Badrinath (Photos by Chinku)
Our next destination was Badrinath. Joshimath is the ideal place to camp to go to Badrinath and the valley of flowers. We took a jeep to Gupt Kashi, another one to Rudraprayag and a bus to Joshimath. We were in Joshimath by the evening. Now I have got used with the stomach churning rides through the hills. We checked into a small place called Morning Calm Hotel opening to a huge parking space cum playing ground. When we reached there at least three teams were playing cricket in different parts of the ground and the small children looked the most serious ones. I happily watched their gestures; surely, they were highly influenced by the TV.

The mutt set up by Adi Shankara was adjacent to our hotel. We visited the mutt, the cave where he lived and the kalpavriksh under which Shankara meditated. We were told that the shiv linga in the cave was formed out of spatika - ice hardened over the years and does not melt now. People from all over India come over here to get the blessings and they worship the kalpavriksh (a mulberry tree wrinkled with age) too. I picked up one leaf and kept it carefully in my purse. Just for the memory. Not only Adi Shankara, I too visited the place!

We waited for the jeep to Badrinath for quite a long time. It was a special day for us: Chinku’s results came. He did not disappoint us. To Badrinath, you don’t have to trek; it is accessible by road. Thanks to the Indian army and the Sino-Indian border only a few kilometres from the shrine. You just walk across the bridge over the holy river, Alaknanda, to reach the temple. We were welcomed there by a hail-storm. Chinku found his black jacket covered by the snow very fascinating and he wanted me to take a photo of it. My hands were frozen; we were not prepared for such a cold weather. And his request was rejected. There is a hot water spring near the temple. It saved us from the freezing cold.

We visited the ‘closed’ Badrinath temple, abode of Lord Vishnu. This was the place where God Vishnu came to meditate after being reprimanded for indulging in worldly pleasures. It was nice to know Gods also get punished once in a while. The temple will be open within a couple of days. Interestingly, in Badrinath temple, the pooja is performed by a Malayali priest, who will come all the way from Kaladi, Kerala during the season. It seems this arrangement was made by Shankara himself.

On our way to Badrinath, we had seen the men from BRO (Border Roads Organisation) removing the debris of a major landslide and we had to stop there for an hour or so. But while returning, the place was very much motor-able; hats off to BRO, they are doing a great job in Uttarachal! We were back to the hotel late in the afternoon.
Next is Valley of Flowers: no Gods and Goddesses; just nature!