Uttaranchal divya dEsams

Badrinath, Nandaprayag, and Devaprayag

In the Himalayan range of the state of Uttaranchal, there are three Vasihnavite shrines which are
classified as divya dEsams. They are Badrinath, Nandaprayag ( also known as Joshi Mutt or
Tiruppirudi), and Devaprayag (also known as TirukkaNDam or Kadinagar). Since the river
Ganga and its several tributaries form part of this landscape let us have a geographical
perspective of this landscape. The map of the state of Uttaranchal is shown below.

It is surrounded by China on the Northeast, Nepal on the southeast, Uttar Pradesh on the south,
Haryana on the west, and Himachal Pradesh on the northwest. Some of the centers of religious
activities are Haridwar, Rishikesh, Uttarkashi, Kedarnath, and Badrinath. Some of the highest
mountain peaks of the Himalayas such as Nandadevi, Mukut Parbat, Mana Peak, Kamet, and
Trishul are native to this state. Gangotri at an altitude of 25446 feet (from whose glaciers the
river Ganga alias Bhageerathi originates) and Yamunotri (the origination point of the river
Yamuna) are also in this state. The river Bhageerathi joins the river Alaknanda at a place called
Devaprayag and from there it is known as Ganga futher downstream. The starting point to reach
the 3 divya dEsams mentioned above is Haridwar/Rishikesh, at the southwest corner of the state.
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After flowing 120 miles in the narrow Himalayan valley, the river Gnga passes through
Rishikesh and enters Haridwar. It then starts to flow southeasterly (500 miles) towards Kanpur.
At Prayag (Allahabad) the river Yamuna joins Ganga. It flows easterly through Bihar and Bengal
and finally empties into the Bay of Bengal after traversing a total of 1560 miles.

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Devaprayag: (tirukkaNDam or KaDinagar)

Devaprayag idol Confluence of Alaknanda & BhAgeerathi

Devaprayag is the first divya dEsam one encounters as one proceeds from Rishikesh towards
Badrinath. It is 45 miles from Rishikesh at an altitude of 1700 feet. The river Bhageerathi
coming from the north meets the river Alaknanda coming from the northeast in this place. From
this point the Ganga river flows in a southwesterly direction.

The temple: The temple at Devaprayag is also called Raghunathji temple. The presiding deity is
called Neelamega PerumAL (also known as Purushoththaman) facing east in a standing
posture. The goddess goes by the name PuNDarIgavalli. The river Ganga and another pond
called MangaLa theertham form the sacred pushkaraNis. The crown structure over the temple is
called mangaLa vimAnam. There are also shrines for Shiva and Hanuman in the temple
complex.

PeriyAzhwAr sang 11 pAsurams in praise of this temple and the deity. He mentions that the
deity of this place is the same as that seen in Mathura, Dwaraka, SALagrAmam, Ayodhya, and
SrivaikunTham. He extols Devaprayag as the place situated on the river Ganga wherein the lord
PurushOththaman dwells in all splendor. He portrays the origin of the river Ganga thus:
“
” which means “the river which landed
on the hands of the four-headed Brahma, on the feet of the four-handed Vishnu, and the matted
hair locks of Shiva before flowing into KaNDam alias KaDinagar (Devaprayag)”.
Nandaprayag (Joshi Mutt, Tiruppirudi): This divya dEsam is situated on the way to
Badrinath, at an elevation of 6200 feet and 154 miles northwest of Rishikesh. This place is
surrounded by snow-clad Trishul peak (23780 feet high) in the south, Badri peak (23288 feet) in
the northwest, and Kamat (25420 feet) peak in the north. The two rivers Alaknanda and
Nandakini meet here.

Joshi Mutt/Nanda Prayag Nanda Prayag (Nandakini & Alaknanda Rivers)

The presiding deity is called Paramapurushan in a reclining posture facing east. The goddess
goes by the name ParimaLa nAcciyAr. The temple pond is known as Indra theerththam (also
gOvardana theerththam or mAnasaras). The crown structure over the sanctum is called
gOvardana vimAnam. Adisankara (8th century CE) is said to have visited this place and built the
Narasimha temple and an adjoining VAsudeva temple, besides a mutt called Jyothir mutt (also
known as Joshi mutt). The Narasimha temple has the idols BadrinArayaN, KubEra,
Rama/LakshmaNa/SItA, and Garuda in the sanctum. Outside the temple there are idols of
Brahma, Krishna, Lakshmi, and Hanuman. In the VAsudeva temple the main idol is VAsudeva
and the satellite ones are of Sridevi, BhUdevi, Leeladevi, Urvasi, and Balaram. There is also a
temple for GOpAla. ThirumangaiyAzhwAr sang 10 pAsurams (NDP 958-967) on this divya
dEsam.

Badrinath:

Badrikashram Badrinath temple

This shrine at an elevation of 10500 feet and 187 miles northwest of Rishikesh is on the banks of
Alaknanda river descending from the higher elevations of the Himalayan range. It is one of the
eight svayamvyakta (sui generis) kshEtrams. The temple façade is built of stone. Its architecture
resembles that of a Buddhist vihAr. The presiding deity, BadrinArayaN in a seated posture
facing east, is made of a black SALagrAmam stone. The goddess is called aravindavalli. The
associated pond is called taptakuNDam which is generated by hot springs from the river basin
and the temperature of the water remains at 45 degree Celsius throughout the year. Its waters are
considered medicinal. The vimAnam is called taptakanchan vimAnam. The temple tree is the
thorny jujupe (known as elandhai - -in Thamizh) tree. The temple is open only for six
months a year from early May to early November (due to snow and extreme winter weather).
The idol of the PerumAL is transferred to Joshi Mutt (Nandaprayag) during the winter months.
PeriyAzhwAr mentions this shrine in one pAsuram (NDP 399) and ThirumangaiyAzhwAr
sings 21 pAsurams (NDP 968-987 and NDP 2673) in praise of this shrine.

There are five prominent prayags (river merges) on the way to Badrinath from Rishikesh. They
are (1) Devaprayag (confluence of Alaknanda and Bhageerathi rivers), (2) Rudraprayag
(where the river Mandakini joins Alaknanda), (3) Karnaprayag (where the river Pindari merges
with Alaknanda), (4) Nandaprayag (at the confluence of Alaknanda and Nandakini rivers), and
(5) Vishnuprayag (at the confluence of Alaknanda and Dhauliganga).

Badri temple priest: The temple priest (Rawal) is a nambUdiri Brahmin from Kerala. The
tradition is that the priest is always selected from Kerala following the practice set up by
Adisankara when he established this temple. The priest has to be celibate.

More information about Badrinath can be obtained from the URL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badrinath_temple

Rudraprayag (Mandakini & Alaknanda Rivers) Karnaprayag (Pindari & Alaknanda Rivers)

Sethuraman Subramanian
mahakavi@nc.rr.com