Joshimath, also known as Jyotirmath, is a city and a

municipal board A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

Chamoli District Chamoli district is a district of the Uttarakhand state of India. It is bounded by the Tibet region to the north, and by the Uttarakhand districts of Pithoragarh and Bageshwar to the east, Almora to the south, Pauri Garhwal to the southwest, Ru ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

. Located at a height of 6150 feet (1875 m), it is a gateway to several Himalayan mountain climbing expeditions, trekking trails and pilgrim centres like

Badrinath Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. A Hindu holy place, it is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham Hindu pilgrimage, pilgrimage and is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgr ...

. It is home to one of the four cardinal ''pītha''s established by

Adi Shankara Adi Shankara ("first Shankara," to distinguish him from other Shankaras)(8th cent. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya ( sa, आदि शङ्कर, आदि शङ्कराचार्य, Ādi Śaṅkarācāryaḥ, lit=First Shanka ...

. Since 7 February 2021, the area was severely affected by the

2021 Uttarakhand flood The 2021 Uttarakhand flood, also known as the Chamoli disaster, began on 7 February 2021 in the environs of the Nanda Devi National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the outer Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand state, India (Maps 1 and 2) ...

and its aftermath.

History

Between 7th and 11th centuries C.E.,

Katyuri kings The Katyuri kings were a medieval Hindu Rajput's ruling clan of Khasha origin from Joshimath that ruled over the regions in present day regions of Kumaon, Uttarakhand in India and parts of Doti/ Sudurpashchim Province in Nepal from 700 to 1 ...

, ruled the area of varying extent from their capital at "Katyur" (modern day Baijnath) valley in Kumaon. The Katyuri dynasty was founded by Vashudev Katyuri. The ancient Basdeo temple at Joshimath is attributed to Vasu Dev.O.C.Handa, 2002, History of Uttaranchal, Indus Publishing Company. . Vasu Dev was of Buddhist origin, but later followed Brahminical practices and the brahminical practices of Katyuri kings in general is sometimes attributed to a vigorous campaign of

(788-820 CE). Katyuri kings were displaced by the

Panwar dynasty The Panwar dynasty ( ) ruled the Garhwal Kingdom (present day Uttarakhand). The dynasty independently ruled Garhwal from the ninth to nineteenth century until the Kingdom of Nepal attacked the Kumaon Kingdom in 1791 and Garhwal in 1804. With th ...

in the 11th century AD.

2021 glacial outburst flood

A part of the Nanda Devi glacier breaks off in

Nanda Devi National Park The Nanda Devi National Park or Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, established in 1982 is a national park situated around the peak of Nanda Devi (7816 m) in Chamoli Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, in northern India. The entire park lies at an ele ...

in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on 7 February 2021, causing flash flood in

Rishiganga Rishiganga is a river in the Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India. It springs from the Uttari Nanda Devi Glacier on the Nanda Devi mountain. It is also fed from the Dakshini Nanda Devi Glacier. Continuing through the Nanda Devi National Park, ...

and

Dhauliganga River The Dhauliganga is a turbulent Himalayan river which rises in the border regions of India and China and flows south into the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India. It joins the Alaknanda, the major source stream of the Ganges river. Course ...

, devastating among others the village Rini, the

Dhauliganga Dam The Dhauliganga Dam was a concrete face rock and earth-fill embankment dam on the Dhauliganga River near Dharchula in Uttarakhand, India, close to the borders with Tibet and Nepal. It had very little pondage and operated as run-of-the-river. It ...

, the Rishi Ganga dam,

Tapovan Vishnugad Hydropower Plant The Tapovan Vishnugad Hydropower Plant is a 520 MW run-of-river hydroelectric project being constructed on Dhauliganga River in Chamoli District of Uttarakhand, India. The plant is expected to generate over 2.5 TWh of electricity annually. Ta ...

, killing and endangering people, according to media. At least 31 people are confirmed to have been killed and around 165 were reported missing after the flash flood. A PTI report put the number of workers missing at 150.

