Finally we were at one of the 108 Divya Desams; only temple to be part of the actual Chardam, the temple dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Badrinath located 3,133 m (10,279 ft) above the sea level, in Garhwal hill tracks along the banks of the Alaknanda River in Chamoli district in Uttarakhand our first destination among the four, in the Chota Char Dam category. As per the general route this would be the last of the four to be visited. By the time we reached the locality, it would have been 8 pm, was very cold and drizzling. There was no single residence for all, and we stayed at split places. Temple was less than two kilometres stay from our residence, but there was no proper roads. The urge to view the temple was irresistible, and the night view was mesmerising.
The architecture resembled a Buddhist vihara (temple), with the brightly painted facade also more typical of Buddhist temples, vivid and colourful.
Next day early morning we again went there.
The Nar Parbat mountain is located opposite to the temple, while the Narayana Parbat is located behind the Neelkanth peak. Temple is 9 km east of Nilkantha peak which is 6,596m. According to the Vishnu Purana, Dharam had two sons, Nar, and Narayan—both 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 Bridha Badri, Yog Bhadri, Dhyan Badri and Bhavish Badri. They finally found the hot and cold spring behind the Alaknanda River and named it Badri Vishal.
Yes, that is what we had been chanting for three days 'Jai Badri Vishal'. This temple is open for six months every year (between the end of April and the beginning of November), because of extreme weather conditions in the Himalayan region.
As we were reaching there could see smoke around the temple - which we felt was mist. Only to realise it was the vapour comming from the Kund. 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 55 °C (131 °F), while outside temperature is typically below 17 °C (63 °F) all year round. The two water ponds in the temple are called Narad Kund and Surya Kund.
The crowd and queue is so long, at any point of time - we had to stand in queue for long - and there were people trying to get in between all the while, and everyone shouting from behind.
Badri refers to "Badrayana", another name for Rishi Ved Vyas who is believed to have resided in this region. It is also known as "Badarikashrama". Some say the name is attributed to Badri Tulsi, found around the place, and this place had ''Badri'' which means berry in local language so the temple and lord here is also referred to as the lord of Berry trees.
According to legend, Adi Shankaracharya discovered a black stone image of Lord Badrinarayan made of Shaligram stone in the Alaknanda River. He originally enshrined it in a cave near the Tapt Kund hot springs. In the sixteenth century, the King of Garhwal moved the murti to the present temple.
The image of the presiding deity worshipped in the temple is a 1 ft (0.30 m), Shaligram - black granite of Vishnu in the form of Badrinarayan considered by many as one of the eight swayam vyakta kshetras, or self-manifested deities of Vishnu. This is housed in a gold canopy under a Badri Tree. The deity of Lord Badrinarayana shows Him holding a Shankha (conch) and a Chakra (wheel) in two of His arms in a lifted posture and the other two arms resting on His lap in a Yogamudra (Padmasana) posture.
The temple has three structures:
- the Garbhagriha (sanctum),
- the Darshan Mandap (worship hall), and
- Sabha Mandap (convention hall).
The conical-shaped roof of the sanctum, the garbhagriha, is approximately 15 m (49 ft) tall with a small cupola on top, covered with a gold gilt roof. The facade is built of stone and has arched windows. A broad stairway leads up to the main entrance, a tall, arched gateway. Just inside is a mandap, a large, pillared hall that leads to the sanctum, or main shrine area. The walls and pillars of the hall are covered with intricate carvings.
The sanctum also houses images of the god of wealth—Kubera, sage Narada, Uddhava, Nar and Narayan. There are fifteen more images that are also worshipped around the temple. These include that of Lakshmi (the consort of Vishnu), Garuda (the vahana of Narayan), and Navadurga, the manifestation of Durga in nine different forms. The temple also has shrines of Lakshmi Narasimhar and for saints Adi Shankara (AD 788-820), Nar and Narayan, Ghantakarna,Vedanta Desika and Ramanujacharya. All the deities of the temple are made of black stone.
Conch(shankh) is not blown in Badrinath temple, there are both spiritual and scientific reasons to it. Spiritual reason involves the hiding of demon Vatapi in the conch of Badrinath temple and the scientific reason is because of the frequency emitted by the conch, there are chances that an avalanche can come and destroy the area.
During the end of the visiting season and before closing the door of the temple, an ancient lamp is lighted which remains lit throughout the time when the temple is closed for darshan. It is called Akand Jyothi or eternal flame. When the temple is closed for us (humans), sage Narada takes over the temple worship and which he does through out his day i.e for six months. I have visited the temple three times and my friends and family visit it every two or three years. There is no speciality about the oil being used its just the normal oil. Its pure divine grace that the lamp still continues even after shutting down for six months. According to our time scale six months of us is one day time for `devathaas`. Of course this time scale will vary as we go to Indra, Rudra and Bramha.
