Badrinath

Badrinath, a peak of the main Himalayan range, Garhwal district, North-western Provinces, India, 22,901 feet above the sea. A shrine of Vishnu stands on one of its shoulders at a height of 10,400 feet, about 56 miles NE. of Srinagar. This temple overhangs a sacred tank, which is supplied from a thermal spring in the neighbourhood. As ablution in these waters is held to cleanse from all past sins, Badrinath is a grand resort of pilgrims, every year bringing large numbers; but every twelfth year, when a periodical festival is celebrated, collecting fully 50,000.