Badrinath Dham-2:

Till now, one use to go to Badrinath Dham directly without stopping at in between Prayaags ( joining of two rivers) but this time one made up ones mind to do it as it is much more fruitful as per scriptures. Earlier two blog entries have been done specifically w.r.t to Badrinath alone but this time one looked through the Puranans and collected details about the prayags. One felt that one should also try to locate the mentioned important points and reap the benefits. But this endeavour was not much rewarded as for this one is required to stay for a few days at each place to research. One did not have that much time on this trip, may be in future, if one works on each of them separately, may be something good will come out of it. Anyway one is sharing the information as per Kedar Khand on such places and sincerely hope all would like it.

 

Close up of Neelkanth Mahadev

Enroute to Badrinath one passes through  the following prayaags,

Devprayag.............Alaknanda and Bhagirathi meet here.
Rudraprayaag........Alaknanada and Mandakini rivers meet here

Karnprayaag..........Alaknanda and Bhanu rivers meet here.

Nanad Prayaag.......Alaknanada and Nanadakini rivers meet here.

Vishnu Prayag........located on the banks of Alaknanda.

Bhavishya Badri......located at a distance of 26 kms in Sumbhai ( 21 km by road and 5 km on foot).

Devprayag:

Located at a distance of about 99 kms from Hardwar. It is first of the prayags and entry point into the Himalayas. One is advised to have bath of Bhasm,applying it with Trayambak...mantra) first and then one should put the dust of this place on ones head and then take bath. After this one should perform Guru poojan, Mahaganpati poojan, Ramanath poojan, Kshetrapaal poojan and then have darshan of Shiva. Then after Bhairavis permission perform poojan of lord Vishnu. One should offer dhoop of guggle, Jatamansi to the lord.

Greenish Bhagirathi meeting with Alaknanda coming from left

There is a very old temple of lord Raghunnath which is said to be here since the times of Adi Shankaracharya, who visited it during his travels. There are many stories regarding it which one can hear fromt he temple pandit. From one side comes Alaknanada whose water is a brownish and serenly flowing. While from other side comes Bhagirati, whose waters are greenish in colour and it comes thundering down from the mountains. Thus at the confluence one can feel differece in nature of both the rivers.

From here one can go up in the mountains by road to visit Chandravadani devi, located at a height of about 8000 feet, which is one of the Shaktipeeths and very beautiful place. One can stay there. Many experienced divine intervantions there. One took bath in Devprayag as per the scriptures, did all the poojans, offered tarpan to Pitras and offered a deepak on its banks.

Rudraprayag:

It is located at a distance of  about 69 kms from Devprayag. Onward at a distance of 35 kms comes Srinagar, a very beautiful place in earlier times(as lot of construction has taken place now). As its name suggests, it is associated with Sri Vidya. It is said there used to be a king who was an ardent devotee of Sri Vidya. He had a Sriyantra installed and use to pray to it regularly. It is said that king doed and then no one was there to perform nitya poojan of Sriyantra. For many years it was like that only.

 

'I think, this was the place where that Sri Yantra was, but am not sure. It needs more research'

Once Adi Shankaracharya while passing through that area visited the Sriyantra and realised that it is a fully awakened yantra which needs to be poojit every day. Meditating he realised that in many future generations there will be no worthy bhakta of the devi to take care of it. Hence, Shankaracharya overturned the yantra, professing that in future when any worthy sadhak will come he will upturn it again and  do the needful. One came to know that below shown place is the location point of it in the middle of the flowing river.

Ferocious Mandakani from Kedarnath to meet Alaknanda

Located at the junction of Mandakini from Kedarnath ji and Alaknanada coming from Badrinath ji. The meeting of two rivers is quite ferocious and a site to watch. It is said that Narada, manas putra(born from mind) of Brahma performed great penanace here and lord Shiva gave him darshan and from Him appeared eight Raagpurusha with eight consorts and eight sons, thus Narda became adept in ragas. Later sacred snakes like Sheesh etc also performed sadhana here and Shiva got pleased and allowed them to become His embellishments/adornments, that is why snakes are seen around neck of Shiva and entwined around His arms too. It is said if one repeats mantra "Om Namah Shivaye" here, then , ones association with senses is cut asunder and one is set free from attachments of the world.

