My Badrinath Visit

[Guest guest]

 

Badrinath is situated in the Indian Himalaya, at about 3,133

mtrs. above sea-level. It lies in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand, and is one of the Char Dham. The journey to

Badrinath, most likely from Haridwar

- Rishikesh, is through Rudra Prayag. From Rudra

Prayag the road to Badrinath is a single way route distance is 155 Kms, passing through mountains with snow - covered peaks.

The RudraPrayag should be considered as

a base station to visit all 4 great holy places i.e. Badrinath, Kedarnath,

Gangotri (Gomukh Origin of Ganga), Yamanotri

(Origin of Yamuna) . Rudraprayag is well connected to Rishikesh, Dehradun,

Uttarkashi etc.

There are 5 Badris in uttranchal, the main

badri is called BadirNath or Badri Vishal, the remaining 4 badris are -

 

 

Yogadyan Badri - Located at Pandukeshwar (1920 m) just 24

km short of Badrinath on

Haridwar – Badrinath highway.

 

 

2. Bhavishya Badri : Located at Subain near Tapovan about 17

km east of Joshi Math, Traditionally it is believed that a day will come in

future when the present route to Badrinath will be inaccessible and Lord

Badrinath will be worshipped here. Thus the name “Bhavishya Badri”

which literally means the Badri of the future.

 

 

Briddha Badri : Located at 7 km before Joshi Math, on

the main road from RishiKesh – RudraPrayag – Joshi Math, When

Badri Vishal temple was ruined by Baudhist’s in Bauddha period, This

Badri Vishal’s pujs was performed here, Shankaracharya himself did

puja here, before exploring the Badri Vishal at Badrinath.

 

 

 

Aadi Badri : Located at 16 KM from KarnPrayag which is

some 70 KM before Joshi Math towards Ranikhet. It’s believed that

Lord Sun gifted kavach and kundal to Karna here during mahabharat age,

There is a Karna temple also in Karna Prayag.

 

 

Aadi Badri temples were supposed to be built during Gupta Period,

There is a cluster of 16 temples out of them 7 are most ancient.

 

In the Karna Prayag there is one ancient Kaal Bhairav temple

dedicated to Kaleshwar and interestingly, close to the city there is one

mountain named as MahaMritunjaya Parvat. You can see, Aaadi Badri’s board

at Karna Prayag at the confluence of Alaknanda and Panari rivers, near the

bridge, while on the way to Badrinath

 

 

 

 

The BadriNath Temple

 

 

Although Badrinath is

located in the far north of India

almost in the India – China border, the head priest, or Rawal, is

traditionally from the far south of India, in Kerala. This

tradition was begun by Adi Shankara. The Rawal is assisted by local pandits of village

Dimmer of garhwal.

 

 

 

 

This is the Tapta Kunda where water

is available at 30 – 35 Degree celsius which is a great life savior to

saints and visitors, it’s a nature made water source. The visitor is

advised to have a dip before going to main Badri Vishal temple, here I met one

mysterious saint, He had enchanting face and crispy voice and very sweet

innocent smile, when I reached there before having a dip, I wanted to meet some

siddha or evolved saints but there was none, however the beauty of Badrinath,

is no one w’d ask u even for a rupee unlike rest of the India, there are beggars

but they will not ask anything, self content is the natural feeling prevalent

there whereas in the Kedarnath it’s just opposite.

 

So, the mysterious saint directly

came to me, and asked why i m not taking a dip, I said I will do, just thinking

of it, then he suggested me to not to jump into the kunda rather to enter into Kunda

slowly so that body can adjust the difference of temperature. I asked his name

he said something, but i have absolutely forgotten what was his name.

 

When i asked him about my wish to see and meet siddhas, he questioned me

back – “Kyo GuruMantra mil gaya hai na” i .e. “You got

the Gurumantra?”, Yes, I got , I replied to him. “Then, u sit here

and chant ur gurumantra or meditate on Lord Narayan (Badrinath), don’t go

behind any one, the more you will run after people the more you will get

confused, always remember, If god wants, he will come to you, why you are still

confused”.

