Jyotirmath

This article is about the city. For the monastery, see Jyotir Math.
Joshimath
जोशीमठ
Joshimath
town

Ropeway at Joshimath to Auli
Joshimath
Joshimath

Location in Uttarakhand, India

Coordinates: 30°34′N 79°34′E / 30.57°N 79.57°E / 30.57; 79.57Coordinates: 30°34′N 79°34′E / 30.57°N 79.57°E / 30.57; 79.57
Country  India
State Uttarakhand
District Chamoli
Population (2001)
 • Total 13,202
Languages
 • Official Hindi
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Vehicle registration UK
Website http://chamoli.nic.in

Jyotirmath, also known as Joshimath is a city and a municipal board in Chamoli District in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Located at a height of 6150 feet,[1] it is gateway to several Himalayan mountain climbing expeditions, trekking trails and pilgrim centres like Badrinath.[2] It is home to one of the four cardinal pīthas established by Adi Shankara.[3]

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,[4] Joshimath had a population of 13,202. Males constitute 61% of the population and females 39%. Joshimath has an average literacy rate of 77%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 83%, and female literacy is 67%. In Joshimath, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Religious significance

Jyotir Math monastery

Jyotirmath is the uttarāmnāya matha or northern monastery, one of the four cardinal institutions established by Adi Shankara, the others being those at Shringeri, Puri and Dwaraka. Their heads are titled "Shankaracharya". According to the tradition initiated by Adi Shankara, this matha is in charge of the Atharvaveda. Jyotirmath is close to the pilgrimage town of Badrinath. This place can be a base station for travellers going to Guru Gobind Ghat or the Valley of Flowers National Park. The temple Narasimha, is enshrined Badrinarayan along with a pantheon of deities. The presiding deity Lord Narasimha is believed to have been established by Adi Sankara. It is one of the "Divya Desams", the 108 temples of Vishnu revered by the 12 Tamil poet-saints or Alvars.[5]

Places to Visit

Shankaracharya Math This is the math established by Adi Shankaracharya in North India. The Math is having temple of Badrinarayan and Rajrajeshwari Devi. It has a sacred cave where Adi Shankaracharya supposedly undertook tapasya.

Narsinh Temple This is an ancient temple of Lord Vishnu in Narsingh Avtar and main temple of Joshimath. It has idol of Lord Narsingh, which is considered established by Shankaracharya. As per local belief, the right hand of this idol has become as thin as hair. On the day when it will break, the mountains Jay-Vijay (which are situated on a way to Badrinath) shall join and become one and Lord Badrinath of Badrinath temple will disappear from present temple and re-appear as black stone (Shaligram) at new place called Bhavishya Badri, which is situated at a distance of 10 km from Joshimath. When Badrinath temple remain closed during winter every year, one idol of Lord Badri is brought to Narsinh temple and worshiped for six months.

Bhavishya Kedar Temple As Per local belief, present Kedarnath will disappear along with Badrinath and re-appear in Bhavishya Kedar temple at Joshimath. This temple has small shivling.

Tapovan Tapovan is situated 10 km from Joshimath. It has natural hot water springs. It has nice view of river Dhauliganga.

Ropeway A Ropeway to Auli is popular among tourists and one of the longest ropeway in Asia. It is open only during the winter season and costs more than Rs 700 for a journey. Very often, the ropeway is always under repair and tourists may have to take a taxi to go to Auli.

Gari Bhawani Temple Beautiful temple is located 6 km away from joshimath main town toward Rishikesh highway,

Kalpeshwer [6] Kapleshwar is situated near the beautiful village called Urgam which is in a valley. Urgam is off the highway NH-58 and is reached from Helang which is situated at about 18Km from Joshimath. There are sometimes shared vans from Helang to Nyari/Urgam before noon. Public bus transportation is available everyday from Joshimath to Helang from 5AM to 7AM.

Transportation

The nearest airport is the Jolly Grant Airport near Dehradun 293 km (182 mi) away.

The nearest railway station is at Rishikesh, which has a small railway terminal. Haridwar railway junction, 24 km farther from Rishikesh, has train connections to most of the major cities in India.

Joshimath lies on national highway NH58 that connects Delhi with Badrinath and Mana Pass in Uttarakhand near Indo-Tibet border. Therefore all the buses and vehicles that carry pilgrims from New Delhi to Badrinath via Haridwar and Rishikesh in pilgrim season of summer months pass through Joshimath. Rishikesh is the major starting point for road journey to Joshimath. Regular buses operate from Rishikesh bus station to Joshimath. The road distance from Rishikesh to Joshimath is 251 km (156 mi) via Rudraprayag and Chamoli.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Singh, V.P. Flt.Lt. "Himalayan Journal 1967-68". The Himalayan Club. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  2. ↑ Agarwal, Meena. "The Ascent of Trisul, 1970". The Himalayan Club. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "Joshimath". x=26 February 2015.
  4. ↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  5. ↑ 108 Vaishnavite Divya Desams: Divya desams in Pandya Nadu. M. S. Ramesh, Tirumalai-Tirupati Devasthanam.
  6. ↑ Kalpeshwar
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