Badrinath, Rameswaram, Jagannath Puri, and Dwarka are famous hindu temples in india. Badrinath is a very
important pilgrimage place and is very dear to Lord Krishna. Badrinath is
also called "Narada Kshetram" since Narada Muni attained
liberation here in five days. Gautama Rishi, Kapila, and Kasyapa are said to
have come here, and Sankaracarya established a temple here. Sankaracarya
visited some 1,225 years ago; Ramanujacarya visited 955 years ago;
Madhvacarya visited twice some 735 years ago; and Lord Nityananda visited
500 years ago.
The murti of Lord Badrinath is self manifested from a two- foot-high black
shalagram-shila. He is aiso called Badri Vishal or Badarinarayana.
Lord Badrinath is sitting meditating in the padmasana (lotus posture).
Badrinarayana is seen in His yogic pose, sitting erect with His palms
closed.
The hindu temple is open six months of the year, May to October.
Kedarnath is on the bank of the Manadakini River between Gangotri and
Badrinath
This Lord Siva temple at Kedamath is said to have been originally built by
the Pandavas and the present temple was reconstructed by Sankaracarya in the
8th century. One of the 12 jyotirlingas is in this temple. Inside the hindu temple
there is an irregular three-faced linga, representing the hump of Lord Siva
when he took the form of a bull.
The temple faces south, which is an unique feature, as most temples face
east. This temple is very solidly built.
The story of indian hindu temples are that the Pandavas felt contaminated by sinful
reactions from killings so many people during the Kurukshetra war. They
decided to ask Lord Siva for his blessings to relieve them from these sinful
reactions. The Pandavas first went to Kasi (Varanasi) to get Lord Siva's
blessings, but the Lord fled to Uttarakhand (Guptakasi) and lived there
incognito. Eventually the Pandavas found him there, and Lord Siva turned
himself into a bull to hide. Bhima recognized his disguise and grabbed the
bull by the tail. The bull slowly sank into the ground, and Lord Siva then
appeared before them on account of their great determination. Lord Siva
instructed them to worship the remaining hump of the bull (pinda form).lt is
believed that Sankaracarya attained samadhi here about 820 AD.
The temple is open six months of the year, May to October.