Breakfast was followed by Pitrutarpanam at Brahma Kapal by those who wanted to do it. It came with nominal fees. This is on the banks of Alaknanda river, around half a kilometer away from the temple - parallel to the queue to temple entry. It is belived that Lord Brahma himself existed at this place, and on performing rituals for the departed soul of deceased family members here, they get salvation from the cycles of birth and death one after the other.
The cosmic subtle body called the Hiranyagarbhah, is said to be the creator of the entire universe. This creator is Brahma. The cosmic subtle body is the aggregate of all subtle bodies of all living beings. According to legend Brahma, was initially born with a single head. However, when he created Goddesses Saraswati out of one of his own limbs, he fell in love with her at once. Goddesses Saraswati was, on the other hand, trying to run away from him out of her shyness. Now, to keep track of the movements of Goddesses Saraswati in every direction, Lord Brahma created four more heads for himself. The five heads together kept a thorough watch in all the four cardinal directions as well as the upward direction to report the whereabouts of Goddesses Saraswati (This was why, when Goddesses Saraswati wanted to get away from Lord Brahma at Prayag, she took the form of a river which flowed into the earth, the only direction in which Brahma could not see). With his five heads, Lord Brahma strutted over the whole wide world, swollen with pride and glory at the beauty of his creation. He spoke ill words about the Devtas and the other Trimurtis. He became vain and intolerable and soon the Devas were vexed with his behavior. They approached Lord Shiva and pleaded him to end this new found pride of Lord Brahma. Once in Shivas absence when Brahma visited his abode at Kailash, Shakti thought it was Shiva comming, and was performing Pada pooja, when Shiva arrived. Shakti looked up, and seeing the livid face of Lord Shiva, she at once realized her mistake and ran away from the spot. Lord Shiva tore of Brahma’s fifth head and fulfilled his promise to the Devas. Lord Brahma became four-headed as we know him today and meekly walked away, his heads hung in shame. However, that was just the beginning of an untold misery for Lord Shiva. Since Lord Shiva had tortured Lord Brahma, the chief Brahmana, he was inflicted with the Brahmahathi Dosha. Lord Brahma’s skull (Kapalam) stuck to Lord Shiva’s hands and refused to fall off. Lord Shiva went from one place to another in search for liberation from the curse, Lord Narayana for a solution, who guides him to Badrikashrama. The moment he entered Bhadrikashrama, he started shivering the head of Lord Brahma got detached from Shiva's hand and fell on the ground disappearing from the site. Then on, this became a fond site of Shiva just like Kashi. He resides here in the form of Adi -Kedar Shivalinga. Those devotees who worship the Adi-kedar Shivalinga located beneath the Lotus feet of Lord Badri Naryan remain eternal.
Mana Village– It is the last Indian village before Tibet and is home to the ‘Vyas Cave’ and ‘Ganesh Temple’. It is believed that great sage Vyas while composing the Mahabharata took the help of Lord Ganesh to write it in a great speed. Vyas Cave and Ganesh Temple are associated with this legend.
There were many local shops enroute.
Bheem Pul a natural rock bridge which according to mythology, is believed to have been constructed by Bheema by laying a huge rock on the Saraswati River, while their ascent to heaven.
Vasudhara Falls– These beautiful falls can be reached through a 6 km. trek from the Mana Village. Captivating views of snow clad Himalayas and glaciers feeding the Alaknanda River are just a sight to behold at the Vasudhara Falls.
Evening we went to the temple again - Sat and prayed at the Sabha mandapam. Some of them made additional payment to see God being put to sleep known as Shainarathi dharashan.
Again thought of similarity and differences between Tibet, and Garwal, and the boundaries.
Then we went to meet Rawath the chief priest who gifted us dresses doned by Bhadri Vishal and Bhadri - Tulsi.
"ബദരീനാഥ് ക്ഷേത്രത്തിലെ മുഖ്യ പുരോഹിതനുംക്ഷേത്രം ഉൾപ്പെടുന്ന മന വില്ലേജിന്റെ അധിപനുമായ ശ്രീ റാവൽജിക്കൊപ്പം "
Next day morning, we again went around the temple, and shopping places around. After the darshans of Lord Badri at Badrinath, we set on for the next leg. As per one of the legends, the indulgent lifestyle of Lord Vishnu was criticised by a sage, after which Vishnu went to meditate as an act of penance, over here. Goddess Laxmi (his wife) became a berry tree to shade him from the sun and other harsh elements of nature. Another divine tale states that Badrinath used to be the realm of Shiva. Vishnu tricked Shiva into leaving the site and established himself instead. Shiva then went to Kedarnath and found a place for him there.