Demographics

India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, there are total 3,898 families residing in the Joshimath city. The total population of Joshimath is 16,709 out of which 9,988 are males and 6,721 are females. Thus the Average Sex Ratio of Joshimath is 673. The population of Children of age 0–6 years in Joshimath city is 2103 which is 13% of the total population. There are 1127 male children and 976 female children between the age 0–6 years. Thus as per the Census 2011 the Child Sex Ratio of Joshimath is 866 which is greater than Average Sex Ratio (673). As per the Census 2011, the literacy rate of Joshimath is 91.3% up from 77% in 2001. Thus Joshimath has a higher literacy rate compared to the 82.7% of its own district, Chamoli. The male literacy rate is 84.5% and the female literacy rate is 72.8% in Joshimath. Joshimath had a population of 13,202 in 2001.

Religious significance

Jyotirmath is the ''uttarāmnāya

matha A ''matha'' (; sa, मठ, ), also written as ''math'', ''muth'', ''mutth'', ''mutt'', or ''mut'', is a Sanskrit word that means 'institute or college', and it also refers to a monastery in Hinduism.

'', or northern monastery, one of the four cardinal institutions established by Adi Shankara, the others being those at

Shringeri Sringeri (IAST: Śṛngēri) also called Shringeri is a hill town and Taluk headquarters located in Chikkamagaluru district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the site of the first maṭha ( Dakshinamnaya Sringeri Sharada Peetham) establis ...

Puri Puri () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is als ...

and

Dwarka Dwarka () is a city and a municipality of Devbhumi Dwarka district in the state of Gujarat in Western India. It is located on the western shore of the Okhamandal Peninsula on the right bank of the Gomti river at the mouth of the Gulf of Kut ...

. Their heads are titled "

Shankaracharya Shankaracharya ( sa, शङ्कराचार्य, , "Adi Shankara, Shankara-''acharya''") is a religious title used by the heads of amnaya monasteries called mathas in the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism. The title derives from Adi ...

". According to the tradition initiated by Adi Shankara, this matha is in charge of the

Atharvaveda The Atharva Veda (, ' from ' and ''veda'', meaning "knowledge") is the "knowledge storehouse of ''atharvāṇas'', the procedures for everyday life".Laurie Patton (2004), Veda and Upanishad, in ''The Hindu World'' (Editors: Sushil Mittal and G ...

. Jyotirmath is close to the pilgrimage town of

. This place can be a base station for travellers going to Guru Gobind Ghat or the

Valley of Flowers National Park Valley of Flowers National Park is an Indian National parks of India, national park which was established in 1982. It is located in Chamoli in the state of Uttarakhand and is known for its meadows of Endemism, endemic alpine flowers and the var ...

. The temple Narasimha, is enshrined Badrinarayan along with a pantheon of deities. The presiding deity Lord

Narasimha Narasimha ( sa, नरसिंह, lit=man-lion, ), sometimes rendered Narasingha, is the fourth avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is regarded to have incarnated in the form of a part-lion, part-man being to slay Hiranyakashipu, to end rel ...

is believed to have been established by Adi Sankara. It is one of the "

Divya Desams A Divya Desam or Vaishnava Divya Desam is one of the 108 Vishnu and Lakshmi temples that is mentioned in the works of the Alvars, the poet-saints of the Sri Vaishnava tradition. Of the 108 temples, 105 are in India, one is in Nepal, and the la ...

", the 108 temples of

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

revered by the 12

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

poet-saints or Alvars, and god and goddess are known as Parimalavalli sametha Paramapurusha Perumal .

Joshimath Cantonment

Joshimath Cantonment is one of the important military stations of

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

, present in Uttarakhand. It is the permanent station of "The Garhwal Scouts", the scout battalion of the

Garhwal Rifles The Garhwal Rifles, formerly known as the Royal Garhwal Rifles, are an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It was originally raised in 1887 as the 39th (Garhwal) Regiment of the Bengal Army. It then became part of the British Indian Army, and a ...

