature of 45degree Celsius. The legend says, it has medicinal properties.
2. Neelkanth Peak - It is a snowy peak towering over the town of Badrinath. The mountain initially resisted as many as seven attempts to summit it by climbers. Visit the place during sunrise for a breathtaking view.
The golden rays of the sun crowning Neelkanth peak at dawn
3. Mata Murti Mandir - This temple is dedicated to the mother of Nara and Narayana. During September, a fair is held at this place.
4. Charanpaduka - It is a beautiful rock which is believed to hold the footprint of Lord Vishnu, which formed when he descended to earth at that very spot.
5.
5. Vasudhara falls is a 400 ft waterfall located on Alaknanda river. The waterfall is located 4km away from Badrinath temple, near Mana village. One myth around the falls is that the water of the fall deviates away from people who are impure at heart. Besides, the legend says Pandavas took the path of holy abode after residing near the falls for sometime.
6. Hemkund Shahib is a Gurudwara located at 4632 mts above sea level besides a mountain glacier. It is dedicated to Guru Gobind Singh. Like Badrinath, Hemkund also remain closed from October to April due to difficult weather. It opens its doors in May.
Image Courtesy: Google open source
Badrinath is one of the four Char Dham pilgrimage sites for Hindus and is visited by pilgrims from all over the world. It stands at a height of around 10,700 feet and is surrounded by snow clad mountains from all sides. Moreover, it remains open for pilgrims from the end of April to the beginning of November. During winter, the temperature falls below freezing point and when there is snowfall, Badrinath becomes breathtakingly beautiful. Though this, it remains far from normal eyesight due to landslides and snow falls.
During the floods of 2013, there had been heavy loses in the state. A number of lodges, hotels and accommodations were destroyed. Besides, the road to the temple faced major devastation. Despite this, there had been tremendous footfall at Badrinath. In the year 2017, despite bad weather warnings record breaking 8 lakh 85 thousand pilgrims visited the temple. Moreover in 2018, 8 lakh 50 thousand pilgrims were witnessed till the month of October. What really makes the temple so important is its historical value. Let’s read it to understand the undeterred trust, faith and dedication of its pilgrims.
History Of The Badrinath Temple
The Badri Vishal statue is considered one of the self-manifested or svayam vyakta kshetras. The legend says that the idol of Lord Vishnu was created by Gods. In addition, Adi Shankara discovered it in the Alakananda river in the 8th century. It is believed that Buddhist monks placed it over there. Adi Shankara enshrined it in a cave near Tapt Kund, a hot spring near Badrinath. While, later on, Brahmanujacharaya removed the statute from the cave and placed it at Badrinath. Adi Shankara established this as a pilgrimage site and spent six months of the year in Badrinath, while the rest at Kedarnath. The temple has undergone many renovations due to its age and climatic conditions. After the Himalayan earthquake in 1803, the temple was rebuilt by the King of Jaipur. It was completed 70 years later during the First World War.
Some Interesting Facts About Badrinath You Didn’t Know
1) Badrinath forms one of the four Chota Chardhams situated in Uttarakhand. The other four are Yumnotri, Gangotri and Kedarnath. It is also part of Paanch Badri Temples of Lord Vishnu. The other four are Yogdhyan Badri at Pandukeshwar, Bhavishya Badri at Subhain, near Tapovan, Vridha Badri at Animath village, and Adi Badri at Karnaprayag. These 5 Badri temples have evidences of the presence of Lord Vishnu. Besides, a pilgrimage is considered incomplete without visiting atleast two of these 4 Badri temples.
2) The statue of Badrinath placed here is considered by many Hindus to be one of the eight swayam vyakta kshetras, or self-manifested statues of Vishnu.
3) Badrinath temple is mentioned in many of Hindu holy scriptures like Skanda Purana, Vishnu Purana and Mahabharata. Besides, the area around Badrinath is considered most sacred.
4) Legend says that the place got its name because Lord Vishnu meditated here under the Badri tree. While, foreign magazines claim that the presence of dense Badri forests has contributed to the name.
5) The architecture of the temple resembles to that of a Buddhist monastery. The bright colors and the pagoda hints towards a Buddhist influence. It is believed that till 8th century, it was a Buddhist temple ,which was later converted into a Vishnu temple by Adi Shankara.
