Joshimath is called the 'gateway' to Badrinath. The route to Badrinath passes through this town in the Garhwal Himalayas.
However, doubts have arisen over the Badrinath Yatra amid the Joshimath land subsidence.
Meanwhile, some interesting myth about Badrinath Yatra, which have been there for ages, may surprise you a lot!
There is one legend about Badrinath, which revolves around Narsingh Temple, the winter home of Badri Vishal.
Located in Joshimath, Uttarakhand, the idol of Lord Narsingh here goes through a miraculous change every year.
It is an ancient belief that, during the 8th century AD, Adi Shankaracharya enshrined a statue of Lord Vishnu as an incarnation of Lord Narsingh in Joshimath.
In this statue, one arm of the lord is made thin and eventually becomes thinner each day.
The Skanda Purana predicts that if this statue's arm separates from Narsingh's main idol, the Nara and Narayana mountains near Vishnuprayag, will merge into one and the route to Badrinath will become permanently blocked.
Devotees will be making their way to the Tapovan area of Bhavishya Badri to get a darshan of the lord.
It is also said that Adi guru Shankaracharya, who had established the Badri Vishal, wrote a futuristic note on the stone close to the temple of Bhavishya Badri.