Tunganath : Highest temple in India

    Tungnath is the highest temple (ie situated in highest altitude : just below the peak Chandrashila) in the world and is one of the five and the highest Panch Kedar temples located in the mountain range of Tunganath in Rudraprayag district of Tehri Garhwal, in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The Tunganath (Tunga : high , Nath : lord) mountains form the Mandakini and Alaknanda river valleys.
    Generally it is attempted after Kedarnath. Tunganath (3680 mtrs) is not hard because its only a 3Km trek from Chopta. But the altitude can take a toll on first timers and elderly,and the climb is steep and not to be take lightly.

Tunganath Temple

As per the legends when the Pandavas went to look for Lord Shiva to atone for their sins in the Kurukhetra war Shiva took the disguise of a bull. Bheema the strongest of the Pandavas caught hold of him after realizing the guise.The resulting tug of war torn the bull apart in six places. The "Bahu" or arms fell here at Tunganath. The temple is considered to be over thousands years old.

 

Season :     It  is off limits in winter because of snow accumulation,furthermore the embodiment of shiva is taken down to the village at the foothils named Makku .

 So its good to go there in summer and pre-monsoon,but in post-monsoon  the region roads becomes unstable and prone to landslides.

Chopta

Details >  Chopta (2680 mtrs) is situated at a distance of  31 Kms from Mandal (see my post on Rudranath ) and obviously 36 Kms from Gopeswar. Its 450 Kms from Delhi, you can consult the following link for distance chart though I must say its not very accurate. It is a small settlement mainly on the map because of the Tunganath trek. Though the trek is only 3.5 Kms the height gained is almost 1000mtrs and hence not as easy as it seems. For invalids they have pony and horses unlike Rudranath. Madmaheswar also can be reached by sitting on a saddle but its not regular.

Winding road

From Chopta climbing starts. The entire journey is a easygoing f unfilled one. Do not forget to drink the juice of Rhododendron ,which the locals call "Bransh" . Though many sellers use artificial flavours, so make sure of authenticity. You will not get it every season.

Tailless mouse

On the road you will encounter many amazing species of plants and animals. I have encountered this tail-less
mouse-like rodent . Isn't it cute?

If you walk in a relaxed mood the entire journey may take upto 2 to 3 hours. We took our time ,chatted with people . We went to Tunganath after Rudranath so our legs were a little bit fatigued and  Tunganath was a relief.

After you reach the destination the first task is to get yourself a room,and order lunch ,because of the altitude the food takes more time to be prepared.And obviously you should be hungry . The temple closes for some time in the afternoon so make sure to "Darshan" the Lord before that.

Tunganath Temple

You can also give puja and make offering through a priest or "Purohit". The offering thali costs from 51 Rs to 1001Rs. In the other Kedars you are allowed to bring your own offering of anything even biscuits provided they are new and untasted.

Offerings for Lord Shiva

Do not forget to come in the evening for Arati, its a good sight. Take dinner early and get inside.

Arati at Tunganath

The next morning is the most exciting of all. If the weather is clear you can witness one of the most beautiful sights in the whole world. Trek a further 1 Km from Tunganath to the top of Chandrashilla peak.

sunrise from Chandrashila

Morning view

From Chandrashilla you will get a 360 degree view of the entire region , mostly dominated with high spectacular snow clad peak.

The sunrise is absolutely amazing and the view inexpressible by words.

Choukhamba

You will feel your optical nerves getting overflowed with data. we were lucky enough to see a herd of a local deer species .

View from tunganath

deer

The deers were bonus ,but as they were very far and I don't have a telephoto lens nor in my small compact camera nor in my slr so the above picture of a straying deer is the only comprehensible one.

View from Chandrashilla

we could not stay at Chnadrashilla for a very long time because we had to go to Uniyana the same day and trek for 7.5 Kms upto Gaunder for Madmaheswar trek (read blog) .

glorious  mountains

Here are some more photographs for viewing pleasure.

Chandrashilla

Chandrashilla Temple

This is the small temple on the top of Chandrashilla.

top view :Tunganath Temple.

descend

pet or wild

Frankly there is not much to write ,that is in my power I cannot describe the beauty and divinity of this place, so in this post I have taken help of photographs more than words to express myself. Hope you will be able to experience what I have experienced when you go there .

