Bhadrinath

Bhadrinath ,Kedarnath ,Gangotri and Yamunotri are four important pilgrim centers for Hindus and are collectively called Char dham .

The pilgrim groups usually travel to Haridwar and Risikesh to get into the upper reaches of the Himalayas to reach these places .

Kedarnath  has no motorable road one needs to trekup 14km or take helicopter .

Bhadrinath has motorable road till the place but treacherous mountain roads proe to landslides .

Yamunotri where river yamuna origins is again not reached by road one has to trek a minimum of 7 to 8 km which in hills is quite cumbersome .

Gangotri origin of Ganga river has motorable road but when we went it had some block hence wehad to cancel visiting  it .

Though the real origin of Ganga is another 14 km of hard mountain trekking through a glacier a feat possible only by trained trekkers .

Most such pilgrimages are done before winter sets in .

Bhadrinath is situated in Garhwal himalayas in Uttarkhand and is a Vishnu temple and one of the 108 divya desams dedicated to Vishnu who is worshipped as Bhadrinath .

Its in Chamoli dt along banks of Alaknanda river above 3133 mts or 10279 ft ASL 

10000 feet above sea level its stark cold in october ,and after november no one stays here not a soul only snow and snow and mebbe army personell ,

Even Lord Kedarnath the deity is brought down to Ukkimath near Guptkashi ,

Legend says that pandavas of Mahabarath epic had made penance here to Lord Siva ,

Adhi Sankaracharya came here in the 8 th century and revived the temple ,he attained samadhi here at age of 32 .

Bhadrinath temple thus has a close Kerala connection 

 The great advaitic Adi Sankara from Kalady in Kerala swam in the fiery Alaknanda river to retrieve the idol in its bed and rebuilt the  Bhadrinath temple 

Idol made of black saligram is one feet in height .

The temple is mentioned in Divya Prabhanda in south India and Skanda purana and Vishnu purana too .

The temple deity is also called Nar Narayan as temple is between Nar parbhat and Narayan parbhat two mountain peaks .

The Tapt kund just below temple is a group of sulphorous hot ponds rich in minerals which pilgrims use for taking ritual bath though its boiling hot ,its mixed to make it less hot .

In the torrid cold its a welcome relief to take a bath though i did not attempt as removing the multiple layers of dress was cumbersome .

The deity is mentioned in Vedic scriptures from 1750 to 500 BC but no evidence of a temple .

There are hints of a Buddhist temple till 8 th century when Adhi Sankara retrieved idol and consecrated it in a cave near the hot springs appointed the local king as custodian who later built the temple .

The temples elevation is similar to a Buddhist Vihara and the brightly painted facade is also very particular to Buddhist temples .

Sankara is supposed to have stayed for 6 months in the place amd more than 5 years in Kedarnath 

He appointed Namboothiri priests from kerala to take care of Badrinath temple .

Even now the same family send thier chosen to do 

The chief priest today is an young man and given the honoroary title Rawalji  , hailing from South Kerala the handsome priest speaks chaste malayalam and also good hindi ,he is greatly respected by devotees from all over the country.

     The Rawal (chief priest) is selected by erstwhile rulers of Garhwal and Travancore. 

The Rawal has been accorded high holiness status by Garwhal Rifles and also the state governments of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. 

He is also held in high esteem by the Royals of Nepal. 

For six months in a year (during march to pre November), he performs his duties as a temple priest. 

Thereafter, he either stays in Joshimutt or goes back to his ancestral village in Kerala.

 The current Rawal is Shri V. Keshavan Namboothiri. (In 2012 when we went not now )

The duties of the Rawal starts at 4 A.M every day, with the Abhishekam. 

The Rawal should not cross the river till Vamana Dwadasi and must be a Brahmachari .

 Bhadrinath temple nestles high in Himalayas  11204 ft  24 km from Indochina border ,the town and temple is open only 6 months of the year the rest of time it is covered by snow ,only army men and some saints remain there during winter 

the whole town moves downhill !

the chief priest of Bhadrinath is traditionally a Kerala nampoothiri brahmin as planned by Adhisankara who is said to have retrieved the idol in the 9 th century from the Alaknanada river which later merges into the Ganges down below the Garhwal kings built the temple ,roads lead upto Bhadrinath unlike Kedarnath where one has to trek 14km uphill or take a heliride or on a pony ,the last town in India is just uphill bhadrinath with last post office last post box and last tea shop beyond is China !

Again i felt proud of our Army brothers and sisters who stay put in such hardy conditions for our sakes 

We visited Bhadrinath in 2011

On a hill near Bhadrinath is a cottage seen with red fiberglass roof high above in clouds .it has only a steep path to it .

We heard an old sayasi stays there throught year braving the elements ,he lived earlier in a thatched hut

Ambani dont know which built this for him

He was neither overjoyed nor sad he contd his meditation now in this !!