VISHNU PRAYAG AND DHYANA BADRI (URGAM GAON)

Vishnu Prayag

We left Badarinath reluctantly.  On our way back, we visited Vishnu Prayag. Here, the Alakananda River confluences with the DauliGanga River originating from Niti Pass in Chamoli District. Dauli Ganga is also called as Devadarshini Ganga. Vishnu Prayag is situated 10 km from Joshimath, on the Joshimath->Badrinath road. It is located at an elevation of 1372 meters above sea level. The scenery and the confluence at Vishnu Prayag are breathtaking and one can notice very strong water currents. Just by bathing in this Tirth, one is praised in the realms of Lord Vishnu. Brahma and various divinities got great siddhis here.

Vishnu Prayag

As one enters the archway at Vishnu Prayag, there is a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu is in the black marble form in sitting posture. The diety is very beautiful. The maharani of Indore, Ahalyabai Holkar, built this temple. After having our darshan at Vishnu Prayag, we got down the stairway, which leads to Vishnu kund. At the sangam, there is a temple dedicated to Narada Maharshi, as he worshipped lord Vishnu at this Prayag. Narada worshipped Lord Vishnu after incurring the wrath of Brahma, which led to his birth in human form. Narada got the siddhi of knowing everything in the world from Lord Vishnu at Vishnu Kund. There are Shivakund, Ganesha Tirth closely located to Vishnu kund.

"Alakananda flows from the southern side of Brahmapuri. Passing over the tops of mountains in various lands, it falls down with fierce force upon the peaks of the mountains Hemakuṭa and Himakuṭa. After inundating the tops of those mountains, the Ganges falls down onto the tract of land known as Bharata, which she also inundates. Then the Ganges flows into the ocean of salt water in the south. Persons who come to bathe in this river are fortunate." 
(Bhagavata-purana 5.17.9)

Close to VishnuPrayag, there is Kagbhusandi Lake, which is famous and of religious importance with emerald green waters. The lake can be approached from Vishnu Prayag in addition from Bhundar village near Ghangaria.

In the Sanath Samhita, it is mentioned that when the arm of the Narasimha idol at Joshimath falls off then the Jaya and Vijaya mountains at Patmila near VishnuPrayag merge, making the present shrine of Badrinath inaccessible. After this, worship of Lord Badrinarayan will begin at Bhavishya Badri near Tapovan.

Dhyana Badri 

We then left for Dhyan Badri located at Urgam valley, close to Kalpeshwar. We got details about Dhyan Badri and Bhavishya Badri from Vedapati’s at Badri Vishal Mandir. With their help we got arranged for special pooja as well as horses to go upto Bhavishya Badri. Our sincere regards to them having helped us have darshan at these places.

Dhyan Badri is located at 2135 meters above sea level in the beautiful Urgam valley. As one reaches the mountain lap we were surprised to see the height of parthenium encroaching our Himalayas. Government should take good care of not letting these spread at the rate they are spreading. Moreover, the jeepable road to village was really in pathetic condition. The potholes were so huge, that our car could not go up at all after a point how much ever pressure was applied. Indica or Indigo cars are not suitable to get to this place.

Dhyan Badri can be reached from Helang chatti by a 12 kilometers trek en-route to Joshimath from Badrinath. People are very good and have a helping nature. We had to first make a very steep climb to reach the road, as it was broken. Then we started to walk. We asked our parents and my son to wait for us down in the car, as it would have been hard for them to climb. To our surprise after having walked for 1hr 15 minutes, we found them also coming by bike. Then they said the locals, really insisted that they come and helped to a very large extent to climb the steep climb and then they brought them by motorbike. It was bit of a hiking adventure for them. They even took our parents and kid till the temple. Such was their interest for any devotee to come and have darshan of Lord BadriNarayan. We are really grateful to them for helping us out. It took nearly more than two hours to walk to the temple. But every second we were immersed in the natural beauty of the surrounding place. The mountain is filled with flora and fauna.

Dhyana Badri temple 

View from temple

Mukhota inside inner sancotorum used for dance

It was not too hot or cold; by afternoon time, the weather was as though it was a pleasant evening. The sun peeping through the clouds gave a special look to the mountain, which is indescribable by words. The Urgam valley is a dense forest area. The valley has apple orchards and terraced fields where potato is grown extensively. Grains are also grown to a large extent. While we were walking we started collecting some nice flowers to offer to the Lord.

Saina is the first valley one reaches, next is Lyari where one finds Panch Dhara (five small stream), representing Pancha Pandavas. There are many small ancient temples in Urgam Valley mostly founded by Adi Guru Shankaracharya. Urgam is lush green valley with fascinating scenery. One will have to cross a beautiful suspension bridge, before getting to the temple. The locals also mentioned there are two other very beautiful temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu here. One is Phoolya Narayan, where the rock idol of Lord Vishnu is believed to be as light as a flower and a small temple of Nanda Devi. It is a very serene place for meditation. Bansi Narayan is a thrilling trek route, which is 10kms from Devgram village. Bansi Narayan is a temple dedicated to Lord Krishna where he is seen playing Raas Leela with his friends. One who trusts in Krishna can unconditionally hear the voice of Bansi (flute). We hope to cover this place during our next trip to Uttarakhand.

Finally, we reached Dhyana Badri temple by afternoon. The pujari's son at temple were waiting for us to come as we had informed them earlier. The legend of Dhyana Badri (meditating Badri) is linked to the Urvarishi, son of king Puranjaya of the Pandavas lineage who meditated in the Urgam region and established the temple for Vishnu. The image of Vishnu is four armed, made of white stone and in a meditative posture. He is holding Shanka and Chakra in His hands. One can similarly find Nara Narayana, Kubera, Garuda and other deities similar to Vishala Badri temple. Serenity of the place is very beautiful even for meditation. One specialty of this temple is there are stone human faced masks of Pandavas, which are used to dance and perform during the (mukhota dance) mela on the walls in the inner sanctorum. There are several shaligrama shilas placed near Lord Badri Narayana as well. Around the temple, there is Kashi Vishwanath linga to west side, Gantakarna temple in the north, Chandika temple in the south and Kuber Dhara to the east.

There is also a temple to Lord Shiva built by Adi Shankara. Kalpeshwar, one of the panch Kedar sacred temple of Shiva is situated 2 kms away from Dhyana Badri. One will have to carry pooja samagris collected before itself as there is no provision for getting them near the temple.  On the bridle path from Helang to Kalpeshwar, the enchanting confluence of the Alaknanda and Kalpganga rivers is seen. Kalp Ganga river flows through the Urgam valley.

We stayed at Joshimath at a very good hotel Himalayan Abode.

Copyright 2017 by Jayashree Badarinath

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