Amalgamation of nature’s grandeur and religion in Garhwal

Garhwal is known as a part of Dev Bhumi, meaning the land of God. It has many holy places and rivers. It has five places for the worship of Vishnu, called Panch Badri. These are Vishal Badri (Badrinath), Yogadhyan Badri, Bhavishya Badri, Vriddha Badri and Adi Badri. Garhwal also has five places for worshipping Shiva (Panch Kedar). These are Kedarnath, Madhyamaheshwar, Tungnath, Rudranath and  Kalpeshwar.  There  are  five  places  of  confluence  of  two rivers (Panch Prayag). These are Vishnuprayag (Dhaula Ganga and Alaknanda), Nandaprayag (Nandakini and Alaknanda), Karnaprayag (Pindar Ganga and Alaknanda), Rudraprayag (Mandakini and Alaknanda) and Devprayag (Bhagirathi and Alaknanda). At Devprayag, Bhagirathi and Alaknanda merge, and the new river is called Ganga.