Badrinath Temple- An Itinerary Guide — Himalayan Gypsy

5 min readNov 6, 2019

India is the best in terms of pilgrimage, temples and divine aspects. Moreover, the pilgrimages in India experience a massive gathering of people every day. Badrinath Temple or Badrinath Dham is one of the glorious temples in India. Nestled in the hilly regions of Badrinath town in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, Badrinath temple is devoted to Lord Vishnu.

Significance of the Badrinath Temple

The history of Badrinath Temple contributes to the prominence of this temple. Some pieces of evidence describe that the temple was initially a Buddhist shrine. Later, Adi Shankara converted it to a Hindu temple. Adi Shankara found the idol of Lord Vishnu (Badrinath or Badrinarayana) in the Alakananda River. And he placed the idol in the temple.

Ancient scripts tell that Lord Vishnu had meditated at Badrinath. And Goddess Lakshmi arrived in the form of Badri tree to protect him from the extreme weather condition. Badri tree is the Jujube tree i.e. the Indian Date. Formerly, the place was the residence of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Lord Vishnu arrived there as a small boy and cried out loudly asking that he wanted to meditate there. Eventually, Lord Shiva and Parvati realised that Lord Vishnu has taken up the form of a boy. So, they moved to Kedarnath leaving the place.

Initially, a Buddhist shrine the temple has unique Buddhist architecture. The temple ushers visitors only between April to November for these months of the year have favourable climate conditions than the rest.

Equally important, the Badrinath Dham celebrates the festival known as Mata Murti ka Mela. This festival symbolises the Descent of the Ganges on Mother Earth.

An Itinerary Guide to Badrinath Temple

One can travel to the holy town of Badrinath by road, rail and airways.

Tourist buses and public transport buses are available to Badrinath temple. The buses connect Badrinath town with places of Rishikesh, Dehradun, Delhi, Haridwar, Haryana, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Lucknow, etc. One may avail the bus facilities from various websites providing the services.

The nearest railway station to Badrinath is at Rishikesh. The next nearest railway station to Badrinath is in Haridwar. And the Dehradun railway station is also closer. From these railway stations of Rishikesh, Haridwar and Dehradun one has to travel by road to Badrinath Temple.

Some of the trains from major cities are:

New Delhi to Rishikesh- Rishikesh Passenger

New Delhi to Haridwar Junction- The trains from New Delhi to Haridwar are Udaipur-Haridwar Express, Mumbai Bandra T- Dehradun Express, New Delhi- Dehradun Shatabdi Express, Mumbai LTT- Haridwar AC SF Express, Old Delhi- Haridwar Passenger, Mumbai Bandra T- Haridwar SF Express, Valsad- Haridwar SF Express, Ujjain- Dehradun Ujjaini Express, Indore Dehradun Express, Puri- Haridwar Kalinga Utkal Express, New Delhi- Dehradun Jan Shatabdi Express, Madurai- Dehradun SF Express, Kota- Dehradun Nanda Devi AC Express.

Some of the above trains are available from Mumbai as well.

Kolkata to Haridwar Junction- Howrah- Haridwar Kumbha SF Express, Howrah- Dehardun Upsana SF Express, Lucknow to Haridwar, Gorakhpur- Dehradun Rapti Ganga Express, Varanasi- Dehradun Janta Express

Although Rishikesh railway station is closer, all the above routes are connected to Haridwar. The main route to reach Badrinath is through Joshimath. Joshimath is around 10 hours away from Haridwar.

The nearest airport to Badrinath is the Jolly Grant Airport, Dehradun at a distance of 310 km. This airport connects the major cities of the country. From this airport, one has to travel by road to Badrinath Temple.

Badrinath Dham Darshan

The visitors can view the deity by walking in through a queue. Also, tokens are issued to visitors to manage the crowd.

The temple chores begin at 4:30 am starting with Abhishek Pooja . The public entrance is open from 6:30 am to 12:00 pm and again from 3 pm to 9 pm. The auspicious view of the diety can be experienced early in the morning i.e. from 6:30 am.

The rituals and offerings to God take place throughout the day. The devotees can perform these rituals, the fee of which ranges from Rs. 151 to Rs. 35,101.

Inside the Badrinath Temple

The idol of the deity which was found by Adi Shankara in Alakananda River is erected as the main attraction. The Badrinath idol is made up of Shaligram (black stone) and is 3.3 feet (or 1 meter) high. The position of the deity is in meditation under a Badri (Jujube) tree.

Besides, there are idols of many other deities like Lord Ganesha, Goddess Lakshmi, Lord Krishna, Garuda( the Eagle), Kubera, etc around the temple.

Travel Tips

The Badrinath Temple is present at 3100 meters above the sea level in the mountainous region. Therefore, necessary woollen clothing and equipment should be carried.
Do not litter in and around the holy premises of the temple. Heritage is the pride of our country! Hence, the public should maintain cleanliness everywhere.
Keep up the patience while waiting in the queue to visit the deity. Do not rush into others in a hurry. Value everyone’s visit to the temple and be thoughtful.
Plan your trip well as the journey is long to Badrinath Temple especially the one by road through hills.
To have a perfect visit, keep along with the time and prefer early hours to complete the visit in a day at the Badrinath Temple.
Abide by the orders of temple authorities.

Other places to visit in Badrinath

Alakananda River- This river is one of the streams of River Ganges and is Himalayan River. Adi Shankara found the Badrinath idol in Alakananda River. The river flows through the districts of Uttarakhand.
Tapt Kund- It is a natural hot water spring. It allows visitors to take a bath in the spring. People visit this Kund before going to the temple.
Vasudhara falls- These are beautiful waterfalls surrounded by hills. The area around is fit for trekking and hiking.
Neelkanth Peak- It is the famous peak in the Garhwal district. It is named after Lord Shiva.
Mata Murti Mandir- It is the temple of Mother of Nar and Narayana. Nar and Narayana are the incarnations of Lord Vishnu.

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Originally published at https://www.himalayan-gypsy.in on November 6, 2019.