॥ हर हर महादेव ॥ Garhwal Himalaya
Kedarnath, Madhyamaheshwar, Tungnath, Rudranath and Kalpeshwar. Five temples where Lord Shiva, in the form of a bull, surfaced from the earth. Here is their legend, timings and routes, and a complete plan for the yatra.
The Panch Kedar lie in the Rudraprayag and Chamoli districts of Uttarakhand. They run from the glacial bowl of Kedarnath at 3,583 m to the green Urgam valley at 2,200 m. Only Kedarnath and Kalpeshwar have a road close by. The other three still need walking, through oak forest, village terraces and alpine meadows called bugyals.
Tradition says the Pandavas built the first temple at each of the five sites. Adi Shankaracharya is credited with reviving them in the 8th century. Pilgrims have walked this circuit for more than a thousand years, and many finish it with darshan at Badrinath.
After the Kurukshetra war, the Pandavas wanted Shiva’s forgiveness for killing their own kin. Shiva did not want to forgive them, and hid from them. He took the form of a bull and slipped in among the cattle of the Garhwal hills, at the place now called Guptkashi, the “hidden Kashi”.
Bhima saw through the disguise. He stood astride two mountains so the herd had to pass beneath him. Every animal walked through except one bull, which would not. When Bhima caught hold of it, the bull plunged into the earth. Its body surfaced again in five places, and at each one the Pandavas built a temple. Those five temples are the Panch Kedar.
The head is said to have emerged at Pashupatinath in Kathmandu (some say at Doleshwar Mahadev, Bhaktapur), in Nepal.
Hump पृष्ठ भाग (कूबड़)
Kedarnath · 3,583 m
Navel नाभि (मध्य भाग)
Madhyamaheshwar · ≈ 3,220 m
Arms भुजा (बाहु)
Tungnath · ≈ 3,410 m
Face मुख
Rudranath · 3,600 m
Matted hair जटा
Kalpeshwar · 2,200 m
In the order the scriptures count them. Each chapter gives the altitude, the walk, the winter seat and this year's season.
First Kedar · Shiva’s hump पृष्ठ भाग (कूबड़)
The first and the greatest of the five — a Jyotirlinga and a Char Dham, standing alone in a glacial amphitheatre beneath the Kedarnath massif.
Read the Kedarnath guide| Altitude | 3,583 m11,755 ft |
|---|---|
| The walk | ≈ 16 kmfrom Gaurikund |
| Difficulty | Moderate |
| Winter seat | Omkareshwar Temple, Ukhimath |
| Season 2026 | 22 Apr 2026 → Bhai Dooj |
Second Kedar · Shiva’s navel नाभि (मध्य भाग)
A quiet meadow temple in the shadow of Chaukhamba, reached by a forest trail through villages — the most beautiful walk of the five.
Read the Madhyamaheshwar guide| Altitude | ≈ 3,220 m10,560 ft · often quoted 3,497 m |
|---|---|
| The walk | ≈ 16 kmfrom Ransi |
| Difficulty | Moderate |
| Winter seat | Omkareshwar Temple, Ukhimath |
| Season 2026 | Mid–late May → Late Nov (after Diwali) |
Third Kedar · Shiva’s arms भुजा (बाहु)
Traditionally called the highest Shiva temple in the world — a small stone shrine on a ridge above the Chopta meadows, looking out at a 200-km wall of snow peaks.
Read the Tungnath guide| Altitude | ≈ 3,410 m11,190 ft · often quoted 3,680 m |
|---|---|
| The walk | ≈ 3.5 kmfrom Chopta |
| Difficulty | Easy – moderate |
| Winter seat | Markandeya Temple, Makkumath |
| Season 2026 | Early May → Late Oct – early Nov |
Fourth Kedar · Shiva’s face मुख
The hardest and the most rewarding — a natural rock face of Shiva in a cave temple, reached over the highest alpine meadows in India.
Read the Rudranath guide| Altitude | 3,600 m11,811 ft |
|---|---|
| The walk | ≈ 20 kmfrom Sagar village |
| Difficulty | Difficult |
| Winter seat | Gopinath Temple, Gopeshwar |
| Season 2026 | Mid–late May → Mid–late October |
Fifth Kedar · Shiva’s matted hair जटा
A cave shrine in the green Urgam valley — the only Kedar you can visit in the depths of winter.
Read the Kalpeshwar guide| Altitude | 2,200 m7,217 ft |
|---|---|
| The walk | Short walkfrom Devgram / Urgam |
| Difficulty | Easy |
| Winter seat | None — open all year |
| Season 2026 | Open all year |
Twenty-two legends from the Puranas, the temple families and the valleys of Garhwal: who came here, who prayed here, and why the god is worshipped as he is.
The circuit runs up the Mandakini valley to Kedarnath, then crosses the Ukhimath–Chopta ridge into the Alaknanda valley for the two Chamoli Kedars. Each temple is a walk from its road head.
Temple altitudes
3D satellite terrain · drag to pan · right-drag or two fingers to tilt and rotate
Each trail is traced from OpenStreetMap footpaths, and its height is measured every 20 m from satellite terrain data (SRTM). The hiker walks that real profile on a 3D satellite map. Speed comes from Tobler’s hiking function, adjusted for altitude, your pace and rest stops. At every step you see altitude, gradient, oxygen and temperature, and at the end the time you reach the temple.
3D terrain · satellite · camera follows the hiker
Data: trail lines © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Heights come from AWS Terrain Tiles (SRTM, about 30 m resolution), sampled every 20 m. Satellite imagery © Esri, Maxar. Distances are scaled to the official signboard length, because a traced line skips some switchbacks. Model: Tobler’s hiking function, 6·e−3.5|s+0.05| km/h on the trail gradient s. Speed is reduced 9% per 1,000 m above 1,500 m and multiplied by a pace factor, and a 10-minute rest is added each hour. Real times vary with weather, crowds and fitness.
