Note on Badarī, Badarikā or Badarinātha

Note: this text is extracted from Book IX, chapter 52:

“Thus reflecting, the gambler abandoned his anger, and going to the hermitage of Badarikā, he proceeded to perform such austerities as would cut the bonds of mundane existence”.

Badarinātha is a place sacred to Viṣṇu in the Himālayas. The Badarinātha peaks, in British Gaṛhwāl, form a group of six summits, from 22,000 to 23,400 feet above the sea. The town of Badarinātha is fifty-five miles north-east of Srinagar, on the right bank of the Viṣṇugaṅgā, a feeder of the Alaknandā. The temple is situated in the highest part of the town, and below it a tank, supplied by a sulphureous thermal spring, is frequented by thousands of pilgrims. The temple is 10,294 feet above the sea. (Akbar, an Eastern Romance, by Dr van Limburg-Brouwer, with an introduction by Clements Markham, p. 1, note.)——The place derives its name from the worship of Viṣṇu in his manifestation as Badarinātha or Badarinārāyaṇa, “Lord of the badari or jujube tree.” Crooke (Hastings’ Ency. Rel. Eth., vol. ii, p. 325) suggests that an ancient tree-cult is probably associated with the thermal spring mentioned above. The founder of the temple is said to have been the great teacher Śaṅkarācārya, a Malabar Brāhman, who lived about the beginning of the eighth century A.D.

Crooke adds an interesting description given by Atkinson (Himālayan Gazetteer, vol. iii, p. 24 et seq.):

“The idol in the principal temple is formed of black stone or marble about three feet high. It is usually clothed with rich gold brocade, and above its head is a small mirror which reflects the objects from the outside. In front are several lamps always burning, and a table also covered with brocade. To the right are images of Nara and Nārāyaṇa, and on the left those of Kuvera and Närada. The idol is adorned with one jewel, a diamond of moderate size, in the middle of its forehead, whilst the whole of the properties, including dresses, eating vessels, and other paraphernalia, are not worth more than Rs.5000 (£333).

“A good deal of ostentatious attention is paid to the personal comfort of the idol at Badarī. It is daily provided with meals, which are placed before it; the doors of the sanctuary are then closed, and the idol is left to consume its meals in quietness. The doors are not opened again till after sunset; and at a late hour, its bed being prepared by the attendants, the doors are again closed until morning. The vessels in which the idol is served are of gold and silver, and a large establishment of servants is kept up, both male and female, the latter as dancing-girls and mistresses of the celibate priests. The only persons who have access to the inner apartments are the servants, and no one but the Rāwal himself is allowed to touch the idol."

For further details see Traill, Statistical Account of Kumaun, edit. Batten, p. 57; Pañjāb Notes and Queries, vol. iv, p. 196; and Crooke, Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, vol. iv, p. 340.—n.m.p.