Badrinath Temple

Badrinath Temple or Badrinarayana Temple is a Hindu temple in the city of Badrinath in the Indian state of Uttarakhand . The temple is dedicated to Vishnu and is one of the most sacred Hindu temples. Badrinath is one of the four Hindu pilgrimage sites of Char-dham and Chota-char-dham . Badrinath Temple is also one of the 108 Vaishnava pilgrimage sites of Divyadesham . Due to the harsh weather in the Himalayas , the temple is open annually only from late April to early November.

In the temple, several deities are worshiped . The main one is the one-meter murti Vishnu, made of black salagram and called "Badrinarayan". Many Hindus consider this murti to be one of the eight vayakta-ksetra piles , or self-manifest miracles of Vishnu. ^[1] Murti depicts Vishnu sitting in a meditative position, rather than in a more common reclining position. Every year in November, when the season ends and all the inhabitants leave Badrinath, the deity is transferred to Jyotirmath .

The height of the temple is 15 meters. It is crowned with a dome covered with gold leaf. ^[2] The facade is built of stone, with arched windows. A wide staircase leads to the gate, which is the main entrance to the temple. The architecture of the temple resembles Buddhist viharas . The facade of the temple is also in the Buddhist style painted with bright colors. Mandapa walls and columns are decorated with exquisite carvings. ^[one]

The main sanctuary is the deity of Badrinarayana, which stands on a golden pedestal under the tree of Badri. Another 15 murti, which are also worshiped by believers, are also installed in the charm. Among them there are deities Nara-Narayana , Narasimha , Lakshmi , Narada , Ganesha , Uddhava , Kuvera , Garuda and Navadurga . ^[1] The most typical offerings to deities are sweets, dried fruits, and tulasi leaves.

Near the temple is located the hot spring of Tapta-kunda, in which, as a rule, pilgrims take bath before receiving darshan in the temple. The water temperature in Kunda stays around 45 ° C all year round.

Although the Badrinath Temple is located in the far north of India, its main priests come from the Kerala Brahmin family of Nambudiri . This tradition was started by Shankara , who himself was from Kerala . Nambudiri are the most orthodox of all the brahminical genera of India.

Badrinath is first mentioned in the Vedic scriptures . There are several legends explaining why in this temple Vishnu is depicted in a sitting, not reclining position. According to one of them, once the holy sage scolded Vishnu, seeing his wife Lakshmi massaging his feet. After that, Vishnu retired to Badrinath, where he performed austerities for a long time, sitting in a meditative pose. ^[1] According to another legend, Shiva and Parvati performed tapasya in Badrinath. Once, Vishnu appeared before them in the form of a crying boy. When Parvati asked him why he was crying, the boy replied that he would very much like to meditate in Badrinath. Shiva and Parvati, realizing that it was Narayana himself, left Badrinath and continued to meditate at Kedarnath .

In the Bhagavata Purana it is said: “There, in Badarikasrama, the Supreme Lord, embodied in the form of the sages Nara and Narayana , from time immemorial performs great austerities for the benefit of all living beings dear to His heart.” ^[3] The Skanda Purana states that “There are many sacred places in heaven, on earth, and in hell; but not one of them can be compared with Badrinath. " The Padma Purana says that Badrinath and the districts are "full of spiritual treasures." ^[2]