Dec 30, 20224 min read

6 Interesting facts about Joshimath, Uttarakhand

Updated: Feb 20

Joshimath, a very beautiful village situated in the hills. Joshimath is a very famous place among the tourists, because most of the travelers who leave from Haridwar and Rishikesh in the morning to go to Shri Badrinath Dham, they do their night break in Joshimath and in the morning they leaves for Badrinath.

How to reach Badrinath from Joshimath:

For those travelers who have come from Haridwar by bus, jeep or minibus service is available from Joshimath to reach Badrinath.The road from Joshimath to Badrinath is only 45 kms, but takes around 2 hours. And most of the pilgrims spend the night at Joshimath after visiting Badrinath till evening.

But today I will tell you some such interesting information about Joshimath which makes Joshimath the most special.

Six interesting facts about Joshimath are about

Narsinh Temple
Badrinath's Darshan in Joshimath
Story of Narsinh Temple's Idol & Prophecy
Kalpvruksh: The oldest Indian Tree
Bhavishya Kedar
Asia’s Longest Ropeway : Joshimath to Auli

Keep reading to know more about each interesting facts about Joshimath.

1: Narsinh Temple

The Narasimha temple of Joshimath comes at number one. This temple is very old, but just a few years ago this temple was renovated. It is believed that this temple was built by Adi Guru Shankaracharya himself in the 8th century. It has also been told that in order to protect his supreme devotee Prahlad, when Narayan himself took the Narasimha avatar and killed Hiranakashyap, he did penance and meditation in this Narasimha avatar to pacify himself.

I am also sharing this old picture of the temple with you, which was in 2010 when I came to Joshimath for the first time with my family.

You can feel the beauty and peace of the old temple in this old picture. Just next to the temple still has the remains of Shankaracharya's penance, take advantage of visiting it.

Now there are many hotels available to stay here, but the guest house of the trust built in the premises of the temple is also a great place to stay.

2: Badrinath's Darshan in Joshimath

If you have come in winter and the door of Badrinath dham is closed, then you will get the darshan of Badrinath ji in this temple of Joshimath. Because this is the place where the idol of Badrinath ji is installed. When Badrinath Dham has to be closed due to heavy snowfall in winter, then the idol of Shri Narayan is worshiped in this temple of Joshimath with great enthusiasm.

3: Story of Narsinh Temple's Idol & Prophecy

The third interesting thing about this temple is the exciting stories and prophecies that one gets to hear from the people and priests here. It is believed that the black colored beautiful statue of Narasimha Bhagwan situated in the temple has a wrist, it will gradually become smaller and when it is released from the hand then such changes will come in the environment that the way to go to Shri Badrinath Dham will be closed. Not only this, it is also mentioned about where will install the statue of Shri Badrinath ji after that. It has also been said that after this event, Kalyug will end and once again Satyug will begin. Today this place is famous as Bhavishya Badri, which is 17 km away from Joshimath. Today one has to walk 3 km from Subhoi village to reach here.

4: Kalpvruksh: The oldest Indian Tree

The fourth interesting thing related to Joshimath is about a divine tree called Kalpavriksha. This tree is more than 1200 years old and it is the oldest tree in India. It is believed that Adi Guru Shankaracharya had done penance to Lord Shiva by planting Aasan under this tree. This tree is still present in Joshimath, under which the old temple of Lord Shiva is also built.

The seat of Lord Shankaracharya and the big statue of Lord Shiva are built near this Kalpavriksha which is very attractive. The view of the beautiful mountain valleys and snowy rocks visible behind the Kalpavriksha is mind-blowing. There is a strange feeling of peace and coolness in the nature of this place, which is very relaxing and removes all the tiredness of life.

So if you ever get a chance to visit Joshimath, do not forget to visit this tree.

This place is in the city itself, so you can have darshan of Kalpavriksha and Shankaracharya ji's seat at any time, spending 2-3 hours. This place is just a short distance uphill from the Narasimha temple.

Sharing with you some pictures and videos of Kalpavriksha which is from my last trip to Joshimath in March 2022.

5: Bhavishya Kedar

Just before this temple comes a small Shiva temple called Bhavishya Kedar. It is believed that when the road to Badrinadh will be closed in the future and at the same time the train leading to Kedarnath Dham will also be closed. Then Kedarnath ji's darshan will be at this place in future Kedar located in Joshimath.

Today this temple is so small and situated at the turn on the way to the Kalpavruksha.

Here I am sharing some pictures of the future Kedar temple.

Bhavishya Kedar Temple, Joshimath, Uttarakhand

6: Asia’s Longest Ropeway : Joshimath to Auli

By now you must have come to know that Joshimath is a very important place of ancient culture and history. But not only this, today Joshimath is famous for Asia's longest 4 km cable car ropeway which takes you from Joshimath to Auli.

Auli which is the best ski sport spine in the whole of Asia and is also a very famous tourist spot today. Auli is 14 km uphill from Joshimath which takes 2-3 hours. But with the help of a ropeway, you can reach Auli from Joshimath in less than 30 minutes. Sometimes, if the road to Auli is blocked due to snowfall, then Auli can be reached only with the help of a ropeway. The time to visit this ropeway of Joshimath and Auli is February end or March starting. Because this is the time for the end of winter when the road will also be clear, and the beautiful views of the snowy mountains will also be there.