Badrinath Temple
Badarinath Temple, also known as Badarinarayana Temple, is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu. It is located in the town of Badrinath in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, India. The temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams, sacred to Vaishnavism, where Vishnu is worshipped as Badrinath. Due to extreme weather conditions in the Himalayas, the temple is open for six months each year, from late April to early November. It is one of the most visited pilgrimage centers of India, having recorded 2.8 million visits in just 2 months in 2022. It is one of the Char Dham pilgrimage sites.
The image of the presiding deity worshipped in the temple is a, the black granite deity of Vishnu in the form of Badrinarayan. The deity is considered by many Hindus to be one of eight svayam vyakta kshetras, or self-manifested deities of Vishnu.
The temple was included in the Uttar Pradesh state government Act No. 30/1948 as Act no. 16,1939, which later came to be known as "Shri Badarinath and Shri Kedarnath Mandir Act". The committee nominated by the state government administers both the temples and has seventeen members on its board.
The temple is mentioned in ancient religious texts like Vishnu Purana and Skanda Purana. It is glorified in the Naalayira Divya Prabandham, an early medieval Tamil canon of the Alvar saints from the 6th–9th centuries CE.
Location, architecture, and shrines
The temple is situated in the Garhwal Himalayas, along the banks of the Alaknanda River in Chamoli district in Uttarakhand. It lies at an elevation of 3133 m above mean sea level. Nar Parbat stands opposite to the temple, while Narayana Parbat is located behind the Neelkanth peak.Adi Shankara established Badrinath as a pilgrimage site in the ninth century. The temple comprises three structures: the Garbhagriha, the Darshan Mandapa, and Sabha Mandapa. The sanctum's conical roof is approximately 15 m tall and features a small cupola topped with a gilt gold covering. The stone façade features arched windows, and a broad stairway ascends to the main entrance, a tall arched gateway. Just inside lies a mandapa, a spacious pillared hall that leads to the sanctum, or main shrine. The walls and pillars of the hall are adorned with intricate carvings.
The main shrine contains the Shaligram deity of Badrinarayana, placed beneath a gold canopy under a Badri tree. The deity of Badrinarayana is depicted holding Panchajanya Shankha and Sudarshana Chakra in two raised arms while the other two arms rest on his lap in a Yogamudra posture. The sanctum also houses images of the god of wealthKubera, sage Narada, Uddhava, Nara and Narayana. The temple contains fifteen additional images that are worshipped within its premise. These include Lakshmi, Garuda, and Navadurga, the manifestation of Durga in nine forms. The temple also has shrines dedicated to Lakshmi Narasimhar and to saints such as Adi Shankara, Nar and Narayan, Ghantakarna, Vedanta Desika and Ramanujacharya. All of temple's deities are carved out of black stone.
The Tapt Kund, a group of hot sulphur springs just below the temple, are considered to be medicinal; many pilgrims consider it a requirement to bathe in the springs before visiting the temple. The springs have a year-round temperature of, while outside temperature is typically below all year round. The two water ponds in the temple are called Narad Kund and Surya Kund.
History
There is no historical record about the temple, but there is a mention of the presiding deity Badrinath in Vedic scriptures. According to some accounts, the shrine was worshipped in some form in the Vedic period. Later, during Ashoka's reign, because of the spread of Buddhism, this shrine might have been converted into a Buddhist shrine. The temple was a Buddhist shrine till the 8th century and Adi Shankara revived the shrine and converted it to a Hindu temple. The architecture of the temple resembling that of a Buddhist vihara and the brightly painted facade which is typical of Buddhist temples leads to the argument. Other accounts relate that it was originally established as a pilgrimage site by Adi Shankara in the ninth century. It is believed that Shankara resided in the place for six years from 814 to 820 CE. He resided six months in Badrinath and the rest of the year in Kedarnath. Hindu followers assert that he discovered the deity of Badrinath in the Alaknanda River and enshrined it in a cave near the Tapt Kund hot springs. A traditional story asserts that Adi Shankara expelled all the Buddhists in the region with the help of the Parmar ruler king Kanak Pal. The hereditary successors of the king governed the temple and endowed villages to meet its expenses. The income from a set of villages on the route to the temple was used to feed and accommodate pilgrims. The Parmar rulers held the title "Bolanda Badrinath", meaning speaking Badrinath. They had other titles, including Shri 108 Basdrishcharyaparayan Garharaj Mahimahendra, Dharmabibhab, and Dharamarakshak Sigamani.The throne of Badrinath was named after the presiding deity; the king enjoyed ritual obeisance by the devotees before proceeding to the shrine. The practice was continued until the late 19th century. During the 16th century, the King of Garhwal moved the murti to the present temple. When the state of Garhwal was divided, the Badrinath temple came under British rule but the king of Garhwal continued as the chairman of the management committee. The selection of priest is done after consultation between Garhwal and Travancore royal families.
