Vridh Badri Temple

Vridh Badri (Vriddha Badri), at Animath village a short distance from Joshimath, is one of the five Panch Badri shrines and is unusual among them for depicting Vishnu as an elderly man (vriddha) rather than in his more common youthful forms. Tradition holds that Vishnu appeared before the sage Narada in this aged form at the site, and that the image now worshipped there was originally carved by the divine craftsman Vishwakarma before being recovered from the nearby Narad-kund pond by Adi Shankara, who is popularly credited with founding or consecrating the temple. As with the other Panch Badri shrines, this founding tradition is not independently documented outside devotional literature.

Sitting directly on the Rishikesh-Joshimath-Badrinath highway only a few kilometers from Joshimath, Vridh Badri is by far the most easily reached of the Panch Badri group and remains open to pilgrims year-round, unlike the seasonally closed high shrines further up the valley. It is commonly visited by pilgrims en route to or from Badrinath itself.