01The wedding fire
Mata Parvati, born to Himavan as Shailaputri, won Mahadev by tapas at Gaurikund below. The wedding, the valley says, was held here, in Himavan’s own country. Bhagwan Vishnu stood as the bride’s brother, Brahma performed the rites, and the havan fire lit for it has never been allowed to go out. Pilgrims add wood to the Akhand Dhuni and carry home a pinch of its ash. That fire burning through three yugas gives the place its name, Tri-yugi Narayan. The four kunds nearby, named for Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra and Saraswati, are fed by a spring that rises in the temple court.
02Weddings again
The temple is built of grey stone in the same style as Kedarnath, and the priests are Jamloki Brahmins of the Kedar valley. Pilgrims on the Kedarnath route have long turned aside here from Sonprayag. In recent years families from across India have begun to hold their own weddings in the temple court, circling the same fire, and the state now promotes the village as a wedding destination.
Triyuginarayan is about 12 km by road from Sonprayag on the Kedarnath route; there is also a forest footpath.
