including traditional religious leaders
such as the Shankaracharyas, have
been calling for the construction of the
Ram Janam Bhumitemple at the site.
Anticipating nothing but trouble ahead,
the government again has sent the mat-
ter to the courts for resolution, where it
remains to this day and may remain for
four more decades. For further informa-
tion see Sarvepalli Gopal, Anatomy of a
Confrontation, 1991; and Christophe
Jaffrelot, The Hindu Nationalist
Movement in India, 1996.
Badarayana
(ca. 400–200 B.C.E.) Philosopher tradi-
tionally cited as the author of the
Vedanta Sutras. This collection of 555
brief sutras, or aphorisms, is the basis of
the philosophical school known as
Vedanta, so named because it claims to
reveal the ultimate meaning of the reli-
gious scriptures known as the Vedas.
The sutras attempt to summarize and
systematize the philosophic and reli-
gious ideas in the Upanishads, the spec-
ulative texts that form the latest stratum
in the Veda. Because the Vedanta Sutras
are particularly concerned with the
ideas about the Supreme Reality known
as Brahman, they are also called the
Brahma Sutras. The brevity of the indi-
vidual sutras—many are only a few
words—presupposes commentary,
which was later provided by various
writers. Badarayana himself considered
the Upanishads the ultimate source for
his teachings, although his text was
judged equally authoritative by later
Vedanta writers.Badrinath
(“Lord of Badri”) Sacred site (tirtha) in
the Himalayan area of Chamoli district
in the state of Uttar Pradesh, near the
headwaters of the Alakananda River,
the largest tributary of the Ganges.
Badrinath is high in the mountains at an
altitude of over 10,000 feet. It is connected
to Tibet by the Mana Pass, one of the tra-
ditional land routes by which Chinese
goods have come into India. Badrinath’s
high altitude also means that it is only
accessible between late April andBadrinathTemple to the god Vishnu in the Himalayan town of Badrinath.
Parts of the temple’s architecture suggest that it may have originally been a Buddhist temple.