. It is the closest army station to the Indo-Tibetan Border. It was used as a base camp for the rescue of the victims of 2013 Kedarnath Floods.

Tourist attractions

Shankaracharya Math

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

tapasya Tapas (Sanskrit: तपस्) is a variety of austere spiritual meditation practices in Indian religions. In Jainism, it means asceticism (austerities, body mortification); in Buddhism, it denotes spiritual practices including meditation and se ...

Narsingh Temple

This is an ancient temple of Lord Vishnu in Narsingh

Avtar Avtar is a given name. Notable people with this name include: * Avtar Singh Atwal, Deputy Inspector General of Police in Punjab Police *Avtar Singh Bhadana (born 1957), member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India *Avtar Singh Cheema (1933–1989), the f ...

and main temple of Joshimath. It has an 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 the present temple and re-appear as black stone (

Shaligram A shaligrama shila ( deva, शालिग्राम शिला, Śāligrāma-śilā), also rendered as shaligram, is a particular variety of stone collected from riverbed or banks of the Kali Gandaki, a tributary of the Gandaki River in N ...

) at new place called Bhavishya Badri, which is situated at a distance of 10 km from Joshimath. During the period when Badrinath temple remains closed during winter every year, an 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 a small shivling.

Tapovan

Tapovan is situated 10 km from Joshimath. It has natural hot water springs. The river Dhauliganga is visible from this spot.

Ropeway

A ropeway to Auli is popular among tourists and one of the longest ropeways in Asia. It is open only during the winter season (November to March) and costs Rs 1000 for two way journey. The ropeway is the fastest means for tourists to go to Auli.

Gari Bhawani Temple

A temple is located 6 km away from the main town of Joshimath toward Rishikesh highway.

Kalpeshwer

Kalpeshwar is situated near the village called Urgam, which is located in a valley. Urgam is off the highway NH-58 and is reached from Helang which is situated at about 18 km 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 7PM.

Climate

Transportation

The nearest airport is the Jolly Grant Airport near

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

away. The nearest railway station is at

Rishikesh Rishikesh, also spelt as Hrishikesh, is a city near Dehradun in Dehradun district of the Indian state Uttarakhand. It is situated on the right bank of the Ganges River and is a pilgrimage town for Hindus, with ancient sages and saints meditati ...

, which has a small railway terminal.

Haridwar Haridwar (; ) is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. With a population of 228,832 in 2011, it is the second-largest city in the state and the largest in the district. The city is situated on the righ ...

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

and

Mana Pass , photo = Mana Village, Badrinath, Uttarakhand, India.jpeg , photo_caption = Mana Village, Badrinath, Uttarakhand, pak , elevation_m = 5632 , elevation_ref = (SRTM2) , traversed = India National Highway NH58 , location = Uttarakhand, India � ...

in Uttarakhand near the Indo-Tibet border. Therefore, all the buses and vehicles that carry pilgrims from New Delhi to Badrinath via Haridwar and Rishikesh in the pilgrim season of the summer months pass through Joshimath. Rishikesh is the major starting point for a road journey to Joshimath. Regular buses operate from Rishikesh bus station to Joshimath. The road distance from Rishikesh to Joshimath is via

Rudraprayag Rudraprayag is a town and a municipality in Rudraprayag district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Rudraprayag is one of the Panch Prayag (five confluences) of Alaknanda River, the point of confluence of rivers Alaknanda and Mandakini. K ...

and

Chamoli Chamoli district is a district of the Uttarakhand state of India. It is bounded by the Tibet region to the north, and by the Uttarakhand districts of Pithoragarh and Bageshwar to the east, Almora to the south, Pauri Garhwal to the southwest, ...

References

External links

*
Joshimath Portal
{{Municipalities of Uttarakhand Cities and towns in Chamoli district Adi Shankara