 

 

I was smiling, totally agreed to

him. His voice was like spellcasting, he said further “You are curious,

You wish to realize something here, so, no problem, tomorrow morning onwards

your doubt will be over”. I didn’t take him seriously. Any ways, I

was bit interested in him, I said – “ok, no problem”, I knew morning

has to happen. To wanted to speak to him more, so, I asked – “Where

you live?”, He said – “I live in the temple only”,

still I didn’t take him seriously, I thought may be he is someone from

the priest’s team.

 

He continued – “Come

tomorrow morning at 5 am in the main temple, you can see me there, Aarti begins

there at 5 am”. I got agreed. He then said – “every one whom

u see here doing a sadhana is a siddha, but they are siddhas for themselves,

otherwise, this Nanga Baba (“Nacked Baba”) is also a siddha, ask

him any thing to understand what is a siddha”. He had so much command on

his voice, that Nanga baba started looking at him and at me too, but I was not

interested in Nanga Baba.

 

Then he turned back to leave the

place, took 2 or 3 steps, again said me that he lives in the temple and I can

see him tomorrow. I forgot everything in the night as it was so cold, even my

fingers lost sensation, I stayed in a place managed by Raval (Chief Priest,

Nambudiri from Kerla).

 

After the dip i went to Badri

Vishaal temple, it was closed, so what to do, i asked my friend to chant

mantras in the threshold of the temple, he got ready, we both sat there for 40 –

45 minutes chanting our mantras, it was such a sweet experience, I saw the lord

vishnu in my vision, it was like he is coming out of the doors and standing

before me, he had 4 arms with Shankhs, chakra, padma, what is noticable is, i

didn’t see him in the human form, it was an idol like this coming in my

vision, I enjoyed watching him.

 

I think i spoken about the incident

to Sunil Nair Ji in the night.

 

Next morning, I woke up around 6.00

am, Badrinath is a place where life is still, the morning and evening pujas are

main activities. I went to Tapta Kunda to have a dip, upon reaching there, I

recalled this mysterious saint, he was not there.

 

Ok, as he said “He lives in

the temple only, I thought i can meet him in the temple, as a priest or as a

saint he should be available there till the end of the morning session of Puja

that lasts around 8:30 am. I took the dip and went to temple, there are several

idols, eacch and every idol was attended by some team member of the Raval’s

team.

 

The queue was not so long, in just

10 minutes, my turn came to have the darshan of lord, OH, what i see is the

same Idol was there that i saw yesterday when the doors were closed, but this

was not the main idol, this idol is placed in a side, the main idol is a

ShaliGram, a small idol of lord Vishnu or Narayan or Badrinath.

 

Now, I m greedy and i always test

myself and god in some or other ways, I wanted to goto main central place of

the temple to do pranam, it’s not allowed, may be there is some special

permit or fee is charged for this, I being a simple person, was not possible

for me to go there and moreover, nobody wanted to go there, only one person,

looking very rich, could go there, when my turn came, i directly went to raval

or somebody from his family, i mean the person that was heading the Puja that

time and asked him to allow me to main central place, He said it’s

prohibited, I asked but I wish to go there, without, asking a second qustion,

he permitted me to go and do pranam, i went, chanted my mantra and prayed the

God to clean my mind, clean my sins and give me his love and blessings.

 

In all the great temples of India I got opportunity to goto main central

portion where only priest sits, first time it happened in Sharda Temple

of my place, Rewa.

 

Now, I wanted to see the mysterious

saint, he was not there, lookwise he was completely different from the crowd

and all the priests, he couldn’t be part of the team, and as no body

misses out the puja, he was not supposed to leave the session in between, I

again tried to search for him, but he was not there.

 

Who he was, who said – “I

live in the temple, come to temple at 5 am, there aarti begins”, was he

God himself or some Diety sent by him? Why somebody should live in the temple ?

 

Now, doubts are over as he said to

be over by the morning, only 100’s of the questions, Who he was ..... ?

who he was, to suggest to not to go behind any one, only to do mantra jaap

there and if God wants he w’d come to me.

Whatever he was, thinking about

him, makes me happy instantly. I still feel so much happiness, I cant express.

 

I will write more tomorrow ...., stay

with me !!