The temple has undergone several major renovations due to its age and damage by an avalanche. In the 17th century, the temple was expanded by the Kings of Garhwal. After significant damage during the great 1803 Garhwal earthquake, it was largely rebuilt by the King of Jaipur. It was still under renovation as late as the 1870s but these were completed by the time of the First World War. At that time, the town was still small, consisting of only the 20-odd huts housing the temple's staff, but the number of pilgrims was usually between seven and ten thousand. The Kumbh Mela festival held every twelve years raised the number of visitors to 50,000. The temple also enjoyed revenue from the rents owed to it by various villages bequeathed by various rajas.
During 2006, the state government announced the area around Badrinath as a no construction zone to curb illegal encroachment.
Legend
According to Hindu legend, Vishnu sat in meditation at this place. During his meditation, Vishnu was unaware of cold weather. Lakshmi, his consort, protected him in the form of the Badri tree. Pleased by the devotion of Lakshmi, Vishnu named the place Badrika Ashrama. According to Atkinson, the place used to be a jujube forest, which is not found there today. Vishnu in the form of Badrinath is depicted in the temple sitting in the padmasana posture. According to Brahma Vaivarta purana, Vishnu was chastised by sage Narada, who saw Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi, massaging his feet. Vishnu went to Badrinath to perform austerity, meditating for a long time in padmasana.The Vishnu Purana narrates another version of the origins of Badrinath. According to the tradition, Yama had two sons, Nara, and Narayanaboth of which are modern names of Himalayan mountains. They chose the place to spread their religion and each of them wed the spacious valleys in the Himalayas. Searching for an ideal place to set up a hermitage, they came across the other four Badris of the Pancha Badri, namely Adibadri, Bridha Badri, Yoga-Dhyana Badri and Bhavisha Badri. They finally found the hot and cold spring behind the Alaknanda River and named it "Badri Vishala."
Literature
The temple finds mention in several ancient books like Bhagavata Purana, Skanda Purana and Mahabharata. According to the Bhagavata Purana, "here in Badrikashram the Personality of Godhead, in his incarnation as the sages Nar and Narayana, had been undergoing great penance since time immemorial for the welfare of all living entities". The Skanda Purana states that "here are several sacred shrines in heaven, on earth, and in hell; but there is no shrine like Badrinath". The area around Badrinath is also celebrated in Padma Purana as abounding in spiritual treasures. The Mahabharata revered the holy place as the one which can give salvation to devotees arriving close to if, while in other holy places they must perform religious ceremonies. The temple is revered in Nalayira Divya Prabandham, in 11 hymns in the 7th–9th century Vaishnava canon by Perialvar and in 13 hymns by Thirumangai Alvar. It is one of the 108 Divya Desam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Badrinath. The temple is referred as Tiruvatariyaacciraamam in Tamil literature.Pilgrimage
Devotees of all faiths and all schools of thought of Hinduism visit the Badrinath Temple. All the major monastic institutions like Kashi Math, Jeeyar Mutt, Udupi Pejavar and Manthralayam Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutts have their branches and guest houses there.The Badrinath temple is one of five related shrines called Panch Badri, which are dedicated to the worship of Vishnu. The five temples are Vishal Badri - Badrinath Temple in Badrinath, Yogadhyan Badri located at Pandukeshwar, Bhavishya Badri located from Jyotirmath at Subain, Vridh Badri located from Jyotirmath in Animath and Adi Badri located from Karnaprayag. The temple is considered one of the holiest Hindu Char Dham sites, comprising Rameswaram, Badrinath, Puri and Dwarka. Although the temple's origins are not clearly known, the Advaita school of Hinduism established by Adi Shankara attributes the origin of Char Dham to the seer. The four monasteries are located across the four corners of India and their attendant temples are Badrinath Temple at Badrinath in the North, Jagannath Temple at Puri in the East, Dwarakadheesh Temple at Dwarka in the West and Rameshwaram at Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu in the South.
Though ideologically the temples are divided between the sects of Hinduism, namely Saivism and Vaishnavism, the Char Dham pilgrimage is an all-Hindu affair. There are four abodes in the Himalayas called Chota Char Dham : Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotriall of which lie in the foothills of the Himalayas. The name Chota was added during the mid of 20th century to differentiate the original Char Dhams. As the number of pilgrims to these places has increased in modern times, it is called Himalayan Char Dham.
The journey across the four cardinal points in India is considered sacred by Hindus, who aspire to visit these temples once in their lifetimes. Traditionally, the pilgrimage starts at the eastern end from Puri, proceeding clockwise in a manner typically followed for circumambulation in Hindu temples.