Yogadhyan Badri Temple

Getting there

• By air

  Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun is the nearest airport, about 282 km away.

• By train

  Rishikesh is the nearest rail-head, about 255 km away. Haridwar and Dehradun also have railway stations.

• By road

  Pandukeshwar is 24 km from Joshimath on the Badrinath to Rishikesh highway. State transport buses run regularly between Pandukeshwar and Rishikesh, about 275 km.

Why devotees come here

Yogadhyan Badri is one of the seven Sapta Badri temples dedicated to Vishnu in Uttarakhand. It stands at Pandukeshwar in Chamoli district, on the Badrinath to Rishikesh highway. The life-size image shows Vishnu in meditation, carved from Shaligram stone.

Yogadhyan Badri is one of the seven Sapta Badri temples in Uttarakhand, and one of the Panch Badri temples. The temple is said to be as old as the Badrinath temple. The idol is in a meditative posture, so it is called Yoga-dhyan Badri. Legend says King Pandu, father of the Pandavas, meditated here to Vishnu to cleanse himself of the sin of killing two mating deer. The place takes its name from him.

Copper-plate inscriptions found at Pandukeshwar give information on the temple's history and on the early Katyuri rulers. One is dated to either December 853 or September 854. Scholar Nachiket Chanchani dates the temple to about 850 to 1000 CE. It is the only Dravida-style temple in the central Himalayan region. A tall cylindrical dome crowns the sanctum, with lions at the corners of its base, and a golden image of Vishnu sits in the lotus position inside.

Each winter, when Badrinath closes, its image of Vishnu is carried down to Pandukeshwar in a palanquin. The temple gains importance at that time. Nambudiri Brahmins from Kerala administer the temples here. Pandukeshwar is a village in Joshimath block of Chamoli district.

Tips for your visit

• The temple faces the mountain road that leads to Badrinath.
• Govind Ghat is close by.

Questions people ask