Badrinath – Utharakhand

After completing the journey to the valley of flowers we planned to visit the holy temple “Badrinath”. We hired a cab for INR 2,500 which included visiting Badrinath, Mana, and a few temples on the way back to Joshimath. It took around one hour to reach the temple. Though they serve south Indian recipes in certain restaurants, I would suggest sticking on to north Indian dishes. When in Rome, be in Rome. There weren’t many people around which allowed us to spend quality time there and enjoy the serenity. The picture captured (in One plus 7) above doesn’t justify the real beauty of the place, the moisture in the air, the dewdrops that were clinging on the leaves, and the marvel created by humans for their creators.

Very different from the Dravidian style of architecture in South India, Badrinath is a unique experience that cannot be described in words. Unlike those in South India this temple is much smaller in size and located at an altitude of 3133 m above sea level. The amount of effort spent in building the temple at this altitude speaks volumes. Usually, the temple is crowded, and will have to wait in long queues to get a glimpse of Lord Badrinath. We were lucky to have very few people around. Ideally, the best time to visit Badrinath is July to September when the temperature is around 20-27 C. For those who aren’t aware, here is a piece of tiny information- the temple remains closed for 6 months due to extreme Himalayan weather. So plan your trip accordingly.

Taking our time to thank Lord Badrinath, we spent quality time at the premises of the temple to have a look at the rituals. There was a light shower that elevated the ambiance. Visiting this holy pilgrim wasn’t part of the itinerary but we were very happy to have come this far. 

The temple is usually crowded and might test your patience. We traveled on July 10 and the place was serene. There is a tiny bridge that is well laid, several shops on one side of the bridge, and a temple on the other. Devotees tend to take a holy dip in the water before entering the temple. I wasn’t ready to get drenched as I had a whole lot of plans to tick off. 

Since I was able to communicate well with the driver he showed us the river and spoke about the 2013 floods and the temples that were not affected by the floods of Kedarnath. Whether it was the brilliance of science or was sheer luck that the temple withstood the tragedy is something to debate about. The discussion also led to the facts about how the Kedarnath temple was saved by the mighty rock amidst the floods. I cannot resist getting goosebumps each time I think about that stuff and did a few research on it. Sometimes we do have to believe in miracles and yes they do happen. Having loaded our bags with prasadam we headed our journey to Mana.