In this article, we will see 25 Important Points About Badrinath Temple in Uttarakhand, India. Badrinath Temple is one of the famous Hindu temple in India. This temple is located in the Garhwal hill tracks at an elevation of 3,133m above mean sea level. It is one of the most visited Hindu Pilgrimage center in India having recorded 1,060,000 visits. We will see some more important points about this temple in below section.

Important Points About Badrinath Temple in Uttarakhand, India

• Badrinath Temple is located in the town of Badrinath, Uttarakhand.
• The Nar Parbat mountain is located opposite to the temple, while the Narayana Parbat is located behind the Neelkanth peak.
• It is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu.
• The Temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Lord Vishnu.
• Temple also houses images of the god of wealth - Kubera, sage Narada, Uddhava, Nar and Narayan.
• All the deities in this temple are made up of Black Stone.
• It is also one of the four Char Dham pilgrimage site. Other sites includes Rameswaram, Puri and Dwarka. More about Char Dham.
• It is believed that every Hindu should undertake Char Dhaam Yatra at least once in a life time to avail the blessings of gods adorning the shrines.
• The temple is located on the banks of Alaknanda River.
• The temple is mentioned in ancient religious texts like Vishnu Purana and Skanda Purana.
• The Badrinath temple is one of five related shrines called Panch Badri, which are dedicated to the worship of Lord Vishnu.
• The temple has three structures: the Garbhagriha (sanctum), the Darshan Mandap (worship hall), and Sabha Mandap (convention hall).
• The conical-shaped roof of the sanctum, the garbhagriha, is approximately 15 m (49 ft) tall with a small cupola on top, covered with a gold gilt roof.
• The deity of Lord Badrinarayana shows Him holding a Shankha (conch) and a Chakra (wheel) in two of his arms in a lifted posture and the other two arms resting on His lap in a Yogamudra (Padmasana) posture.
• The two water ponds in the temple are called Narad Kund and Surya Kund.
• The main shrine houses the 1 ft (0.30 m) Shaligram (black stone) deity of Lord Badrinarayana.
• Few Historical texts suggests that this temple was originally established as a pilgrimage site by Adi Shankara in the ninth century.
• Other Evidences suggests that this temple was originally a Buddhist Shrine till eight century and then later on Adi Shankara converted it to a Hindu Temple.
• The temple is also mentioned in several ancient books like Bhagavata Purana and Mahabharata.
• The most prominent festival held at Badrinath Temple is Mata Murti Ka Mela, which commemorates the descent of the river Ganges on mother earth.
• It also finds its mention in the Divya Prabandha, an early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD.
• The Tapt Kund, a group of hot sulphur springs just below the temple, are considered to be medicinal.
• The temple is closed for winter on the auspicious day of bhatridwityia or later during October-November.
• the priests of the temple were Shiva ascetics called Dandi Sanyasis, who belonged to Nambudiri community, a religious group common in modern Kerala.
• 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.
• The temple is revered in Nalayira Divya Prabandham, in 11 hymns in the 7th-9th century Vaishnava canon by Periazhwar and in 13 hymns by Thirumangai Azhwar.
• One of the unique aspect of this temple is that it remains opened for only 6 months in a year which generally starts from April till September.