Badrinath in one of the four Dhams a devout Hindu has to visit in his lifetime to attain salvation. Badrinath is surrounded on either side by two mountain ranges known as Nar and Naryanan, with the Neelkanth peak providing a breathtaking backdrop.

The legends say that Badrinath was the home of Lord Vishnu in his incarnation as Narayan. It is known as Tapobhumi, a land for meditation and penance and bhubaikunth, the heaven on earth.

Neelkanth in Badrinath, India 2004

When we come into this world,
Everyone is laughing and
We are crying.

When we leave this world,
Everyone is crying and
We are laughing.


World Philosophy

"Truth is by nature self-evident, as soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear."
-Mohandas Gandhi

"Get up and set your shoulder to the wheel-how long is this life for? As you have come into this world, leave some mark behind. Otherwise where is the difference between you and trees and stones?-they too come into existence, decay and die."
-Swami Vivekananda

"Better than the one who knows what is right is the one who loves what is right."
-Confucius

"Truth is one, the wise call it various names."
-Rig Veda (1.164.46)

"Religion is a matter of the heart. No physical inconvenience can warrant abandonment of one's own religion."
-Mohandas Gandhi

"Lead me from unreal to real;
Lead me from darkness to light;
Lead me from death to immortality."
-Upanishand (1.3.28)

"I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any. I refuse to live in other people's houses as an interloper, a beggar or a slave."
-Mohandas Gandhi