In the ancient times, there was a rishi by the name of Kanav, whose contribution to Vedas are known. He was a Sarswat brahmin ( brahmins who lived on the banks of river Saraswati). Whole area from ashram of Kanva to Nandgiri is auspicious. Kanav during his tapasya here had requested the lord to dwell in this area to which He agreed. One took bath here, offered a deep and visited the temple built in the memory of great sage Narda.

Karnprayag:

Located at a distance of 31 kms from Rudraprayaag is the place of great river Bhanu. There is Govind teerth here which is helpful in the darshan of Shiva. Veereshani Devi resides here who is always ready to give great understanding. In the devalaya, whosoever diseased person, ignorant, penniless seeks the refuge of the devi, gets desired fruit. There is Shivling by the name of Vishwa here. In it resides Vishweshwar Sadashiv. By its darshan alone one gets fruit of millions of yajnas.

There is a Shivkunda here. If one stays for 5 days remembering Shiva, offering alms, one is rewarded by darshan of strange divine sights. In the end one goes to the realm of Shiva.

In its north is Gankunda. It is provider of sons and all other desires.

There is another kund by the name of Rambhakund where celestial dancer Rambha did great penance

for Mahadev.  

A little ahead of it one can can turn right to proceed to Adi Badri and Dronagiri mountian where Mahaavtaar Baba gave diksha of Kriya yoga to Lahri Mahashaya.

Nandprayaag:

Located at a distance of about 22 km from Karnprayag is Nandprayaag. It is said King Nanda performed a great yajna in which he distributed great wealth and divine beings came inn form to take there part of the offerings. All of them gave boon to the king that htis place in future will be known by his name alone.

It is said it was sadhana sthali of great risi Kanav. He contribution to vedas is not unknown. He requested lord Vishnu to reside in this area and lord agreed to his sincere request. Complete area from Kanva Ashram to Nandagiri mountain is extremely propitious and provider of mukti. Whosoever takes bath here and offers poojan to Ramapati(lord Vishnu) is set free of all the pains in his life. Mukti is always in his hand though.

At  a distance of 1 yojan is Vashishth Mahadev. One who leaves his body here ascends to the realm of Shiva.

Natural Shivlinga where during certain times milkish water drips from ceiling on its own

Bridge over Nandakini which meet Alaknanda here.

In north of it flows the river Virhi. It is said when Sati self immolated herself at the residence of her father, Shiva was filled with great pain and detachment from the worldly duties. He meditated here at the banks of this river when goddess Durga appeared in front of him and assured him that she will take birth as Parvati at the house of Himalaya and then remarry Him. This made Shiva very happy and he left the place for Kailsh. It is said with some part of Him, He resides here in the form of Virheshwar Shivling. Bathing, offering of alms and dying, all three are special here.

While in Naand prayag one inquired about various places from the local sadhus but none new anything whatsoever. One who claimed to be living there for around 28 years claimed that there is no Virhi river present here. But one was surprised to find a station by its name and river as well at a distance of about 18 kms ahead (8 kms from Chamoli). This clearly informs how well read, or spiritually enlightened so called sadhus are, though one casts no aspersions on the real seekers.

In the east of it is Manibhadra Sarovar(pond). Manibhadra is a yaksh. It is said staying three nights here, one gets darshan of the yaksha and then nothing is out of ones reach in this world.

In its South is Mahaprabha river. Here there is Baniyan tree on which 7-7 leaves come together. Just by looking at it, stambhan of sight takes place. There is Surya teerth here which is provider of all the four kinds of fruits, Dharm, Arth, Kaam and Moksha.

In east at a distance of 2 kos is Sarv Vighneshwar statue. Located there is Dandashram. King Dand performed penance here in the Surya kund. One should chant Shiva mantra here and perform bath, alms giving as all these are million times fruitful here.

In the north of Alaknanda here shrouded by trees etc is Bilveshwar Mahadev. Sign of this tree is that there are no thorns on it.

In the south of Ganges is Garud Ganga. Here if one praises gods, one becomes yogi for a span of 50 million years. Then resides in Vishnus realm. After that he is born in the family of yogis.