As we were waiting for the bus to start, happen to see Crows that had yellow beaks.
Surprised and Googled it said: The Alpine chough, or yellow-billed chough is a bird in the crow family, one of only two species in the genus Pyrrhocorax. Its two subspecies breed in high mountains from Spain eastwards through southern Europe and North Africa to Central Asia and Nepal, and it may nest at a higher altitude than any other bird. Wikipedia. Scientific name: Pyrrhocorax graculus
It was with mixed feeling that we bid Good Bye to Jai Bhadri Vishal
A three day trek from Badrinath takes you to Satopanth lake, this is believed to be the last journey of the Pandavas. Currently no one stays at Satopanth during winters, there are a few babas, Sadhus who stay there during summers only
The spiritual supermarket based on Mahavatar babaji’s name. Real Yogis and dongi Yogis. We did have a 'Yogi' visiting our room as well. Person from kerala - how are we to know if he is real or dongi?
From Badrinath there were two routes to our next destination Kedarnath, one thought Chopta and Ukhimath and other skipping that.
Return trip until some distance was through the same route as we went, passing through Vishnu Prayag, Joshimatt, Pipel kotti, Chamoli, Nandprayag, Karnaprayag and finally stay at Rudraprayag, at the Banks of river Mandakini.
Hanuman Temple
Karnprayag is situated on the confluence of Alaknanda River and Pindar River. According to the puranas, it is at this place where Karna worshipped the Sun God. According to a second story, Lord Krishna cremated Karna at this place and hence the name ‘Karnaprayag’. Ancient ‘Karna Temple’ and ‘Uma Devi Temple’ are the main attractions of this place. We just saw these places sitting in bus, did not get down.
Rudrayprayag was our stopover enroute to Kedarnath. We stayed there that night. It is a religious town located on the confluence of rivers Alaknanda and Mandakini. It is believed that Lord Shiva appeared here in his Rudra avatar to bless rishi Narad. Bountiful beauty of the town with its shimmering rivers, majestic Himalayas, gushing waterfalls and salubrious weather, makes this place a hotspot for tourists throughout the year. Rudranath Temple– The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva in his rudra avatar. The river bank reminded me of Athrapilly.
Next day set on to Kedarnath, a Jyotirlinga. A Jyotirlinga is a shrine where Lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of a fiery column of light. ‘Jyoti’ means ‘radiance’ and Lingam, the Shiva Lingam-‘the mark or sign’ of the Almighty or the phallus symbol. Hence, Jyotirlingam means the the radiant sign of the Almighty. There are twelve traditional Jyotirlinga shrines in India. They are Somnath in Gujarat belived to be the first, Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh, Mahakaleswar at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Uttrakhand, Bhimashankar at Pune in Maharashtra, Viswanath at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Tryambakeshwar at Nashik in Maharashtra, Vaijyanath Temple in Deoghar District of Jharkhand, Aundha Nagnath at Aundha in Hingoli District in Maharashtra, Rameshwar at Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu and Grushneshwar at Ellora near Aurangabad, in Maharashtra.
Kedarnath known as the land of Lord Shiva, has the highest located jyotirling. Situated in the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, Kedarnath is the most remote pilgrimage spot in the yatra. It is believed that originally the temple of Kedarnath was built by Pandavas. And Adi Shankaracharya got the present structure constructed in the 8th century adjacent to the old temple site. The grey stone structure is an architectural marvel because of its imposing design and its ability to survive for so many centuries in such a harsh terrain.
We finally reached sitapur near Kedarnath. Some wanted helicopter, others wanted to walk. Weather was not very good. Our helicopter bookings were cancelled.
