I am aiming for this pilgrimage tour for a long
time but it was not happening for quite some time but finally, Peak Adventure, Delhi was
able to arrange the trip. Mr. Ajay Bhatt from Joshimath has done the itinerary of this tour. Sapta Badri constitutes a group of seven sacred Hindu
temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu located in the state of Uttarakhand. The temples are Badri vishal, Yoghyadhan Badri,
Aadi Badri, Bavishya Badri, Vridha Badri, Dhyan Badri
and Aadi Badri. The abode of Vishnu
in the Alaknanda river valley, starting from Satapanth
about 24 kilometers (15 mi) above Badrinath extending up to Nandprayag in the south, is known as BADRI KSHETRAS. Aadi badri is located
near Karnaprayag.
Pancha Kedar, the temples of Lord Shiva –Kedarnath,
Madhmaheswar, Tunganath, Rudranath and Kalpeshwar are
situated in the Kedar valley of Garhwal Himalayan region. It is not a prominent route and facilities are very less.
Puranas say that Pandavas killed their relatives in the Kurekshetra war wished
to seek atonement for their sins by seeking the blessings of Lord Shiva. When Shiva found Pandavas drawing closer, he
changed him form to a bull. Comprehending the camouflage
didn’t work Shiva attempted to go underground but, Bhima saw him and hindered his disappearing act by holding his
tail and hind legs. The bull shattered into pieces. The pieces sank into the earth but bhima
managed to retain the hump of the bull. Shiva reappeared
but only in the form of different parts of the body - arms in Tunganath, navel
at Madhmaheshear, face at Rudranath, hair at
Kalpeshwar and hump in the Kedarnath.
I started the journey from Haridwar and proceed to
Joshimath via Panch Prayag namely, Vishnu Prayag, Nand
Prayag, Karn prayag, Rudra Prayag and Dev Prayag.
Dev Prayag is my first destination and this place is the confluence of rivers
Alakananda and Bhagirathy. The confluence got
the name from a poor Brahmin called Deva Sharma who performed rigorous penance
here and was blessed by Rama, Vishnu’s incarnation. There are two Kunds or pond on the banks of
the rivers and they are: the Vasishta
Kund on the Bhagirathi and the Brahma Kund on the
bank of the Alakananda. Puranas also mentions about this site being Vishnu’s
navel and that Brahma meditated here
From Dev Prayag I proceed to Rudra Prayag which is
the confluence for rivers Alakananda and Mandakini. I had
darshan of Koteshwar temple. My third prayag is Karna Prayag, situated on the confluence of rivers Alakananda and Pindari.
Here I had blessings from Uma Devi temple and Karna temple; the famous Karna of
Mahabharatha. So many temples are around
karnaprayag and you need time to visit these temples. Further
up about 21km from Karna Prayag you come across Nand Prayag, the confluence of rivers Mandakini and
Alakananda and it is famous for Gopalji temple. After
the dashing of four prayers, my destination for today’s journey is Josh math. I stayed in tourism hotel. Where I was introduced
to my guide Sanded Sewall and he tour details
were given by Mr. Ajay Bhatt. I rested after finishing my first day’s journey.
Check out next post to know more about this 13 days experience...
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