Panch kedar Temple in Uttarakhand

Panch kedar refers to the five Hindu temple of Lord Shiva. These temples lies between the river Bhagirathi and Alaknanda in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. These panch kedar temples are Kedarnath, Tungnath, Rudranath, Madhyamaheshwar and Kalpeshwar. Panch kedar Yatra is arranged in a specific order which every devotees have to go accordingly for worship.

There are many legends behind Panch kedar temples that directly link their creation to the Pandavas. Among them one of the most famous legend is that after Kurukshetra war between Pandavas and Kauravs. Pandavas defeated and killed Kauravs who were their relatives and after killing them they were sinful and felt guilty so in order to free from their sin they handed over their reign to their kins and left in search of Lord Shiva to take apology from him but Lord Shiva was upset from them and don’t want to see them.

He does all the possible things to ignore and to escape from them. He was eloping from here and there in Garhwal Himalayan range of uttarakhand while running away from them in Kedarnath valley he was in the form of bull grazing on the field trying to hide himself from Pandavas but one of the Pandavas i.e Bheem saw a bull grazing in the field who was looking different and unique.

He find it suspicious and thereafter recognized him. Lord Shiva seeing him coming near tried to dive in marsh land but Bheem caught him tightly but unfortunately failed to take him out and the bull scattered into different pieces leaving behind his hump and tail. But after seeing Pandavas determination, Lord Shiva finally blessed them and freed them from their sins and asked them to worship his hump at Kedarnath and others parts of the body appears in different area of Kedarnath valley. Where Shiva is worshiped in different appearance-arms at Tungnath, navel at Madhyamaheshwar, face at Rudranath and hair at Kalpeshwar. These four holy shrines along with Kedarnath are worshipped as Panch kedar.

The panoramic view of the Himalayas is breathtaking. Panch kedar is surrounded by beautiful snow capped valleys and with lush greenery all over the place. Panch kedar fulfill all the wishes of trekkers , nature lovers as Panch kedar is the best place for trekking and photography. Some of the temples are not easily accessible as one has to trek up to some distance through adventurous route.t he total trek length to cover panch kedar temples is about 170km.

Kedarnath

kedarnath

It is situated in Kedarnath valley in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand at an altitude of 3,583 mtr above sea level on the bank of river Mandakani. In Kedarnath temple Lord Shiva is prayed in the form of hump and tail. This temple is not easily accessible by road. One has to take 14km uphill trek from Gaurikund.

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Tungnath

tungnath_temple

This is situated on the Chandranath parvat in the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhan at an altitude of 3,680 metre above sea level. Here Lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of arms. It is the highest Lord Shiva temple among all the Panch kedar. Devotees and tourist crowd to this temple is increasing day by day because of its natural marvelous scenic beauty. I’m order to take the blessings of holy shrines one has to take 3 km uphill trek through the route of brawny stones from Chopta.

Rudranath

rudranath_temple

It is located at an altitude of 3,600 meter above sea level in Uttarakhand. In Rudranath temple the face of the Lord Shiva is worshiped. It is believed here that the Lord Shiva changes his appearance through tha day. In morning he looks like a small child, in afternoon he looks like a young man and in evening he looks like an old man. This temple is surrounded by the peaks like Trishul, Devasthan etc and also by a number of kunds like Chandra kund, Manas kund, Narada kund, Surya kund, Tara kund. Before visiting to the temple, devotees take bath at the Narada kund. Rudranath temple is not easily accessible, the way to the temple is very tough and dangerous. One has to take a trek of 21 km from Saggar which is 3.209km from Gopeshwar.

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Madhyamaheshwar

madhyamaheshwar

It is situated in the Mansuna village of Uttarakhand at an altitude of 3,497 above sea level. In this temple the navel part of Lord Shiva is worshiped. In order to reach this temple one has to trek 21km from Uniana which is the end of the road. This trek route is full of beautiful lush greenery surrounded by Chaukhamaba, Kedarnath and Neelkanth peaks.

Kalpeshwar

kalpehswar

It is situated in Urgram valley in Garhwal region at an altitude of 2,200 meter above sea level. Here Lord Shiva’s hair is worshiped. It is 14 km from Joshimath. Which is easily accessible through road but after that 11km is a bridge path which one has to go through walk. Temple can be entered through a cave which is 2 km from Urgram. It is the only temple among panch kedar which remained opened thought the year.

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