Do you consider the epic Mahabharata as a mythology or a history? Are you one of those who want to embark on a spiritual journey but are confused about where to go? Don’t worry; you have arrived just at the right place. Today we will be taking you all to one of the most sacred sites for Hindu pilgrimages, the Badrinath Temple and the last village of India in the state of Uttarakhand.
In case you don’t know who we are………..
We call ourselves Travel Freaks……..
Before we share our experience with our visit to the Badrinath Temple, let’s start with a common notion……
1. What is so special about the Badrinath Temple?
Badrinath Temple is located in the Chamoli District. The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu, generally referred to as Badrinarayan.
Badrinath Temple is one of the four sacred sites that constitute the Char Dham Yatra. The temple also has a connection with Adi Sankaracharya, one of the great philosophers of ancient India. It is believed that he established the Badrinath Temple. As a result, this temple is one of the most sacred sites in India.
All the aforesaid facts increased our excitement level to a large extent. Now you all might be curious to know……….
2. How are we planning to visit the Badrinath Temple?
After an unforgettable adventurous trip to the Yamunotri Temple, the Gangotri Temple and the Kedarnath Temple, it was time for our next and the last of the Char Dham Yatra, the Badrinath Temple.
In case you haven’t read any of our Char Dham blogs, checkout to know our experiences. You will be able to plan your itinerary. If you have any difficulty, you can always reach out to us.
Coming back to our story. We were in Guptkashi after returning from the Kedarnath Temple and were supposed to depart by 7:30 AM in the morning. After a good sound sleep, we were all ready by 6:30 AM in the morning. As per our scheduled departure time, we departed sharply at 7:30 AM after having breakfast.
The distance was close to 185 km from Guptkashi to Badrinath Temple. It took us close to 8 hours to reach. Yeah, you’re right to think that we did stop at a few places to have lunch and tea and also to take snaps.
We would also like to share with you that we took the Chopta route to reach Badrinath instead of the Rudraprayag and Karnaprayag routes. Of course, the two routes meet at Chamoli.
Okay, so before we answer the reason for choosing the Chopta Route, let us answer a general query……
3. What is the best way to reach the Badrinath Temple?
As already mentioned in our earlier blogs, it is quite challenging to suggest any. If you are planning to visit the Char Dhams, then you can follow our route.
If you wish to visit only the Badrinath Temple, the nearest airport is the Dehradun Airport, i.e., Jolly Grant Airport, which is close to 300 km away. The nearest railway station is Rishikesh, which is also close to 290 km. Now, you need to plan accordingly, depending on your itinerary and budget.
The most important thing to know is that you need a proper permit to visit all the Char Dham. Please click here and register yourself before planning your Char Dham Trip. Travellers can also opt for offline permission in Rishikesh.
As you got to know about the best possible way to reach the Badrinath Temple, let’s answer your curiosity……….
4. What is the reason for choosing the Chopta Route?
The decision to choose this route was all of a sudden. As we departed from Guptkashi, our driver informed us about this route, and without any hesitation, we decided that we would be going through the Chopta route as we were excited to visit the Ukhimath Temple.
The Ukhimath Temple is the place where the Panch Kedar are kept during the winter months (from November to April). Initially, the road was bumpy, with dense forest on both sides of the road. It felt as if the road was not suitable for heavy vehicles.
Within an hour, we reached the Ukhimath Temple. The temple was almost empty, we were the only visitors. It felt so serene that it could not be explained in words. The temple complex was large, and we could spot a few notorious monkeys. They were trying to snatch the bags that we were carrying.
After spending a little over half an hour, we decided to move on to the next spot, Chopta. It is also known as the Mini Switzerland. It took us another half an hour from Ukhimath to reach Chopta.
Chopta felt like heaven. It was a perfect place for camping. We were completely awestruck after getting down at Chopta. It was difficult to capture the beauty with our phones or cameras.
In case you are planning to visit the highest Shiva Temple in the world, the Tunganath Temple, you need to come to Chopta and start your trek to the Tunganath Temple. Due to our tight schedule, we could not plan.
Coming back to our story, after spending close to an hour, we hopped onto our vehicle and moved on to our journey to Badrinath.
On the way, we stopped at the Chamoli district when it was close to one o’clock in the afternoon to have our packed lunch at a restaurant. It took us close to an hour to finish our lunch, and took some rest and then again hopped onto the vehicle.
The highway was quite broad, leading to Badrinath. It was a smooth ride, unlike how we started. When it was close to five o’clock, we reached Badrinath.
Now as we reached Badrinath, you might be wondering……..
5. How was our stay at Badrinath?
It was already late evening, and the temperature started to dip below ten degrees in the month of June. Now you can imagine what the temperature would be in winter.
