Place Details:
The ancient Raghunathji Temple lies around 74 km from Rishikesh, along the Rishikesh-Badrinath highway. The Deula-style temple, located in what is now Devprayag town in the Tehri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, was famously mentioned and glorified in the work of Tamil Alwar saints of the 6th-9th centuries AD. It is considered to be one of the 108 Divyadesam sites, the holiest places in India that worship Vishnu. Here in this temple, Vishnu is worshiped in the form of Raghunathji, with the goddess Lakshmi as his consort. It is said to have been established in the 8th century AD by the saint Adi Shankara, and it was expanded and beautified during the years of the Garhwal Kingdom. ALSO READ: Devprayag – A confluence of the body, mind and soul
The Raghunathji Temple is built on a hill at the confluence of the rivers Bhagirathi and Alaknanda – the two join together to form the mighty and sacred Ganga River. It is said that the god Raghunathji performed penance at the site of the temple to rid himself of the curse that he was given after he vanquished Ravana in Lanka. The town of Devprayag itself gets its name from the legend that the god and creator of the universe, Brahma, performed penance here. It is said that the Vataka tree in Devprayag can withstand all disasters and the ravages of time, and is home to Vishnu himself. This is where the Pandavas of Mahabharat performed penance after the sins they accrued in the great war, and where the sage Bharadwaja performed penance to become one of the sacred Saptarishis.
BEST TIME TO VISIT RISHIKESH
The average minimum and maximum temperature of Rishikesh is as given below. The best time to visit Rishikesh is also specified.