Badrīnāth (Chota Char Dhām)

Viṣṇu · Chamoli district, Uttarakhand

Badrīnāth closes the Himalayan circuit and is also the northern dhām of the all-India Char Dhām (see that section). It is reachable by road, so it is the easiest of the four for elderly pilgrims.

Near the town are Brahma Kapāl, a riverside platform where many perform śrāddha for their ancestors; Māṇā village with the caves remembered as those of Vyāsa and Gaṇeśa; and the Vasudhārā falls. Pañca Badrī — five Viṣṇu shrines in the region — form a further circuit for those with time.

Tradition says that at Māṇā, near Badrīnāth, Vyāsa dictated the Mahābhārata and Gaṇeśa wrote it down, on the condition that Gaṇeśa would never pause and Vyāsa would compose verses that Gaṇeśa had to understand before writing. The Sarasvatī river is said to appear briefly nearby before merging with the Alaknandā.

Uttarakhand · Reachable by road · Brahma Kapāl · Māṇā village

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