Adi Badri (Uttarakhand)

Sapta Badri
Location in Uttarakhand
Geography
Coordinates	30°44′40.9″N 79°25′22.49″E / 30.744694°N 79.4229139°E / 30.744694; 79.4229139Coordinates: 30°44′40.9″N 79°25′22.49″E / 30.744694°N 79.4229139°E / 30.744694; 79.4229139 (Badrinath Temple)
Country	India
State	Uttarakhand
Culture
Sanctum	Vishnu
Architecture
Architectural styles	North Indian architecture
History and governance
Date built	Unknown
Creator	Adi Shankaracharya

Sapta Badri (Sanskrit: सप्त-बद्री) constitutes a group of seven sacred Hindu temples, dedicated to god Vishnu, located in Garhwal Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The Badrinath temple (बद्रीनाथ), called the Badri-vishal (बद्री-विशाल) (altitude 3,133 m (10,279 ft)) is the primary temple among the seven shrines, followed by six others, namely, Adi Badri (आदि-बद्री), Vridha Badri (वृध-बद्री), Dhyan Badri (ध्यान-बद्री), Ardha Badri (अर्ध-बद्री), Bhavishya Badri (भविष्य-बद्री) and Yogadhayan Badri (योगध्यान-बद्री). The Panch Badri (पंच-बद्री) temple circuit consisted of only five temples, omitting Ardha Badri and Dhyan Badri or sometimes Vridha Badri. Rarely, Narasingh Badri (नृसिंह-बद्री) is included in the Sapta Badri or Panch Badri list.

The abode of Vishnu in the Alaknanda river valley, starting from Satapanth about 24 kilometres (15 mi) above Badrinath extending up to Nandprayag in the south, is particularly known as the Badri-Kshetra in which all the Badri temples are located. Since the early times, approach to the main temple of Badrinath was only along a bridle path passing through badri van or (forest of berries). Thus, the word "Badri", meaning "berries", is suffixed to the names of all the Sapta Badri (seven) temples.

The main shrine of Badrinath is well connected by road and air but is closed during the winter season due to snow conditions, from October–November to April–May depending on the astrological dates fixed by the Temple Committee; the Raj Purohit (Royal priest) decides the auspicious day for opening the temple patak (doors) on Vasant Panchami day in end of April/early May while the closing day is Vijayadashami day in October/November. The other six temples are located in villages, largely in remote locations. A few of them can be approached only by trekking along bridle paths.