Badrīnāth

Viṣṇu as Badrīnārāyaṇa · Alaknandā valley, Uttarakhand

Badrīnāth is the northern dhām, set on the Alaknandā between the Nara and Nārāyaṇa peaks. Viṣṇu is worshipped here as Badrīnārāyaṇa, seated in meditation, in a black stone image. By an old custom the chief priest, the Rāval, comes from a Nambūdiri family of Kerala — a living link between north and south.

Pilgrims bathe in the hot spring of Tapta Kuṇḍa before darśana and often visit Māṇā village nearby. The temple opens around late April or May and closes in November; in winter worship moves to Jyotirmaṭh and Pāṇḍukeśvar.

Tradition says Viṣṇu sat here in deep meditation, and Lakṣmī shielded him from the weather by becoming a badrī (jujube) tree — hence “Badrī-nātha”, Lord of the Badrī. Another tradition says Ādi Śaṅkara recovered the image from the Nārada Kuṇḍa in the river and reinstalled it in the temple.

Uttarakhand · North · Jyotirmaṭha · Open ~May–Nov · Viṣṇu

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