Badrinath, Garhwal Himalayas, India. The temple of Badrinath, one of Hinduism's holiest pilgrimage spots
The Badrinath temple is the main attraction in the town. According to legend Shankara discovered a black stone image of Lord Badrinarayan made of Saligram stone in the Alaknanda River. He originally enshrined it in a cave near the Tapt Kund hot the sixteenth century, the King of Garhwal moved the murti to the present temple.[4] The temple is approximately 50 ft (15 m) tall with a small cupola on top, covered with a gold gilt facade is built of stone, with arched broad stairway leads up to a tall arched gateway,which is the main entrance. The architecture resembles a Buddhist vihara (temple), with the brightly painted facade also more typical of Buddhist inside is the mandapa,a large pillared hall that leads to the garbha grha, or main shrine walls and pillars of the mandapa are covered with intricate carvings. Badrinath is a holy town and a nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, is the most important of the four sites in India's Char Dham pilgrimage and gets its name from the Holy temple of Badrinath. Badrinath has an average elevation of 3,100 metres (10,170 feet).It is in the Garhwal Himalayas, on the banks of the Alaknanda town lies between the Nar and Narayana mountain ranges 9 km east of Nilkantha peak (6,596m). Badrinath is located 62 km northwest of Nanda Devi peak and 301 km north of Rishikesh. From Gaurikund (near Kedarnath) to Badrinath by road is 233 km. Badrinath was re-established as a major pilgrimage site by Adi Shankara in the ninth earlier days, pilgrims used to walk hundreds of miles to visit Badrinath recent years its popularity has increased significantly, with an estimated 600,000 pilgrims visiting during the 2006 season, compared to 90,676 in temple in Badrinath is also a sacred pilgrimage site for is also gateway to several mountaineering expeditions headed to mountains like Nilkantha.[wikipedia]
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Location: Badrinath, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India, Asia - °N °E
Photo credit: © Ambuj Khanna / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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