Badrinath is one of the holy shrines for Vaishnavites among the 108 divya desams incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Badrinath town is also the part of Panch Badri temples including Yog Dhyan Badri, Bhavishya Badri, Adi Badri and Vriddha Badri, along with Badrinath temple.
Badrinath temple is located at an altitude of about 3415 mts above the sea level in the Chamoli District of Uttarakhand. The temple is located in Silent valley of Garhwal Himalayas on the seashore of flowing water of Alaknanda river. Everyone heared about the marvellous or stunning beauty of Badrinath town, with pleasant weather, dense forest, snow clad Mountains, holy river with surrounding green valley which attracts tourists from india as well as from abroad.
Note: The Temple of Badrinath Dham is closed during winters, you can check the closing and opening dates here.
Although Badrinath temple was built by the Adi Shankaracharya, who initially discovered the Badrinarayan idol in the Alakananda River and installed it in hot water spring of Tapt Kund. Present temple was built by King of Garhwal in 16th century. Ornament Stones, Impressive traditional carving, Pillars Design is the first features to strike lots of devotees visually. The Archectiture appearance of the Badrinath temple is similar to the appearence of Buddhist Vihara temple.
According to legend it is believed that At the time of Satya yuga , Lord Shiva meditated here for thousands of years when Goddess Lakshmi provided shadow over her husband in the form of a Badri tree. So the place came to be known as name of Badrinath. Actually, the whole valley encompassing Kedar-Badri was the home of Lord Shiva. It is one of the reason that, The Temple is flooded with devotees during mahashivratri Festival as well.
At the entrance gate of Badrinath Temple, main idol of Lord Shiva is Placed on Bird Garud, the vehicle of Lord Badrinarayan. When you will enter the main Sanctum you will find mediated Adi Shankaracharya Murti. You will find many images of gods namely Kuber, Sridevi and Bhoodevi as well as the sages Nar, Narayan, Bhakta Narada all are seated around the main Deity of Lord Shiva. There are many shrines in and around the temple such as Goddess Laxmi, Hanuman, Narsimha, Nar-Narayan, Ghanta Karna and an Ashta bhuja Ganesha. The diety of Badrinath temple is made of black stone shaligram.
Note: Photography is Prohibited inside the Badrinath temple.
There are many festival like Kedar-Badri Utsav, Janam-ashtami, Mata Mruti Ka Mela are celebrated. Along with Badrinath temple, there are many place of sightseeing namely Panch Prayag temple, Badhri Naryanan Temple, Vasudhara Falls, Hot Geyser (tapt kunds or hot water springs), Bheem Pul, Mana Village etc.
