Adi Badri Temple Complex

Getting there

• By air

  Jolly Grant Airport at Dehradun is about 210 km away and is the nearest airport.

• By train

  Rishikesh is the nearest rail-head, about 192 km away. Haridwar junction, 24 km farther, is the railhead for Karnaprayag and has trains to most major cities in India.

• By road

  Adi Badri is reached by road from Karnaprayag, 19 km away, which is linked to Ranikhet, Nainital and Ramnagar.

Why devotees come here

Adi Badri is a small cluster of ancient Vishnu temples in the hills of Chamoli district, Uttarakhand. It is the first temple complex among the Sapta Badri, the seven sacred Vishnu shrines of the Garhwal Himalayas, and one of the five Panch Badris. Its black stone Vishnu idol is about one metre tall.

The main temple of Narayan, as the Chamoli district page calls it, holds a black stone image of Vishnu about one metre tall. The temples here are part of the Sapta Badri chain, a group of seven sacred Hindu temples of Vishnu in the Garhwal Himalayas.

Legend says that in ancient times, when weather closed the road to the main Badrinath shrine, pilgrims worshipped Vishnu here instead.

The complex is small. About sixteen temples remain, crowded together and 2 to 6 metres high. Seven of the older remains have flat roofs from the late Gupta period. Local tradition credits Shankaracharya, an eighth-century reformer, with building the temples. The main temple has a raised platform in front, which leads to a small pyramid-shaped enclosure where the idol is enshrined.

Tips for your visit

• Chandpur Garhi, a fort on a hilltop about 3 km from the temple, is nearby.
• The small Lake of Benital lies just above Adibadri.

Questions people ask