Daily schedule
Season 2026
Daily schedule (approx.)
Season 2026
Daily schedule (approx.)
Season 2026
Daily schedule (approx.)
Season 2026
Daily schedule (approx.)
Season 2026
Best months Open Monsoon — landslide risk Closed for winter
Timings follow the temple routine and can shift by 15–30 minutes on festival days. Final opening and closing muhurats are announced by the temple committee and priests. Confirm on badrinath-kedarnath.gov.in before you travel.
Watch the official live broadcast and see when the next aarti is at each Kedar. Puja, rooms, helicopters and donations go only to the temple committee’s own websites.
Next aarti at each Kedar Indian Standard Time
Worked out from each temple’s daily routine and this year’s season. Times can shift by 15–30 minutes on festival days.
Pick your city, how you will travel, and the Kedars you want to visit. The calculator works out the road distance, the walking distance, the driving time and the number of days, in the best order.
Twelve days from Rishikesh and back, in the driving order that avoids backtracking. A shorter Kedarnath + Tungnath plan and a Chamoli circuit are on the itineraries page.
Drive along the Ganga past Devprayag (Alaknanda–Bhagirathi confluence) and Rudraprayag. Complete yatra registration before you leave.
Shared jeep from Sonprayag to Gaurikund, then the trek. Evening aarti at Kedarnath.
Dawn darshan and Bhairavnath. Descend and drive to Ukhimath; visit Omkareshwar Temple.
Forest trail via Gaundar village; homestays all along.
Evening darshan; walk up to Buda Madhyamaheshwar for the Chaukhamba view.
Morning puja, long descent, then a short drive up to Chopta.
Sunrise on Chandrashila, darshan at Tungnath, then drive via Mandal. Visit Gopinath Temple.
Steep climb through oak forest to Lyuti Bugyal and Panar.
High ridge walk over Pitradhar. Evening darshan of Neelkanth Mahadev.
Morning puja at Rudranath, then the long descent.
Darshan at Kalpeshwar and Dhyan Badri. Optional extension: Badrinath (+1 day).
Back down the Alaknanda valley via Karnaprayag and Rudraprayag.
From GMVN rest houses and BKTC dharamshalas to village homestays and tents on the meadows. Prices are indicative for the pilgrim season and rise in May–June. Book government stays only on the official GMVN website.
Kedarnath
Indicative / night₹1,200 – ₹6,000+
Most choice and most comfort on the Kedarnath route. Book early for May–June.
Kedarnath
Indicative / night₹800 – ₹4,000
Limited and sells out. Rooms are basic but warm. Expect it to be cold at night, even in June.
Madhyamaheshwar · Tungnath
Indicative / night₹1,000 – ₹3,500
Hub for Madhyamaheshwar and Tungnath. Has ATMs, pharmacy and fuel.
Madhyamaheshwar
Indicative / night₹500 – ₹1,500
Simple rooms with home-cooked meals. Cash only.
Madhyamaheshwar
Indicative / night₹500 – ₹1,500
A handful of rooms beside the temple meadow.
Tungnath
Indicative / night₹1,000 – ₹5,000
Chopta itself has camps and lodges. Dugalbitta has the better resorts.
Rudranath
Indicative / night₹1,000 – ₹3,500
District headquarters with full services; base for Rudranath.
Five Shiva temples in the Garhwal Himalaya of Uttarakhand — Kedarnath, Madhyamaheshwar, Tungnath, Rudranath and Kalpeshwar. Each enshrines a different part of Shiva’s bull form, which surfaced at these five places after the Mahabharata war.
The scriptures list them as Kedarnath, Tungnath, Rudranath, Madhyamaheshwar, Kalpeshwar. On the road it is easier to go Kedarnath → Madhyamaheshwar → Tungnath → Rudranath → Kalpeshwar, which avoids backtracking. The darshan is equally valid in either order.
About 12 days from Rishikesh, covering roughly 690 km by road and about 120 km on foot (including Chandrashila, Buda Madhyamaheshwar and Bhairavnath). Fit trekkers can do it in 10 days. Allow 1–2 buffer days for weather.
From about late April / May until October–November. Kedarnath opens on Akshaya Tritiya and closes on Bhai Dooj. Tungnath and Madhyamaheshwar close shortly after Diwali, and Rudranath usually closes in October. Kalpeshwar is open all year.
May–June and mid-September to October. Monsoon (July–August) brings landslides and road closures, though the meadows are at their greenest.
Rudranath — about 20 km one way with steep climbs and few facilities. Tungnath (3.5 km) and Kalpeshwar (a short walk) are the easiest.
Yes for Kedarnath, under the Char Dham yatra registration system of Uttarakhand Tourism (registrationandtouristcare.uk.gov.in or the Tourist Care Uttarakhand app). Keep the QR slip with you.
Scheduled helicopter shuttles run only to Kedarnath, from Phata, Sersi and Guptkashi. Book only through the official IRCTC Heliyatra portal; fake helicopter-booking websites are common.
Kedarnath and Madhyamaheshwar at Omkareshwar Temple, Ukhimath; Tungnath at Markandeya Temple, Makkumath; Rudranath at Gopinath Temple, Gopeshwar. Kalpeshwar does not close.
Yes. Three of the five temples stand at about 3,400–3,600 m, Madhyamaheshwar at about 3,220 m, and Chandrashila summit reaches about 3,640 m. Ascend gradually, drink 3–4 litres of water a day, avoid alcohol, and descend at once if headache, breathlessness or nausea get worse.
Deoria Tal, below Tungnath
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