Badrinath - true gift of nature. Part 2

September 28^th 2009, we started out journey from KaranParyag at 6 AM in the morning for Badrinath. It was really a beautiful journey along with snow bounded mountains on one side and Alaknanda river on the other side, a place close to nature.

We reached Chamoli, a beautiful valley in Uttrakhand around 8 AM in morning and it was really an eye caching morning in the valley.

We felt like we were enjoying the nature in its most beautiful way. Chamoli is a district under Gharwal division, a true gift of nature.

Morning view of Chamoli valley

Chamoli

Birth place of "Chipko Movement".
Badrinath, Valley of Flowers National Park, Auli
and Hemkhund Sahib - all these places are the parts of Chamoli

Tips
In your Journey to Badrinath, Valley of Flowers
or Hemkhund Sahib Chamoli is the best place
if you need any kind of help or assistance
as it is the District headquarter
one can find all type of basic facilities here,
but one needs to go to the city
as it is on the outskirt of the road.

Joshimat

We reached Joshimat also known as Jyotir Math, one of the pīthas established by Adi Shankara around 11 AM in the morning. Joshimat can be considered as a base point for Badrinath, Valley of Flowers, Hemkhund Sahib and Auli. On the way to Badrinath one can find last petrol pump at Joshimat.

On way to Badrinath from Joshimath

From Joshimat to Badrinath the road is one way (Bikes are exception), a total of 42km stretch, authorities use to release traffic from one side at a time to avoid any kind of problem and yes one must say this is the scariest road we saw in the whole trip.

Last 20Km road stretch to Badrinath

Badrinath

We reached Badrinath around 1 PM and all were tiredness gone after seeing this beautiful and holy place, we got to know that temple gate will open at 3 PM as it was closed in afternoon. At Badrinath we took bath in the tapt kunda (a natural source of hot water). This source of hot water is really a wonder of nature as along one side there is chilled water of River Alaknanda and on its bank one can find hot water spring, one will be forced to think what nature has more in its treasure.

In the lap of Mountains

Road conditions was ok, a road full of land slides and rolling stones but BRO has done a great job taking in to account the hilly area they are operating, There were some streams in the road which we need to cross without languages and with utmost care, mountains were cut to make the road and it was really a breath stopping road. We highly advise you to please follow every possible traffic rules on this journey as any of yours or other’s mistake can make this wonderful trip to worst.

We clicked some snaps of this place, we drew some money from SBI ATM and than waited outside the temple for its opening, Inside the temple Photography is prohibited also you are not allowed to use mobile even.Badrinath is a Hindu holy town and one of the India’s Char Dham pilgrimage. It is situated at an altitude of 3,415 meters. It is located near to indo-china border.

A view of the town

History

In Badrinath it is believed that Lord Vishnu has done his penance, seeing him doing this in open, her wife Goddess MahaLaxmi provide her shelter from the always changing and most adverse weather condition by taking the form of Badri tree due to this it is named as BadriNarayan.

Badrinath Temple

According to one more belief as per Hindu literature, Lord Vishnu told Narad that Nar and Narayn are his own two forms.

Accommodations

One can find good and cost effective accommodation in Badrinath. Many small guests houses are there in Badrinath along with some rest houses provided by Garwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd (Booking can be done online from their website) and Shri Badarinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee Rest House.

Tips

Doors of Badrinath temples get closed around Diwali
for the winter and than they reopen in summers
in the month of May. For more information
regarding the Opening and closing of the temple’s kapat (doors),
please visit the official site
of Shri Badarinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee
(http://www.badarikedar.org/)

Weather

Beautiful valley near Badrinath

Due to a high altitude area weather at Badrinath is really unpredictable, one must do packing taking into account the ever changing weather conditions.

Precautions

From Badrinath we left to Govindghat or Govinddham, we can call this place as a gateway to the valley of Flowers and Hemkhund Sahib, around 4 PM, no vehicles are allowed to go out from Badrinath temple area after 4 PM due to the Road and the area, it's better to follow this as in case of any problem you will not able to find any help if you over ride these rules.

Tele-Communication

Last point we would like to mention and it's really important to all regarding the communications, these places are not well covered by the most of the mobile service providers though at Badrinath we were able to get some signals from Airtel and Vodafone we highly recommend that if you want yourself to be in touch just go for BSNL or any other provider who has tie up with this service provider.

In the next post we will start our journey to the valley of Flowers and Hemkhund sahib. So stay tuned.

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