BADRINATH: Lord of Mount Badri

Badrinath

Badrinath is a holy town, Badrinath is also known as Badrinarayan Temple. Badrinath is a hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu which is situated in the town of Badrinath in Uttrakhand, India. The town is one from the Char Dham Yatra.The image of the presiding deity worshipped in the temple is a 1 ft (0.30 m), the black granite deity of Vishnu in the form of Badrinarayan.

The temple is also one of the 108 Divya Desams  devoted to Lord Vishnu. It is open for 6 months every year from beginning of April and ends by end of November. It is the most visited places by pilgrims.

Mata Murti Ka Mela, which commemorates the descent of river Ganges on mother earth, is the most prominent festival celebrated in the Badrinath Temple. Although Badrinath is located in North India, the head priest, or Rawal, is traditionally a Nambudiri Brahmin chosen from the South Indian state of Kerala.

Story of Badrnath by Sadhguru:- 

This is where Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, One day, took a walk. When they came back, at the entrance of their home a little baby was crying. Looking at this child crying his heart out, Devi Parvati’s  maternal instincts came up and she wanted to go pickup the child. Lord Shiva stopped her and said “ don’t touch that child” Devi Parvati replied “ how  cruel, how can you say that?”.

Lord Shiva said, “This is not a good baby. Why does he land up at our doorstep by himself? There is no one around, no footprints of parents in the snow. This is not a child.” But Devi Parvati said, “Nothing doing! The mother in me will not allow me to let the child be like this,” and she took the baby into the house. The child was very comfortable, sitting on her lap, looking very gleefully at Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva knew the consequence of this but he said, “Okay, let’s see what happens.”

Devi Parvati comforted and fed the child, left him at home and went with Lord Shiva for a bath in the nearby hot water springs. When they came back, they found the doors were locked from the inside. Devi Parvati was aghast. “Who has closed the door?” Lord Shiva said, “I told you, don’t pick up this child. You brought the child into the house and now he has locked the door.” Devi Parvati said “ What shall we do now?”

Lord Shiva had two options: one was to burn up everything in front of him. Another was to just find another way and go. So he said, “Let’s go somewhere else. Because it’s your beloved baby, I cannot touch it.”

And later left Badrinath and moved to Kedarnath.

Story According to Hindu legends 

God Vishnu sat in meditation at this place. During his meditation, Vishnu was unaware of cold weather. Lakshmi, his consort, protected him in the form of the Badri tree (jujube or Indian date-Ber/Beri). Pleased by the devotion of Lakshmi, Vishnu named the place Badrika Ashram. Hence Goddess Lakshmi was called the "Badri Vishal" as a large Beri/jujube and Lord Vishnu as "Badrinath" husband of Badri. According to Atkinson (1979), the place used to be a jujube forest, which is not found there today. Vishnu in the form of Badrinath is depicted in the temple sitting in the padmasana posture. According to the legend, Vishnu was chastised by sage Narada, who saw Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi, massaging his feet. Vishnu went to Badrinath to perform austerity, meditating for a long time in padmasana.

Story according to  Vishnu Purana 

Vishnu Puran narrates another version of the origins of Badrinath. According to the tradition, Dharma 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.

The structure of the Temple:

The temple has three structure: the Garbhagriha (sanctum), the Darshan Mandap ( worship hall ), and Sabha  Mandap ( convention hall ). The conical shaped roof of the sanctum, the Garbhagriha with a small cupola on top, covered with a gold glit roof. The Nar Parbat mountain is located opposite to the temple, while the Narayana Parbat is located behind the Neelakanta peak.
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 idol of Lord Badrinarayan shows him holding a Shankha and a Chakra in two of his arms in a lifted  posture facing the rest. All the idols of the temple are made of black stones. 

The Alaknanda is a Himalayan river  in the Indian state of Uttarakhand and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism. 
While the Ganga is considered the holiest of holy rivers, the Alaknanda is of no less importance. It is perhaps the only river to pass by the holy spots of Panch Prayag. It meets the Bhagirathi at Devprayag  and flows on Rudraprayag where it meets Mandakini. At Vishnuprayag it confluences with the Dhauli Ganga from here onwards the river is known as Ganga.
Badrinath is perhaps the most important religious spot on the banks of the Alaknanda. However there are other cities and towns such as Rudraprayag, Devprayag, Srinagar and Chamoli that are located on the banks of the Alaknanda.

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