Badrinath

Badrinath, at 3,133 m on the banks of the Alaknanda river in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, is one of the four Char Dhams and the primary Vaishnava sacred site in the Himalaya.

• The Badrinath Temple — dedicated to Lord Vishnu in the Badrinarayan (seated in yoga position) form — is one of the 108 Divya Desam shrines of Vaishnavism and among the most significant Vishnu temples in India.
• The temple's history traces to the 8th century CE when Adi Shankaracharya installed the Badrinarayan idol and established the temple administration; the current colourful facade (white marble base with a multi-tiered painted shikhara in red and gold) dates from a 17th-century restoration.
• The temple is flanked by the Neelkanth mountain (6,596 m, called "Queen of Garhwal") directly behind it, visible on clear mornings in a spectacular white-on-blue silhouette.
• The Tapt Kund (hot spring pool at the Alaknanda riverbank below the temple) is the traditional pilgrimage bath before darshan — the geothermal spring maintains 45°C even at 3,133 m altitude.
• Mana Village, 3 km beyond Badrinath on the road toward the Mana Pass (on the Tibet border), is officially the last inhabited village in India before the border — a traditional Bhotiya community settlement with ancient mythology connections (Vyasa Cave, where the Mahabharata is said to have been narrated, and the Bhim Pul natural stone bridge over the Saraswati river).
• The Brahma Kapal ghat on the Alaknanda immediately behind the temple is one of North India's most important sites for performing pind-daan (ancestral rites); the Mata Murti Temple (dedicated to Badrinath's mother, 3 km away) and the wider Panch Badri circuit of five Vishnu shrines across the Garhwal Himalaya reward pilgrims with extra days.
• Joshimath, the staging town below, holds the Narsingh Temple — the winter seat of the Badrinath deity when the high shrine closes under snow.
• For vegetarian travellers, the Badrinath pilgrimage infrastructure is entirely vegetarian: the temple's Prasad Samiti provides free meals (annadanam) to all pilgrims at the dharamsala hall.
• The local Garhwali dhaba food (aloo ke gutke, dal-chawal, satvik khichdi) sustains trekkers.
• Open May to October-November; closed by heavy snow in winter.