Journey
Panch Kedar
According to Hindu mythology and the Mahabharata, after the Kurukshetra war, the Pandavas wanted Shiva's forgiveness for killing their kin. Shiva did not wish to face them and hid by taking the form of a bull. When the Pandava brother Bhima tried to catch the bull, the animal vanished into the ground and reappeared in five distinct body parts across the Garhwal Himalayas. The Pandavas built a temple at each location, and these five holy sites together are known as the Panch Kedar.
Stops (5)
- Kedāranāth · hump
The first and greatest of the five, where the bull's hump is said to have risen. Also a jyotirlinga and a Char Dham site, so the circuit begins at a shrine already central to two larger networks.
- Tungnāth · arms
The highest of the five and among the highest Shiva temples anywhere, reached by a short climb from Chopta. The arms of the bull are said to have appeared here.
- Rudranath · face
Set in high meadow and rhododendron forest, reached only on foot over a long approach. The face of the bull is said to have surfaced here, and the shrine is the least easily visited of the five.
- Madhyamaheshwar · navel
A stone temple in a high valley below Chaukhamba, where the middle of the bull's body is said to have emerged. The name itself carries the anatomy.
- Kalpeshwar · matted hair
The only one of the five open through the year, the others closing under snow. The circuit ends here, in a cave shrine, where the bull's matted hair is said to have emerged in the Urgam valley.