6) South Indian priests - When Adi Shankaracharya established the mandir (temple) at Badrinath, he also assigned the head priest or the Rawal of the temple. Infact , the head priest is responsible for all the priestly duties of the temple. He selected a Brahmin from the Nambudiri Brahmin family hailing all the way from the south Indian state of Kerala. The family lineage carries out the pujas up till this date. This was how Adi Shankaracharya brought together culturally different Hindus from different cardinal points of India and established the unity of Hindus across geographical barriers.
7) The door opening period: Though, the Kapat(door) to the sanctum sanctorum opens for six months and remain closed for the next six months, the opening and closing dates for the Badrinath temple aren’t fixed. These dates are decided by astrologers, priests, and purohits upon inspecting the horoscope of Tehri Naresh. On the Basant Panchami, every year, the announcement is made from the royal court of Tehri Naresh, situated near Narendra Nagar.
This year 2020, due to the fear of transmission of Novel Coronavirus, and a country-wide lock down from the month of March, the announcements were made late in date. The gates will open from 15th May, 2020 at 4:30 in the morning. Moreover, the online registration, opened from 30th April, 2020. In addition, the gates will remain open till October/ November.
8) The Kapat procession: This is a temple door opening session. The procession begins from royal court of Tehri Naresh and travels till Badrinath temple. The procession is called Gaadu Ghada or Tel Kalash Yatra. Here a pot full of semolina oil is taken through different Himalayan villages where they are worshipped at various Lakshmi Narayan temples in these villages. It takes almost a week for the procession to reach Badrinath temple. Infact, this involves much fanfare from locals till Badrinath. Therefore, everyone from sadhus (saints), priests, villagers, and even the local police join this procession with great devotion and bhakti. Though, this year it was different. The procession was a silent one. The procession passed villages like Dimmar, Simli, Karanprayag, Langasu, Pandali, and Pandukeshwar through Badrinath, where followers prayed from their own places, instead of joining in.
9) Maha Abhishek of Badri Vishal: This pooja takes place from 4:30 – 6:30 early morning every day. The bookings for this and other pooja are done either at the temple office or online. This year the booking started early May.
10) The Queen of Indore, Ahilyabai, visited the temple after its completion and donated a golden umbrella to the temple.
11) In 20th century, the kingdom of Garhwal was divided into two halves and the temple fell under the authority of British rule. But fortunately, the temple management committee was led by King of Garhwal. Even today, the priests are selected by a consultation between Garhwal successors and Travancore royal families.
12) The Badrinath statue of the Lord Vishnu is in a meditating posture called padmasana. The mythological story behind it is that a sage found him lying down and Goddess Lakshmi was massaging his feet. Seeing this, sage chastised him. Hence, to do penance for his action, the lord sat under a Badri tree in a meditating position for a long time.
Interesting Facts About The Location Of Badrinath Temple
1. Tapt Kund is a hot water spring, situated above the Alakananda river. It is believed to be the home of Lord Agni, and have a temperature of 45degree Celsius. The legend says, it has medicinal properties.
2. Neelkanth Peak - It is a snowy peak towering over the town of Badrinath. The mountain initially resisted as many as seven attempts to summit it by climbers. Visit the place during sunrise for a breathtaking view.
The golden rays of the sun crowning Neelkanth peak at dawn
3. Mata Murti Mandir - This temple is dedicated to the mother of Nara and Narayana. During September, a fair is held at this place.
4. Charanpaduka - It is a beautiful rock which is believed to hold the footprint of Lord Vishnu, which formed when he descended to earth at that very spot.
5.5. Vasudhara falls is a 400 ft waterfall located on Alaknanda river. The waterfall is located 4km away from Badrinath temple, near Mana village. One myth around the falls is that the water of the fall deviates away from people who are impure at heart. Besides, the legend says Pandavas took the path of holy abode after residing near the falls for sometime.
6. Hemkund Shahib is a Gurudwara located at 4632 mts above sea level besides a mountain glacier. It is dedicated to Guru Gobind Singh. Like Badrinath, Hemkund also remain closed from October to April due to difficult weather. It opens its doors in May.
Image Courtesy: Google open source
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