On 18th around 3.30 am started our walk towards Kedarnath, 2kms walk from our residence at Sitapur, to Swarnaprayag. 5kms drive to swarnaprayag. Kedarnath temple to horse camp it was around 1.5 kms walk , from horse stable to Gaurikund. Then 14.5 kms horse ride uphill. Finally 2 kms walk, There was a message from Chittapan: " When walking don't look at surroundings. Stop walking and then look the Pragithi bhangees. It is safe. "
HariOM... Jai jai sankaran jai Kedarnathjee, Sambo Mahadeva...We kept Chanting, first reaching Gaurikund. This place is located 15km. ahead of Gupt Kashi and is the base site from where the trek of around 20 km commencs to reach Kedarnath. Pilgrims first take bath in the hot waters of the Gaurikund and pay homage in the ‘Gauri Temple’ before proceeding with their journey to Kedarnath. As per mythological beliefs, Gaurikund is the place where Goddess Parvati meditated to attain Lord Shiva as her husband. According to a second belief, Lord Shiva blessed Lord Ganesha with the elephant head at this sacred site of Gaurikund.
Saw sun after almost 5 days....On reaching top, I was dead tired, we had taken horse. I could not walk the stretch of 2kms, and had to be carried in a basket, for may be half a km. for which I paid 500 Rs. There were good doctors, and nice facility. They gave me medicine and asked me to slow down. Take things slowly.
The temple would close at 3pm and then reopen at 5 pm.
There were many sadus around, and Adhidankaracharya's Prathishta and Samadhisthal which were on the side of Kedharnath temple was destroyed in 2013 flood, but was being reconstructed.
It is also believed that for many years, probably for a century, around 14th C - this temple was coverd in snow, which was known to be Snow age. Bhairav Temple– Dedicated to Lord Bhairavnath, who is believed to be the guardian deity of Kedarnath town and temple while everything is covered under snow during winters, can be reached through a 1 km. hike from the Kedarnath Temple. It is said that the views of the Kedarnath valley from the Bhairavnath Temple are indescribable in words, but we could not reach there.
Also there is Vasuki Tal a sacred lake where Lord Vishnu is believed to have bathed in ancient times. The Tal can be reached through an 8 km. challenging trek from the Kedarnath Temple. Which we did not do as we had to reach the base.
It was just three of us. Expecting our horses to be there still waiting, or deciding to take another one. People asked if we needed Doli. It was around 6 pm, but the surrounding was turning misty and dark.
Fellow sufferer turned friends. They were blessing in disguise. It was not just the three of us. As we reached the Horse station, there were no horses and there would not be for the day. We were told that it would be available only the next day. There were few other people stuck there like us.
Getting accommodation at that time of the day was tough and some of them had pressing need to reach down for variety reasons, like medicines, family waiting etc. I too had not taken my medicines. It was tough to find a room too, was wondering if we should stay in one of the tents, but it was very cold - around 4 degree. Got to know that few people who had come by helicopter had not got their return flights and found a room. They were kind enough to share it with us. In a two or three bed room, we were 8 of us, all hefty. Woke up early and around 4.30 or 5 am reached the helipad, with the intention of taking a helicopter. But it was raining cats and dogs. They ran helicopter for sometime, but then it was stopped. Finally around noon we decided to get down on horse back. Weight permitted was 60 kg, and I was overweight but they let me in. The view around was enchanting. No restrooms in between. Lot of horses. What we heard was that if any horse dies , they are thrown down into the river :-(After reaching down we had to follow the same method, once offboarded from the horse, walk to almost 2 kms, there was a long queue, then cab , walk again. I was literally sleep walking unaware of what is going around. There was one guy from Kashi, who arrange a cab to take us to to Uttara Kashi.
Pandavas were searching for Lord Shiva to absolve themselves from their sins committed at the battlefield of Mahabharata. Lord Shiva was in no mood to forgive them so easily, so he converted himself into a bull and went to Garhwal side of Uttarakhand. On being found by the Pandavas, he dived into the ground. Different parts of the Lord came up at different parts - hump at Kedarnath, arms at Tunganath, navel at Madhya-Maheshwar, face at Rudranath and hair emerged at Kalpeshwar. Taken together, these five sites are known as Panch-kedar. Pandavas got temples made at each of the five places. So there are four temples around Kedarnath itself, namely- Tungnath, Rudranath, Madhyamaheshwar and Kalpeshwar which form the Panch Kedar pilgrimage sites.
Jai Jai Mahadeva; Jai Jai Sankara chanting this, we bid good bye to Kedarnath on to Uttara Kashi to visit Ganga Ma.
"കേദാർനദിൽ നിന്നും ഉത്തരകാശിയിലേക്കുള്ള യാത്രയിൽ....., മല ഇടിഞ്ഞുവീണ് വഴി ബ്ലോക്കായിരുന്നു."
We went through alternative narrow road, in a special vehicle - 9 of us. Life is what happens to us when we are busy making other plans. Though expected to have found the group, as we set out for the journey, ended up with a different group altogether. Interestingly and unknowingly, Mythili Aunty too was stuck and was part of this group.
