Saiva · Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
Kedarnath Jyotirlinga
Kedarnath (Jyotirlinga) as the hump of the bull, at 3,580 m
GeneralPitru and ancestors
The temple in short
- Deity
- Kedarnath (Jyotirlinga) as the hump of the bull, at 3,580 m
- Where
- Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand · 30.73N 79.07E
- Usual hours
- Season only: 4 am – 3 pm, 5 pm – 9 pm — hours change with festivals and the season; check before travelling. Were these right when you went?
- Grahas
- Sani
- Visited for
- A Jyotirlinga and a Char Dham, reached on a sixteen-kilometre walk, open from Akshaya Tritiya to Bhai Dooj. Visited for release from a long karmic burden.
The sthala purana
Tradition, as it is told at the temple
The sthala purana has it that the Pandavas, wanting to be free of the killing of their own kin, went looking for Sivan, and that he avoided them by taking the form of a bull.
Bhima is said to have caught the bull as it went into the ground. The hump stayed above at Kedarnath, and the other parts are said to have come up at four other places in the mountains — which is how the Panch Kedar are counted. What stands in the sanctum here is a rough conical rock, not a shaped linga.
What is recorded
Documented history
Kedarnath is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas and one of the Chota Char Dham. It stands at about 3,580 m and is reached on foot from Gaurikund, a walk of roughly sixteen kilometres.
The floods of June 2013 destroyed most of the settlement around the temple. The temple itself stood; a large boulder that came to rest immediately behind it split the flow, and the boulder is still there and is shown to visitors.
The shrine is open only from about Akshaya Tritiya to Bhai Dooj. In winter the deity is worshipped at Ukhimath.
What there is to see
Description
A plain grey stone temple on a shelf of ground with the Mandakini below and glaciers above, and nothing decorative about it at all.
The conical rock in the sanctum may be touched. Adi Sankara’s samadhi is behind the temple.
The walk up from Gaurikund is the greater part of the experience. Ponies, palanquins and helicopters are available, and Sonprayag is as far as private vehicles go.
The temple year
The days it is fullest
The temple opens at about Akshaya Tritiya and closes at Bhai Dooj, and the dates are announced each year.
Maha Shivaratri falls in the closed season and is kept at Ukhimath. The walking season is busiest in May, June and September.
Getting there, and what else it is called
- Also called
- Kedarnath Dham, Kedareshwar
- Reaching it
- Gaurikund is the roadhead, reached from Rishikesh through Rudraprayag and Guptkashi, about 210 km of mountain road. Rishikesh and Haridwar are the nearest railway stations.
Where it is
Others within reach
Nearest first, by straight-line distance
Add what you know
Been to this temple? The things that change — whether the hours on this page were right, whether the sannidhi was open, how long the queue was on a Saturday — are exactly what no printed source keeps current, and what the next person travelling here needs.
- Were the hours right when you went?
- Is anything on this page wrong or out of date?
- A photograph of the gopuram, the tank, or the notice board
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Parihaaram is traditional practice, offered for devotion and peace of mind; it is not a guaranteed cure of any condition. Temple hours change with festivals and the season, so check before travelling.