The sage under the berry tree

The name Badrinath carries a quiet ecological memory Badri means the berry Ziziphus mauritiana or jujube tree Nath means lord Badrinath is the lord who dwells among berry trees Myth explains this landscape by saying that when Vishnu meditated in the twin form of Nara and Narayana the goddess Lakshmi transformed herself into a berry tree to shelter him from the cold and to nourish him Food shade and devotion merge turning vegetation into theology The shrine that emerges is not merely a temple but a reminder that divinity survives through sustenanceThe physical structure of Badrinath evokes ambiguity It does not resemble a classical Hindu temple but looks closer to a Buddhist viharaInside the sanctum are three figures Nara Narayana and Uddhava The Bhagavata Purana identifies Nara with Arjuna Narayana with Krishna and Uddhava as their companion and confidantBut there are competing claims Many Jains argue that the images are originally Jain icons later appropriated by Brahmin priests Significantly Adinath or the first Jain Tirthankar of this era is linked both with the banyan tree as well as the evergreen Rayan berry tree Manilkara hexandra Like Shiva he is linked to the bull Shiva too is offered ber fruit on Shivratri Verification is difficult because the images are heavily covered with flowers ornaments and sandal paste making iconographic study nearly impossible What is clear however is that the region was never culturally isolatedGarhwal lay on an important trade route connecting the plains of India to Tibet Merchants monks and pilgrims passed through Badrinath carrying goods as well as ideas Buddhist presence along Himalayan trade routes is well documented and the viharalike architecture reflects this Jain traders too were active across north India and the western Himalayas Badrinath thus functioned as a trading shrine sustained by movement rather than settlementLater political shifts changed these patterns As trade routes altered older Buddhist and Jain institutions lost patronage and declined Local Garhwal kings aligned with emerging BuddhaHindu polities rebuilt or repurposed shrines Tradition credits figures like Shankaracharya and later Ramanujacharya with rediscovering and reestablishing Badrinath These stories are less about founding new temples and more about reinterpreting older sacred spaces to suit changing religious ecologiesThe central symbol that ties these traditions together is the berry tree linked to Shiva Vishnu and Rishabdevji Berry trees are also found near Harmandir Sahib Golden Temple of Amritsar Sages sat under the shade of this tree It is said to be Dukh Bhanjani or that which removes all suffering as it provides the basic needs that a hermit needs mdash shade and foodThe berry tree enabled sages to survive in harsh conditions The berry tree acknowledges the importance of food without which no life survives Even the hermit who gives up the world needs food to survive Berries are linked to Ram Krishna to the wandering hermits of India It is the offering of tribal people to their gods and goddesses It is the food of the traveller the trader that which survives in the harshest of conditionsBadrinath is a layered site where Hindu Buddhist and Jain memories overlap shaped by trade geography and changing patronage When modern politics turns such shrines into rigid property markers it flattens this complexity The berry tree reminds us that sacred spaces grow through sharing not possessionThe author writes and lectures on the relevance of mythology in modern times Reach him at devduttpattanaikmiddaycom