This triangular trek through Badrinath, the Valley of Flowers, and Hemkund Sahib gives its trekkers some of the best trekking tours on Badrinath Trekking in India, an awesome adventure in itself. The sight of beautiful and rare flowers, snow-covered mountains and the visit to the sacred shrines of Hemkund Sahib and Badrinath make this trek an unforgettable experience.

Altitude: 3096m (Badrinath),3658 T0 3962m (Valley of Flowers),4150m (Hemkund Sahib)
District: Chamoli

Main Attractions

Badrinath gives an idle trek tour on the mountain ranges of Badrinath. On your trek tour visit the temple of Shri Badri Vishal (3096m), one of the four dhams (holy places of the Hindus) of Garhwal (the other three being Gangotri, Yamunotri and Kedarnath), stands at the base of the mighty greater Himalayan wall that includes the Nar, Narayana and Neelkanth peaks. The sacred Alaknanda River and the Rishi Ganga stream merge into one another beside the temple. There is a hot water spring (Tapt kund) near the temple, and a depression in the Alaknanda River known as Narad Kund from where the image of Lord Vishnu (the Preserver in the Hindu Holy Trinity of Creator-Preserver-Destroyer) was recovered by Adi Guru Shankaracharya (the great Hindu reformer who tried to revive Hinduism when it was on the decline during the reign of King Ashoka, a great patron of Buddhism who was promoting the religion in the land).

Legend has it that Lord Vishnu came to the area to meditate after Narad (a highly learned doyen) rebuked the Lord for being immersed in worldly pleasures.
Lord Vishnu sent His consort Goddess Lakshmi (the Goddess of Wealth) to Naaglok (the celestial Snake God’s land beneath the sea) and chose this valley, then called Badri Van, or the berry garden, to meditate. The main image in the temple shows a meditating Lord Vishnu, seated with both hands on the lap. This posture is similar to that of the Buddha, and opinions vary on whether the idol in question is that of Vishnu or the Buddha. As a matter of fact, the Buddha is the 9th incarnation of Vishnu.

Valley of Flowers

Badrinath trekking adventure will take you to the Valley of Flowers,a vast concave valley in the Himalayas (3658m to 3962m). A 10km stretch about 2km wide, the Valley of Flowers is blocked by the massive Ghoradhungi mountain. The beautiful Pushpawati stream (according to a legend, the Pandavas, during their visit to the valley, saw flowers floating in the stream and named it Pushpawati – Pushpa means flowers in Hindi) that flows through the valley, joins the Laxman Ganga stream, flowing in from Hemkund Sahib, at Ghangaria (3048m) to form the Laxman Ganga River. Another legend associates the valley with Laxman, the younger brother of Lord Rama (the king of Ayodhya in the epic, Ramayana, and the 7th incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the Preserver in the Hindu Holy Trinity of Creator-Preserver-Destroyer). Laxman is said to have meditated here, and the Sanjivani Buti, or the herb that saved Laxman's life when he was severely wounded by Meghnath (son of Ravana, the king of Lanka), was found in the valley.

Some of the flowers that are found in the valley are the sacred brahma kamal, pink geraniums, mauve polemoniums, creamy anemones, the rosy petalled cypripedium, blue forget-me-nots, white androsace, the blue borage, large purple asters, purple and dwarf larkspurs, dwarf irises, green and chequered fritillaries, blue and yellow pansies, the indigo-coloured nomocharis, dwarf rhododendrons, pink, blue and purple primulaes, ranunculus, white and red potentillas, the Himalayan blue poppy (mecanopsis) and many more.

Best Time To Visit
During monsoon from mid-July to mid-August.

Hemkund Sahib

Hemkund Sahib is another magnificent trekking adventure on the high ridges of Himalayan mountain lying on the Badrinath trek route. As the name itself suggests – Hem (snow) and Kund (lake), is a high-altitude lake (4329m) surrounded by seven huge snow-covered mountains collectively called Hemkund Parvat. Close to the lake is a Gurudwara (Sikh temple) that is a pilgrimage centre for Sikhs and Hindus from all over the world.

It is said that Shri Guru Govind Singh Ji (the Tenth Guru of the Sikhs and the founder of the Khalsa Panth) meditated on the very banks of this lake where a number of sages and religious teachers from the Hindu mythology, including Rishi Medhasa of the Markandeya Purana, and King Pandu (the father of the five Pandavas), performed penance. Besides the Gurudwara, you can also see a temple here. The lake is the source of the Laxman Ganga (Hem Ganga) stream that merges with the Pushpawati stream flowing from the Valley of Flowers, at Ghangaria. From this point on, the river is called Laxman Ganga.