In the stone part of Garudganga, there is no fear of snakes. If one drinks the water of the river in which the Garud shila stone has been rubbed, then one is set free of fear of poisons for ever.

Ganesh River: Just by bathing in it all the sins are removed. It is sign is that earth is of the colour of Sindoor here. Just by putting it on ones body one becomes equivalent to lord Ganesh.

On the northern bank of Ganges is the river Charmanvati. By taking a bath in it one becomes like Ganesh who is always prayed by humans.

After this is the ashram ,of King Anangshri, where  munis did poojan. By bowing down to Chandika here one goes to reside in her realm.

Above it is Mesh mountain, where a great Shivlingam is established. At noon time it is said a very tall person comes there with his wife to perform poojan of Chandika devi. Then having darshan of Shivlingam, they depart. This is the sign of authenticity  of this place.

Vishnuprayag:

It is located at a distance of 68 km from Nanadprayag. Just by bathing in this teerth one is praised in the realm of lord Vishnu. Brahma and various divinities got great sidhis here. There are ten important main places here, namely, Brahm kund, Visnukund, Shivkund, Ganeshwar Kund, Bhringi Kund, Rishi Kund, Surya Kund, Durga Kunda, Dhanda Kund and Prahlaad Kund.

Vishnu kund: Here lord appeared in front of sage Narda and gave him the faculty of knowing everything. After taking bath one should chant 'Om Namoh Narayanaya'.

In the north of sangam at a distance of 48 Latha is Shivkund. Just by taking bath in it one gets the fruit of performance of all the yajnas. From here at a distance of one arrow flight is Ganesh teerth. By taking bath, offering alms and taking prasad, one becomes the follower of Ganesha. these teerthas are said to be located in Dhwal Ganga.

Near Vishnu kund is Bhringi kund. All the sis are removed just by bathing in it.

Surya kund: This kund provides realm of goddess Durga who is provider of all kinds of desires.

Dhanda Kund: By bathing and poojan here Dhanda Ykshani gets happy and provides everything.

Prahlaad Kund: By bath and mantra repetition here, one gets fruit of innumerable good deeds. Sign of this place that during afternoon a fish jumps in its middle which only pious hearted people can see.

From Vishnu prayag at a distance of 10kms is Govind Ghat from where one can proceed to Hemkund Sahib on foot. Four kms ahead is Pandukeshwar where kind Pandu is said to have resided during his last days. One of the five Badris (Badri Vishal, Adi Badri, Bahvishya Badri, Vridh Badri and Dhyan Badri) by the name of Dhyan Badri is located here. At a distance of 24 kms here is located Badrinathdham.

BADRINATH AREA: Details of this teerth has already been given earlier so not repeating here.

Bhavishya Badri: It is said that when Nar Naryan mountains will come close to each other then valley between them will be finished and temple of Badrivishal will exist no more. At that moment temple of Bhavishy bdri will become the abode of the lord Vishnu.It is said Agastya Muni did his tapasya here and pleased the lord who agreed to stay here. The place is about 21 kms by road from Joshimath. There, one gets to see sulphur water hot springs. Temp of water is about 90 degrees as claimed by the locals. From here one has to trek around 5-6 kms up the mountains to reach the place. It takes 3 to 3.5 hrs. Though one could not visit this time due to pre-planned trekking programmed ahead in Badrinath. Next tie one would try to go there. It is said that Agni also did penance here. One who takes bath in the two streams here goes to the realm of lord Vishnu.

90 degree Sulphur water coming out at the foot of   Bhavishya Badri

Munishwar Mahadev: By having its darshan one achieves the realm of lord Shiva.

In the south of Ganges is Pandukeshwar Mahadev. It is on Nar mountain. Eighth tributary of Ganges is called Bindumati. It starts from Bindusar. Just by its darshan all the sins are removed.

Vaikhanas Muni Ashram: It is at a distance of 2 kos. Even today one can find burnt barley, black sesame seeds there which point to the fact that all the rishis staying here use to perform havans/yajnas.

