Kedarnath is a pilgrimage location dedicated to Hindu deity Lord Shiva. It is located in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand state. The temple is located nearly 87 km from the district headquarters. Kedarnath is one of the four Chota Char Dham (Four pilgrimage sites) of Uttarakhand and it is one of the 12 Shiva Jyotirlingas of India. The word Kedar means field, Nath means Lord (God). So, it is the temple of the “God of the field”. The temple is situated at an elevation of nearly 3583 meters, (11755 ft) above sea level in Garhwal Himalayan range in state of Uttarakhand, India. Mandakini river flows near the temple and the source of this river are a nearby glacier known as Chorabari (Gandhi Sarovar). The surroundings of the temple are very beautiful and scenic, having snow-capped peaks.
Due to extreme weather conditions, the temple remains open for nearly six months. The closing dates of the temple is announced by the Shri Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee based on Panchang (Ephemeris) calculations. Closing date is two days after Diwali festival, that is on Bhaidooj festival, and the opening date is on Akshaya Tritiya in the month of April or May. During winters, the deity of the temple is carried down to Ukhimath in Omkareshwar Temple and worshipping takes place here for the next six months.
Stories and history related to Kedarnath Temple
The epic Mahabharat is a story focused on Hastinapur kingdom. There is a section of this epic where there is a description of Kurukshetra war. In this war many people died. The war was fought mainly between Pandavas and Kauravas, the cousin brothers. The Pandavas win and kill their brothers. According to a folk legend, the Pandavas feel guilty. They wanted to atone their sin of killing their brothers during Kurukshetra war. So, they wanted to take blessings of Lord Shiva to remove their sins. Lord Shiva does not want to meet them. So, he took the form of a bull and hide near the Kedar region. But Pandavas recognized him and they followed him. At the place of Kedarnath Temple, Lord Shiva disappeared in the form of bull and goes into the earth. Only the hump of the bull remains above the ground. This hump like rock is worshipped at Kedarnath Temple.
Then Lord Shiva appears in its original form and he give the blessings to Pandavas. According to folk legends, the remaining portions of Lord appeared at different places in Uttarakhand. Lord arms appeared at Tungnath, face appeared at Rudranath, belly at Madmaheshwar and hair and head appeared at Kalpeshwar. All these five places are known as Panch Kedar. Temple was originally built by Adi Jagatguru Shankaracharya in 8th century AD. It’s adjacent to the temple built earlier by Pandavas. Inner walls of the temple are decorated with figures of different deities.
Outside the temple doors, a large statue of Nandi (A Bull) stands as a guard. The temple is constructed using large heavy gray colored stones.
How to reach
By train/Bus/Shared Taxi/Own Vehicle
The nearest railway stations to Kedarnath are Haridwar and Rishikesh. Haridwar railway station is a major station and well connected with many major Indian cities. Haridwar railway station is nearly 230 kilometers from Gaurikund (the place where the trek begins). The distance between Gaurikund and Kedarnath temple is nearly 16 kilometers. Haridwar bus stand is very near to Haridwar railway station. Some of the buses ply between Haridwar bus stand and Gaurikund. Rishikesh railway station is nearly 210 kilometers from Gaurikund. Sonprayag is also a key location which is nearly 26 kilometers distant to Kedarnath. Distance between Sonprayag and Gaurikund is nearly 5 kilometers. Rishikesh to Sonprayag distance 205 kilometers. Haridwar to Sonprayag distance is nearly 225 kilometers. One can travel by bus between Haridwar and Sonprayag or by shared taxis or one can go by their own car. There is a place named Devprayag in this journey which is a very holy place for Hindus. Here, tributaries Alaknanda and Mandakini of River Ganga merges and after that the River Ganga forms. You can have a dip in the holy water of this Sangam. Devprayag to Haridwar distance is nearly 94 kilometers and Devprayag to Rishikesh distance is nearly 70 kilometers. By paying some extra money (stay charges) if the taxi person agrees, the pilgrims on the shared taxi can take a stoppage at Devprayag. According to mythology, Lord Ram and his father King Dashrath worshipped here.
