Early medieval · Hindu · India

Badrinath Temple

बद्रीनाथ मन्दिर

Badrinath (3,133 m), Uttarakhand · 30.7447°, 79.4912°

Vishnu (Badrinarayan)GarhwalNagara (painted Himalayan facade)Char DhamChota Char DhamDivya Desam

Sacred since

500 BCE

Vedic-era sanctity; re-consecrated by Adi Shankara

Standing structure

re-established 8th–9th c.; facade rebuilt by Garhwal kings

patron: Adi Shankara (tradition); Garhwal rulers

History & significance

The northern seat of the all-India Char Dham established in Adi Shankara's reorganisation of Hindu pilgrimage, between the Nar and Narayana peaks below Neelkanth. The black shaligram image of Badrinarayan was, by tradition, recovered by Shankara from the Alaknanda's Narad Kund; head priests (Rawals) remain Nambudiri brahmins from Kerala, binding India's far corners.

Sthala katha — the legend

Vishnu sat in penance here unaware of snow; Lakshmi became the badri (jujube) tree sheltering him — hence Badri-Narayan. It is Vishnu's own meditation seat, where gods themselves come as pilgrims.