Badrinath (pop. 2,438) is a town in India that has an important Hindu shrine. The town lies in the Himalaya, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) from the border with the Tibet region of China in the northwestern Uttarakhand state. Once a very small village, it has grown larger because of the pilgrimage trade. From early May to the end of October, Hindu pilgrims throng to Badrinath. Heavy snowfalls cut the town off, and its entire population moves to the lower height of Joshinath, which then becomes a pilgrimage center through the winter and spring.
The temple at Badrinath, called the Badri Narayan, has a shrine to Badri Vishal, an incarnation (physical manifestation) of the Hindu god Vishnu (see Vishnu). The temple itself is made of wood and may once have been a Buddhist shrine (see Buddhism). Pilgrims may take a ritual dip in the hot springs nearby. Badrinath has been a pilgrimage site for many centuries. In the Mahabharata, the great Indian epic poem about the rivalries between the two families of the Pandavas and the Kauravas, the Pandavas pass through Badrinath on their way to heaven.
