Pandukeshwar — Yogadhyan Badri, below Badrinath
What it is
Pandukeshwar is a village in a gorge of the upper Alaknanda, below Badrinath on the road to Joshimath, and the highest settlement on this stretch of the river that is lived in all year. Its Yogabadri temple is counted among the five Panch Badri shrines as Yogadhyan Badri. Wikipedia's article on Pandukeshwar says Badrinath's image of Vishnu is worshipped here in winter, when the high temple is shut under snow. Its article on Joshimath says instead that an idol of Badri is taken to the Narsingh temple in Joshimath for those six months. We give both. The village had 1,396 people at the 2011 census.
Photos: Ms Sarah Welch (CC0) · Ms Sarah Welch (CC0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
Getting there
About 23 km and 42 minutes by road from Badrinath on our routing, so it fits on the way up or the way down. Wikipedia notes that heavy snow can block the village in winter, and that flash floods and landslides after cloudbursts sometimes cut it off at other times of year: ask about the road before you go.
The four temples
Four early medieval stone temples stand here. The Yogabadri temple is built in the Dravida style of southern India, the only one of its kind in the central Himalaya, and is dated to about 850 to 1000 CE. Its sanctum holds a gold image of Vishnu seated in the lotus pose, and lions guard the corners of its cylindrical dome. The other three, to Vasudeva Badri, Lakshmi-Narayana and Ganesha, are in the northern Nagara style, so this is the one place in northern India where old temples of both styles stand side by side. Copper-plate grants found here, one dated to 853 or 854, record gifts to a Narayana shrine in a place named Garudagrama, which one scholar takes to be Pandukeshwar's old name.
When to go
Any month the road is open, including the winter months, when the village is still lived in.
Around it
The two-day plan stops here on the way up and spends the next day at the Badrinath Temple and Mana. For the journey, read how to reach Badrinath.
Plans that include this
All 1 plans that stop here →
Nearby places
All of Badrinath →
Nearby destinations
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Questions people ask
Why is Pandukeshwar important for Badrinath?
Wikipedia's article on Pandukeshwar says that when the Badrinath Temple closes for the winter, its image of Vishnu moves down to the Yogabadri temple here, which is also counted among the Panch Badri as Yogadhyan Badri. Pandukeshwar is the highest settlement on this stretch of the Alaknanda lived in all year.
What is special about the Yogabadri temple?
It is built in the Dravida style of southern India, the only such temple in the central Himalaya, dated to about 850 to 1000 CE. Beside it stand three Nagara-style temples, so Pandukeshwar is the one place in northern India where both old styles stand side by side.
How far is Pandukeshwar from Badrinath?
About 23 km and 42 minutes by road on our routing, down the Alaknanda towards Joshimath. It makes a natural stop on the drive up or down, and the two-day Badrinath plan puts it on the first afternoon. Landslides after cloudbursts can close the road, so ask before you set out.