The Badrinath visit was the original tour plan from Rishikesh, but I had to stay for a night at Joshimath because the next day I was meeting my tour guide. The next day after the meeting, we planned to visit Pandukeshwar first and then Badrinath.
At 9:50, we started our journey from Joshimath by sharing a jeep, and at 10:30, we reached Pandukeshwar.
Total journey/travel time from Joshimath to Pandukeshwar – 40 minutes approx.
Joshimath to Pandukeshwar is 18 km approx. distance. Jeep fare is Rs. 40 per person.
History of Yog Dhyan Badri as told by Rajan Prasad Dimri, priest of the temple:
Pandukeshwar is the meditation place of King Pandu. King Pandu was the ruler of Hastinapur and is popularly known as the father of the Pandavas. He was a great archer. Once, while hunting in the forest, he unintentionally killed a sage who was engaged in love in the form of a deer. The dying sage curses Pandu that whenever he makes love to a woman, he will die.
To get rid of the sage’s curse, King Pandu arrived at this location and did tapasya (meditation). It is said that Madri and Kunti queens of King Pandu, also left Hastinapur. One day, as Madri was taking a bath in the Alaknanda River, King Pandu got attracted to her and died due to the sage’s curse.
10 months later, Madri gave birth to two children named as Nakul and Sahdev and later committed Sati. The two brothers, Nakul and Sahdev, were handed over to Kunti by the sages, and they went back to Hastinapur. Later, during 12 years of exile in the forest, it is said Pandavas visited this place and stayed and did antyesti (Hindu funeral rites) for their father. It is also said that Arjun did meditation at this location, which made King Indra worried. He sent Pari (angel) to distract Arjun’s attention, but nothing happened, and at last, Indra appeared and blessed Arjun. It is said Vishnu idol present at the temple is the one that was presented by Indra to Arjun.
There are three idols in the temple – Lord Vishnu, Goddess Laxmi, and Madri. All these idols are pratisthit (installed) by dharmaraj Yudhisthira. Actually, there is a shivling inside the temple, and above the shivling, these three idols are installed.
Because in Kalyug devotees won’t be able to tolerate the bright rays of Shivling, that is why Dharamraj Yudhisthira installed three idols on top of the same.
Lord Shiva is the ancestor God of Pandu/Pandavas thus, this place is known as Pandukeshwar.
Next to the temple is another temple known as Vasudeva (Lord Krishna) temple, also established by the Pandavas. And another temple that is currently in the building stage is known as the Laxmi Narayan temple.
Why is Yog Dhyan Badri the temple name – I ask the question.
Because King Pandu was doing Yog (meditation) and Badri Narayan (Lord Vishnu) appeared and blessed Pandu.
And festivals – I ask another question?
There are two festivals at the Yog Dhyan Badri temple. One is ‘Devwar’, the day Kuber Ji and Udhav Ji leave Yog Dhyan Badri temple for Badrinath, and another festival day is when Kuber Ji and Udhav Ji arrive.
Note: The Badrinath opening date is decided by Tehri Maharaj’s Guru on Basant Panchmi day and the closing of the Badrinath temple during winter days is decided on Vijayadashami.
Knowledge enhanced. Thank you said I. Thanks a lot.
After visiting Yog Dhyan Badri temple and spending one night at Pandukeshwar, the next day we started our journey towards Badrinath, but finding a sharing jeep was extremely difficult. No jeep owner or driver was ready for Badrinath because they were saying that while returning, they won’t get passengers for Pandukeshwar. At last, we found one jeep driver, but from Pandukeshwar to Badrinath, he charged Rs. 100 per passenger.
The distance between Pandukeshwar to Badrinath is approx. 20 km.
At 8:40, we started our journey, and by 9:3,5 we were at Badrinath.
Total travel/journey time from Pandukeshwar to Badrinath – 55 minutes.
Many times I think of re-starting a motorcycle journey, but then I think, am I traveling for myself only, or I am traveling for myself and for tourists who wish to visit Uttarakhand? The local conveyance mode is one of the best.