There are many stay options that you might find in close proximity to the temple. It is always better to book before you arrive. In our case, we decided to stay at Bharat Sevashram Sangha at Badrinath. The rooms were quite decent; yes, they had all the necessary resources. However, they need proper maintenance. In case you need any help on this, please reach out to us.
There were numerous food stalls, medicine shops and souvenir shops in close proximity to our stay. Overall, we were happy with our stay at Badrinath. Most importantly, we can catch a glimpse of the main gate of the Badrinath Temple during our stay.
We had an early dinner as we were quite tired after a long journey. The next morning, we were supposed to visit the Badrinath Temple.
Now your eagerness has increased to know……..
6. How was the experience at the Badrinath Temple?
As we already knew that June was a tourist season, and pilgrims would arrive in large numbers to catch a glimpse of Lord Badrinarayan, we were ready by 6:00 AM and left for the temple. It was hardly ten minutes walk from our stay.
The temple gate looked beautiful, with the River Alakananda flowing fiercely. It was close to 6:30 when we stood in the queue. The queue was really too long, and it took us another four hours to reach the temple gate. It was a bit tiring, though, as we were standing barefoot on the ice-cold surface.
Finally, after a bit of struggling and surviving in the crowd, we were inside the temple complex. It was really beautiful, and it felt very worthwhile after standing for such a long time. There was another queue to catch a glimpse of the main idol. It was a bare few seconds that one could watch as there was a priest and security personnel pushing the pilgrims.
When we got out of the temple, it was close to noon. We explored the temple complex. There was a natural hot water spring in the temple complex. Unfortunately, the chief minister of the state was scheduled to visit within a few hours leading to the temporary closure.
Our readers should visit that hot water spring and, if possible, should take a dip as it is beneficial for therapeutic purposes.
We slowly moved back to our stay to have our lunch and, after a little rest, departed for Mana Village.
Now you might wonder……..
7. What is there in the Mana Village?
If you remember, when we started this blog, we referred to a place as the last village in India in the state of Uttarakhand; it is none other than Mana Village.
Mana Village was hardly 4-5 km from our stay at Badrinath. This is one of the few places that has touched our hearts.
We departed from our stay at three o’clock in the afternoon. It took us less than half an hour, of course, it also depends on the traffic condition.
As soon as we got down, we saw a sea of vehicles parked. However, there was a slight drizzle, and most of the travellers were left stranded. We thought it was an opportunity for us to explore the village quickly.
The village looked nothing less than an imaginary place with the mighty Himalayas on the backdrop. Coming back to our story, we moved on to our first place Bhim Pul. This is related to the epic Mahabharata. Bhim Pul was a stone bridge that legends believe Bhim (Bheem), one of the Pandavas, placed across the Saraswati River to help Draupadi cross it. Do you feel that Mahabharata is mythology or history?
One more interesting thing we saw was the Saraswati River. It was the first time we saw that river. Slowly, we moved on to the Ved Vyas Cave and Lord Ganesh Cave. It is also related to the epic Mahabharata. People believe that the great sage Ved Vyas used to meditate in the Ved Vyas Cave and narrated the complete Mahabharata in riddles to Lord Ganesha. Lord Ganesha wrote the epic Mahabharata in the Lord Ganesha Cave.
We guess these stories have increased your curiosity to a large extent, like us. You can also plan to visit Mana Village once you stay at Badrinath.
We spent for over two hours at the Mana Village when the drizzle started to increase. We walked briskly towards our vehicle. It was close to six o’clock when we reached our stay at Badrinath.
It was a splendid day spent at Badrinath Temple and Mana Village. In the late evening, we decided to again visit the Badrinath Temple as we would be leaving the next morning for another mystic temple before we finished off at Haridwar.
Hope we gave you a glimpse of the Badrinath Temple and Mana Village; you could also plan on your own. Yes, of course, we are always there for you.
If anyone wishes to visit Char Dham or anywhere in India or Nepal, they can click here and explore the various itineraries available on their site. They provide affordable budget packages.
We are not signing off without this last question……
8. What kind of help are we gonna provide?
Let us inform you that we prepare itineraries not only for anywhere in India but also for Asia. We have been travelling since we were toddlers. So here in our blogs and stories, we will be giving you a glimpse of our journey and also helping you to plan your trip.
Read about our Uzbekistan blogs.
Read about our Kazakhstan blogs.
Read about our Singapore blogs.
Read about our Vietnam blogs.
Read about our Cambodia blogs.
Read about our Bali blogs.
Read about our Kuala Lumpur blog series.
Read about our Sri Lanka blogs.
Read about our Nepal blogs.
Read about our Char Dham blogs.
Read about our Ladakh blogs.
Read about our day trip to Hyderabad.
Read about our Madhya Pradesh blogs.
Read about our Andaman and Nicobar blogs.
Do follow our Instagram handle @mindfulllofvacations and keep an eye out for the next destination story of a new place. For any query related to any trip, drop a mail at @mitkau007@gmail.com.
by mitkau