Kedareshwar: It is said that during ancient ages a demon became so powerful that he caused lot of trouble to divinities. All the divines got together and accosted lord Vishnu and informed him of their problem. They wanted Him to kill this demon. Lord Vishnu meditated on that demon and realized that he had performed great penance and a result he has got 1000 arms. To cut a single arm of him one would require penance of 10,000 years. Since divine beings did not have accruals of such penance, lord scanned the whole cosmos for some good place for sadhana. Then he saw Badrinath area which was under lord Shiva and doing a sadhana of one single day here gave one fruit of 10000 days sadhana. Hemce lord requested Shiva to give the place to him to which he agreed. Thus the main temple in Badriath ji is of Lord Vishnu but lord Shiva and Parvati still reside there in the form of Kedareshwar Mahadev. This temple is on the right side while entering the main gate of  temple. 

Babaji at Saraswati, Mana Village.

Cave of Lord Ganesha where he wrote the scriptures

One had the good fortune of offering a trident along with a damru to lord Shiva and Parvati this time. There are three tridents inside but only one is Shiv Shakti trident with ten mahavidya yantras, Guru Yanta, Durga Yantra and Batuk Bhairav yantra inscribed on it. Hope people will pray to it and loprd will answer there prayer through it also.

One should drink the palm full of water from Koormdhara in Badrinath ji. If one desires the darshan of the lord from heart then do poojan of 5 shilas with purest mind. One who does parikrama (walks around the temple in clockwise direction) of the temple he gets the fruit of offering of whole earth, all oceans, forest, islands. His ancestors are elevated to the realm of lord Vishnu.

Nardeeya Shila: One can hear vedas chanted by great risis of the ancient times even now. By bathing in the Narad kund one does not take birth in a womb. Earth at that place is of the colour of kumkum.

Varahi Shila: Fulfills all desires. 

Varah Kund: It is located in vishnu padi. Given immense fruit by doing bath and jap here.

Naarsimhi Shila: Removes all sins.

Markandaye Shila: Sage Markandaya requested that all the water coming from the bodies of Bhaktas should come on him. So lord asked him to establsih hiimself under the hot water springs ans all the bathing water runs on this shila before entering into Alaknada below.

Garud Shila: By meditating on the lord on this shila, garud achieved the position of lords transport. Just by seeing, poojan and touch of this rock one becomes Narayab from Nar.

Brahmkapal: It is said when Shiva cut the fifth head of Brahma it stuck to his hand. Whatever he did, he could not get rid of it. The head got unstuck only when he bathed in Alaknanda at Badrivishaal. It is said all the ancestors waits that their family members will come to Badrinath and offer tarpan and pinds and thus raise them to higher realms. Any karm performed here gives millions of time result.Whosoever is offered any pind here goes to the realm of lord Vishnu here. 

Urvashi Kund: In the western direction at a distance of half kos is Urvashi kund. Urvashi, a celestial dancer in the court of Indra, king of devtas was produced by the lord from His right loin here. People go and visit her temple for beauty. It is said one who resides here for 7 nights bathing in it becomes extremely beautiful.

There is Muchkund Ashram on the mountain near Manna village . It opens only once in a year. by bathing in the kund here one is freed from the cycle of life and death.

With Baba Deen Dayal Das at Vasudhara Glacier

'for hours this cloud embraced the top without moving in even great wind, though all other clouds kept on moving'

Mountians around Vasodhara falls (above), Cave hut at Vasodhara where earlier Mahatama Naradmuni use to live and now Mahatama Sheetaldas ji live there. 
HOW TO HAVE DARSHAN OF THE LORD:

One should first take bath in Alaknanda at Narad kund,
then take bath in Tapt kund, Panchshila poojan,
then darshan of Kedareshwar,
then darshan of Dwarpaal,
dhyan of Badrivishaal ji,
enter the main temple, darshan of lord and his poojan, alms giving to Brahmin.
Circumambulate the temple with great devotion and chanting of mahamantra.
One can also offer a flag on the temple and reap the benefit as expalined in earlier posts.

 

All this happened due to inspiration of a kindergarten friend Ashwani, who is an orthodontist in Australia now and he took all the photos of this trip displayed here.

 

Though the pupose of the visit this time was to explore various prayags but one could not achieve much success. But next time one will research on this aspect and keep all informed about it.......Till then.................. Jai Badri Viahaal,  Jai Ma and may all be showered by Their blessings.....Om!