Location:

Jyothirmath, popularly known as Joshimath is situated in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. Jyothir Mutt

Jyothirmath comes in the Rishikesh – Badrinath highway. It is just about 45 kms from Jyothirmath to Badrinath. Jyothirmath has Sri Lakshmi Narasimha temple. The pooja for Sri Badrinarayan is conducted in Jyothirmath in the winter season, (the time when Badrinath temple is closed).

While the road from Rishikesh to Jyothirmath is enchanting and full of scenic beauty, the road is also prone to landslides. Being in the Garwhal region of the Himalayas, this area received a fair bit of tremors. Travelling on this route during the monsoons is not advisable. However, we have seen that the authorities have taken a lot of measures to avoid major delays in this road. There are JCBs located at all the landslide prone areas to clear any debris with minimal delays. If devotees experience any delays due to traffic, an ideal place to stop over would be RudraPrayag.

Sthala Purana:

The First visit to the Abode of Shri Badrinath“BadriDarshanadevaMukthiPunsamKaraiSthitha”

This place is situated at the entrance of the Gandha Madan Mountains. This the same sacred place where, upon the prayers of the ardent devotee Prahalad, God Shri Narasimha gave up his virulent form and appeared before him in his gentle and composed form. This is the place where Shri AdiJagadguruShankaracharya enshrined and worshipped Lord Narasimha. According to the Puranic tradition, the six month winter Nar Pooja was held at this place. Therefore, the BadrinathYatra is regarded successful only after the visit to the Lord Narasimha here.

Jyothir Mutt

History:

AdiShankaracharya had established 4 main maths. Sringeri in South India, Puri in East India, and Dwarka in West India. The 4th math in North India, also known as the Uttaramnaya Math is situated in Jyothirmath. Adi Shankaracharya established this Matha as per Atharva Veda. He then appointed Totakacharya to take care of this Mutt.

There are records to show the lineage of Shankaracharyas upto the 17th Century. However due to the inclement weather conditions, the lineage did not continue post 17th century. However, later, Garwhal Naresh (the king of Garwhal) appointed Sri Gopal Ji Namboodiri as the administrator to take care of the day to day functioning of this Math. From then on, this Math is being taken care of more as an administrative exercise.

How to Get to Jyothir Mutt Narasimha Temple

Road : Jyothirmath has to be reached by road only.
The nearest railway station is in Rishikesh. From Rishikesh or from Haridwar, devotees can take taxi for hire to reach Jyothirmath. The approximate distance from Rishikesh to Jyothirmath is 250 kms.
Air : The nearest airport is in Dehradun
Railway station : – Rishikesh.

Accomadation:

Jyothirmath has a few decent hotels. The GMVN (Garwhal Mandal Vikas Nigam) has a series of guest houses across the entire stretch of Rishikesh to Badrinath highway and devotees can also book the hotel at any of the GMVN guest houses.

Divya Kshetra

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