You get a beautiful view of river and mountains in this journey. Bus or shared taxis take approximately 8 to 9 hours for the journey from Haridwar to Sonprayag. If you are coming by bus to Sonprayag, the endpoint is Sitapur, near to Sonprayag. And if coming by shared taxi, it drops you nearly 500 meters before Sonprayag parking. Sonprayag has a big parking for vehicles. Registration for Yatra, for online registration for Kedarnath Darshan, go to this website link:
https://registrationandtouristcare.uk.gov.in
Nearly 200 meters from the main market, there is a Yatra registration office. Registration is compulsory for temple Darshan. If you have done your registration online, get it checked here. You have to carry your Aadhar Card throughout your journey. Otherwise, if you have not done the online registration, carry your Aadhar card and get the registration done here at the office.
Sonprayag has good stay options. There are good hotels and dormitories available here. Some are at Sonprayag and some at nearby place Sitapur where the bus drops the visitors.
Shivalik Valley Resort, Village Sitapur, PO-Rampur, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
https://shivalikvalleyresorts.com/
According to their website:
They have rooms in (i) Deluxe, (ii) Superdeluxe, and (iii) Executive category
Parking lot for private cars and luxury coaches.
Free Wifi
Well experienced and capable staff to serve you.
Special packages for pilgrims and Kedarnath visitors.
In house restaurant serving multi-cuisine food throughout the year.
Special Heli tours on request.
In house travel desk to further enhance your traveling experience.
New Basera Hotel & Restaurant, Sitapur, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
A budget hotel with most of the basic facilities.
Kedar River Retreat, Sitapur, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
A beautiful riverside resort with most of the basic facilities.
https://www.kedarriverretreat.in/
Rumkh Kedar Resort, Sitapur, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
A beautiful resort in the lap of nature having basic amenities for stay. Can accommodate small or big group of people. According to this video link, they can arrange destination weddings at Shri Triyuginarayan temple:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTjiTzrP7cw
(YouTube Channel: Ravi from Himalaya)
Phulwari Resort, Sitapur, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
A beautiful resort having beautiful surroundings and all the basic needs of pilgrims and tourists.
https://kedarnathphulwari.com/
Kedar Hill Resort, Triyuginarayan road, Sonprayag
A nice resort having basic amenities
Hotel Atharva Vilas, Sitapur, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
Aditya Villa, Sitapur, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
Hotel Namami Gange, Sitapur, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
Abhishek Hotel (Room in a Homestay), Sonprayag, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
Rudra Palace, Sonprayag, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
https://www.stayapart.in/hotels-in-sonprayag/rudra-palace
Hotel Mahadev, Sonprayag, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
https://www.stayapart.in/hotels-in-sonprayag/hotel-mahadev
Hotel Deep Kishan, Sonprayag, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
https://www.stayapart.in/hotels-in-sonprayag/hotel-deep-kishan
CRK Palace, Sonprayag, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
https://www.stayapart.in/hotels-in-sonprayag/crk-palace
Blue Pine Tourist Lodge, Sonprayag, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
https://www.stayapart.in/hotels-in-sonprayag/blue-pine-tourist-lodge
Mandakini Valley Resort, Sonprayag, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
Hotel Janki Nandan, Sonprayag, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
Triyugi Heights, Sitapur, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
Hotel Priyanshu, Sitapur, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
Tip in Town Homestay, 1.9 km from Sonprayag, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
Hotel Shri Hari, Barasu (Near Seirsi helipad operated by Himalayan Heliservice), 5.4 km from Sonprayag, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
BRN Resort, Barasu, 5.4 km from Sonprayag, District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
Home
Some people prefer to stay at Gaurikund. The reason is that the trek starts from Gaurikund, and you have plenty of time in a day to complete your trek by avoiding the queue at the taxi stand at Sonprayag.
NK Residency, Gaurikund
Private vehicles are not allowed further to Sonprayag. So, one has to hire a taxi to Gaurikund, which is nearly 5 kilometers from Sonprayag. Locker facility is also available at Gaurikund. You can buy a walking stick for Kedarnath Trek which will be very useful for you. Food places are also there at Gaurikund. Do Darshan at Gauri Mai Mandir in Gaurikund. There is a place called Tapta Kund (a natural hot water reserve) in Gaurikund. Take a holy dip in this water and start your trekking journey towards Shri Kedarnath Temple.
