Badrinath
Cradled in the twin montain ranges of nar and narayan is the holiest of the four main shrines , badrinath along the lift bank of the river alaknanda . With the backdrop, it is an important destination on the sacred itinerary of every devout hindu . Once the spot was carpeted with 'badris ' or wild berries and hence was famous as 'badri van '

The revered shrine is still alive with myriad legends from mythology . its sanctity is emphasised in the ancient scriptures as "there are many sacred spots of pilgrimage in the heavens , earth and the nether world ,but there has been none equal to badri , nor shall there be " Legend has it when the ganga was requested to descend to earth to help the suffering humanity ,

The earth was unable to withstand the force of its descent . therefore the mighty ganga was split into twelve holy channesl . alanknanda was one of lord vishnu or badrinath .

The temple of shri badrinathji on the bank of the alaknanda river , dates back to the alaknanda river , dates back to the vedic times , situated at an altitude of 3,133 mts . , the present temple is believed to have been built by adi guru shankaracharya - an 8th century 's philosopher -saint , who also established a math here . also known as vishal badri , badrinath is one of the panch badris .

The temple remains closed duriing the winter season and is open from april - may to octobr - november .

Genral Information:

Area: 3 sq . km .
Rainafall: 1460 mm
Clothing: Till May -heavy woollens, June -Sept -light woolens & Oct. -Nov . -heavy woollens
Languages: Hindi, English and Garhwali.

How to get there:

Airport: Jolly Grant, (317kms.)
Railhead: Rishikesh, (300kms .) Kotdwar ,(327 kms.)
Road: Well connected to rishikesh , Haridwar , dehradun , kotdwar And other hill stations of Garhwal and kumaon region .