| Char Dham Yatra – Badrinath Darshan, Day 65 |


Badrinath Darshan

All the followers and practitioners of the various sects and belief systems under the Hindu religion come to Badrinath temple, for Darshan. The branches & guest houses of almost all prominent Matths or Ashrams like the Kashi Matth, Jeeyar Matth, Udupi Matth, Krishna Matth and Mantralaya Sri Raghavendra Swami Matth, are present in Badrinath.

Apart from these holy abodes, there are 4 Matths situated in the four corners of India, with their respective temples too located close by. These temples are: Badrinath in the north, the Jagannath temple located in the east in Puri town of Orissa, Dwarkadhish temple located in the west in the city of Dwaraka in Gujurat and the Sri Sharada Peetham located in the south, in Shringeri town of Karnataka. Although the Hindu religion has two broad sects based on ideology; Shaivas (worshipers of Lord Shiva) and Vaishnavas (the worshipers of Lord Vishnu), nevertheless, people from both the sects openly undertake and participate in the Char Dham pilgrimage of the four holy abodes.

There are several other revered sights and places in and around Badrinath. “Brahma Kapal” (a square platform used for religious rituals), “Shesh Netra” (a stone with the supposed imprint of Shesh Naag – the multi-headed snake recline of Lord Vishnu), “Charan Paduka” (Lord Vishnu’s holy Foot prints), “Mata Murti Mandir” (a temple dedicated to Lord Badrinath’s mother), “Ved Vyas Gufa” or “Ganesh Gufa” (where the Vedas and Upanishads were transcribed) and “Sarpon Ka Joda”, to name a few.

There is a waterfall by name “Vasu Dhara” at a short distance from Badrinath, where the 8 Vasus (the Elemental Gods) are said to have performed penance. The drops from this waterfall do not fall upon sinners. Apart from this, there is also a place called Santopant (Swargarohini) nearby. It is from this place that King Yudhishthira embarked for Heaven.

(To be continued …)