You can reach the temple by trekking or there are options of pitthoo, palki or horses. Generally, there are displays to show their fare (charges according to the weight of the pilgrim). The first key point in the trek is the Ghorapadao (Horse Start Point) where you can hire horse for your journey. On the display, you can get charge information of horse journey. There are facilities of drinking water at many places on the trek route. Rain shelters are also present at many places on the trek. Washroom facility is also present on the route of the trek. Food items, medical facilities are also present on the route. Several display boards show do’s, don’ts and instructions for the track. Then comes Cheervasa Bhairavnath Temple on the route. After that, nearly 4 kilometers from Gaurikund comes Jangal Chatti. There is tent facility at Jangal Chatti if you want to take a halt. Medical facilities also available here. You can also get your oxygen level checked here. At a small distance away from Jangal Chatti, there is Hanuman Chatti. A rain shelter is also present here. Nearly 4 kilometers from Jangal Chatti, there is a place called Bhimbali. Here, you can have a darshan of Shri Hanuman ji. Stay options in form of tents are also available at Bhimbali. After Bhimbali, the inclination of the route increases and the weather get changed. After Bhimbali comes Choti Lincholi. Here, medical facility and tent facilities are present. Shri Kedarnath Temple is nearly 9 to 10 kilometers away from Choti Lincholi. The view of Kedar Ghati is just amazing after Choti Lincholi. If you are going up to May end, you can view glaciers in the path. After that comes Badi Lincholi where stay options, food facilities are also present. Ghoda Padav (Horse Journey End Point), Pitthoo and Plaki Journey end points and helipad are the locations before reaching the temple.
Then there is an office where you have to show your registration. They will give you a token showing the time slot of your darshan. It is advisable to go the que for darshan well before this allotted slot.
If you want to reach Shri Kedarnath by helicopter then helicopter starting points are Guptkashi, Phata and Sersi. You can choose any one out of these according to your travel plan. For helicopter booking, the website link is:
Stay near Shri Kedarnath Temple
There are plenty of stay options near the Kedarnath temple. There are tents, dormitories, hotels available in Kedarnath. Tents or hotels can be booked through Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Limited website:
Shiv Bhumi Camping, Kedarnath
Kedar Mountain View Camping, 1.5 km from Kedarnath temple
Hotel Ganga Kinare, 100m near the Kedarnath temple
If you want to stay in tent then carefully choose the tent which can tolerate harsh weather conditions in terms of very low temperatures and rain. Otherwise, it is safe to stay in Hotel or Dormitory. There are plenty of food facilities and different restaurants near the temple. There is a market near the temple where you can do shopping. You can buy prasad (offerings) also from the market.
Now stand in the queue along with the timeslot token receipt and have darshan of Baba Kedar. After darshans, when you exit, there is a temple known as Shri Ishaneshwar Mahadev Temple. Now you can go at the backside of the temple. There is a small kund present where the holy water which is offered in the form of Jalabhishek to Baba Kedar comes. Take this holy water for your home as a blessings of Lord Shiva. At the backside of the temple, a few meters away, there is Bheemshila. This is the rock which comes with the Mandakini river water in the form of a flood which devastated the whole Kedar Valley in the year 2013. The Bheemshila diverted the path of river from the temple and saved the temple. Nearly 50 meter away from the Bheemshila is Adi Guru Shankaracharya Samadhi sthal. If you want to have a darshan of Kedarnath from Garbhgrih, there is a counter near the temple. At evening nearly at 7 PM, you can attend Baba Kedar Aarti.
When you exit from the temple boundary, there is a way to Shri Bhairavnath Temple. The path is nearly 700 to 800 meters steep incline. Shri Bhairav Baba is called the Rakshak (protector) of this whole Kedar Ghati (Valley). From here, you can see a beautiful broad view of the Kedar Valley. Then you can go a nearby place known as Retas Kund. If you do a Jaikara (words pronounced as worship loudly) of Lord Mahadev, then you can see bubbles in the kund water. Then you can go to Baba Barfani Temple. If you like trekking, then you can trek to a cave known as Modi Gufa. Here, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi meditated. If you are a trek lover, then you can go to a 7 to 8 km trek to a place called Vasukital. A local guide is must to reach here.
(If you are an advanced trekker then there are more tough treks in this region such as Mayali Pass Trek. For more information, follow the link mentioned below:
https://himalayanhikers.in/mayali-pass-trek)
Jai Baba Kedar. Har Har Mahadev.