Sapta Badri

Sapta Badri
Badrinath temple, chief of the Sapta Badri
Religion
Affiliation	Hinduism
Deity	Vishnu
Location
State	Uttarakhand
Country	India
Geographic coordinates	30°44′40.9″N 79°25′22.49″E / 30.744694°N 79.4229139°E / 30.744694; 79.4229139
Architecture
Type	North Indian architecture
Creator	Adi Shankaracharya
Completed	Unknown

Sapta Badri constitutes a group of seven sacred Hindu temples, dedicated to god Vishnu, located in Garhwal Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The Badrinath temple, called the Badri Vishal (altitude 3,133 m (10,279 ft)) is the primary temple among the seven shrines. The other six being Adi Badri, Bhavishya Badri, Yogadhayan Badri, Vriddha Badri, Ardha Badri and Dhyan Badri. The Panch Badri temple circuit consisted of only five temples, omitting Ardha Badri and usually Dhyan Badri (or sometimes Vriddha Badri). Rarely, Narasingh Badri, is included in the Sapta Badri or Panch Badri list.

The abode of Vishnu in the Alaknanda river valley, starting from Satapanth about 24 kilometres (15 mi) above Badrinath extending up to Nandprayag in the south, is particularly known as the Badri Kshetra in which all the Badri temples are located.^[1] Since the early times, approach to the main temple of Badrinath was only along a bridle path passing through badri van or (forest of berries). Thus, the word "Badri", meaning "berries", is suffixed to the names of all the Sapta Badri (seven) temples.^[2]

The main shrine of Badrinath is well connected by road and air but is closed during the winter season due to snow conditions, from October–November to April–May depending on the astrological dates fixed by the Temple Committee; the Raj Purohit (Royal priest) decides the auspicious day for opening the temple kapat (doors) on Vasant Panchami day in end of April/early May while the closing day is Vijayadashami day in October/November. The other six temples are located in villages, largely in remote locations. A few of them can be approached only by trekking along bridle paths.^[2][3]