It was a beautiful temple, with people singing, different idols, but my main attraction, which I kept starring at was a long Thrissul at Sri. Shakti Mandir.
- 3 forces held by Shiva - Creation, Sustenance and Destruction
- Ability to administer fierce justice on the universe's three planes - spiritual, subtle and physical.
Goddess Ganga, is said to have descended on earth to absolve the sins of human kind. The river originates at Gaumukh from the Gangotri glacier which is some 18 km from the town of Gangotri. At Gangotri we have the main shrine dedicated to Goddess Ganga. Serene and tranquil settings of the temple provide us with inner peace and solitude.
Chanted 'Jai Gange Ma' and got home bottles of Ganga water too.
Other attractions here are Submerged Shivlinga– This is a natural rock Shivlinga submerged under water and is visible when the water level decreases during certain time periods. As per the beliefs, the place where Shivlinga resides, Lord Shiva sat to receive River Ganga in his matted locks to minimise the devastating effect on earth from her majestic flow. Another most famous attraction in Gangotri is the picturesque ‘Suryakund Waterfall’ that is located half a kilometre ahead of the Gangotri Temple. As we walk past the Suryakund waterfall in the forest for around 2 km. we reach the Pandava Cave. It is believed that Pandavas of Mahabharata stayed in the cave during their ascent to heaven after the battle. Bhagirathi Shila is the holy rock near the banks of Bhagirathi where King Bhagirath prayed to Lord Shiva.
We did not go towards ‘Gaumukh Glacier’ a must-see place in Gangotri. To visit Gaumukh, one need to trek uphill a distance of 18km. on foot from Gangotri and take special permits from the forest department office in Uttarkashi as the route is quite prone to landslides. Panoramic views of the surrounding Himalayan peaks and beautiful meadows will enamour you in the mood of spirituality. From Gaumukh, few courageous people also head towards the scenic sites of Tapovan and Nandanvan from where the views of Shivling Peak are just indescribable in words. These treks are quite arduous and one needs to be mentally prepared for accidents and natural calamities.
"King Sagar undertook an Ashwamedha Yagna and sent his 60,000 sons along with the horse. The horse was lost; tracing the horse to the Sage Kapila's ashram, the 60,000 sons stormed the ashram and disturbed sage who was in deep meditation. Enraged Kapila opened his fiery eyes that turned all 60,000 sons into ashes. Later, on Kapila's advice, Anshuman (Sagar's grandson) started praying to Goddess Ganga, requesting her to come down to earth to cleanse the ashes of his relatives and grant salvation to them. Anshuman failed in his aim; it was his grandson Bhagirath whose rigorous meditation made Ganga to come down to earth. Lord Shiva tied Ganga and distributed its water in a number of streams to save the earth from its mighty force."
After the divine darshans of Gangaji at Gangotri, the journey to the fourth and final Dham of Yamunothri - Thanking God that we could make this.
Oops - but then:
രാധേ ശ്യാം...
മണ്ണിടിച്ചിൽ കാരണം ചാർധാം യാത്രയിൽ തടസ്സം.
ജയ് ബദരി വിശാൽ ..
On the third day morning, though there were still mud falling from above, vehicle started moving slowly, finally we were all relived. Uttarakhand government was offering Poori-Baji to all stuck - Kilometres and Kilometres.
Missed Yamunothri, but got back to Haridwar via Maneri lake/dam via Uttara kashi. Passed through that way, but did not stop there. Went direct to haridwar. Reached there after midnight. This time our stay was on the other side, 2nd floor.
In Hindi, Haridwar stands for Dwar of Hari or Gateway to God, with 'Hari' meaning god and 'dwar' meaning gate. Haridwar is regarded as one of the seven holiest places to Hindus.
Then we went to Mansa Devi Temple, perched on a hill top, reached through a cable car ride. It is believed that Goddess Mansa fulfils the wishes of her devotee, so, lots of pilgrims flock to the temple to have their wishes fulfilled from the Goddess. Devotees tie a thread with their wish to the branches of a sacred tree in the temple and when the wish gets fulfilled, they come back again to untie the thread from the tree.
The scenic beauty is something worth beholding and their natural charm is a must-experience in the state.
On 25th morning we boarded bus to return to Delhi with a breakfast break - It was our bus driver who dropped us to airport enroot, taking us to amazing sweet shop. But we missed Sreelatha Cheechis singing with great clarity.
The trip was just for two week, but it has been more than a month since return, and a part of me is still there. Am yet to recover from the journey slipping into Quiescence.
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