Back to Chopta

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Madmaheswar : God's own abode

Madhyamaheshwar or Madmaheshwar is a Hindu temple dedicated to god Shiva, located in the Mansuna village of Gahrwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand, India. Situated at an elevation of 3,497 m (11,473.1 ft), it is the fourth temple to be visited in the Panchkedar pilgrimage circuit, comprising five Shiva temples in the Garhwal region. The other temples in the circuit include: Kedarnath, Tunganath and Rudranath to be visited before Madmaheshwar and Kalpeswar to be visited after Madmaheshwar.
   According to the legend Lord Shiva's navel fell here torn apart by Bhima (one of the Pandavas ). When lord Shiva was trying to avoid the Pandavas in the guise of a buffalo, Bhima recognized him  and caught hold of the buffalo. The resultant tug-of-war dismembered the buffalo into six parts. The five places where the five parts fell are the five Kedars and the sixth part fell in Nepal, and that is the Pashupathinath temple. The middle (madhya) or belly part or navel (nabhi) of the bull, considered a divine form of Shiva, is worshipped at this temple, believed to be built by the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahabharata .

Madmaheswar Temple

 Season : Preferably summer and post monsoon .

How To Reach :  First you need to get to the town of Ukhimath . From Ukhimath there is a motorable road for 23-24 Kms to a small village called Uniyana . The road from that point is not quite completed,though the work was in progress in 2011, it may take 1-2 years more until it reaches Ranshi and beyond. 

Day 1>    Reach Ukhimath from your location (Hardwar , Chopta ,Mandal..etc).

random waterfall near Gaundar

Day 2>    Go to Uniyana by car . From Uniyana you will have to walk uphill to Ranshi , practically your trekking start from Ranshi ( though actually the cars go about 1 km more from Uniyana main bazaar) . Ranshi has some good places to watch including Rakeswari Temple . But I suggest to see them while coming back.So press on.

Uniyana

  The destination for Day 2 is Gaunder a village approximately 6 kms from Ranshi . Though the distance seems less but it takes a lot out of you. The first half of the route is through path created by dynamite explosion for making road. It is covered with broker boulders and dust , it is wide but if you are not careful taking a tumble is almost certain.
     

a lodge in Gaunder

The second stretch is through the forest . For the entire walk the river is a constant companion.After you reach Gaunder ,which will take approximately 3-4 hours depending upon your speed.You can also stay at Bantoli ,which is the next village situated on the hill over the confluence of two rivers (as called by the locals Madmaheswar ganga and Bantoli Ganga). But a family friend ours advised us not to live there as the only decent place to stay , Bantoli Lodge has a bad reputation of misbehaving with tourists.
But it is true that the view from Bantoli is much grander .

The decent hotels in Gaunder are Ramesh Panwar's hotel  ,and Bharat Pawar's hotel, there are some other lodges too.

Bridge connecting Gaunder and Bantoli

base of Bantoli

way to Nanu

the confluence

Day 2>  Start early after breakfast. After crossing  the river via a small beautiful bridge and after a short climb you will reach Bantoli. After Bantoli the climb gets more tedious as the slope gets steeper. After the first 2 Kms you will reach the village Khadarakhal( 2100 mtrs).

Khadarakhaal

After Khadrakhaal it takes steep climbing of 2 more kilometers to reach Nanu(2360mtrs). It is a quiet place and very beautiful indeed. Nanu has some nice lodges if you want to stay there.

nanu

From Nanu to Moukhom the route becomes even steeper and a direct sun exhausts you further. It took
us almost an hours to get there.

children of Nanu

The route is full of beautiful sceneries and wonderful people.Now the next stop is Koon (2780 mtrs).

In the way to Moukhom

The distance from Koon to Madmaheswar (3497 mtr) is about 4 Kms . The route is through dense forest and there is no other places to stay on the way, so if you are late dont attempt to reach there instead stay in Koon or Moukhom.

KoonChatti

At last Madmaheswar village

Madmaheswar is a quiet village with a very small population, these along with breathtaking natural view makes it so special.There are some lodges here one of them is shown in the picture below named Asutosh Hotel.

But the lodging of temple committee is a bit better in terms of comfort.

Madmaheswar/Madhyamaheswar temple

. An "Arati" prayer is organised each evening and all the villagers gather in the temple vicinity. The arati is quite marvellous and you can have a nice view of the inner sanctum and the "murti".

Bura Madmaheswar

The next dawn start for Bura Madmaheswar. It is situated on the cliff above Madmaheswar village and it is 1Km steep climb, but if you do not go there your trek will be incomplete in a big way.

panaromic view from Bura Madmaheswar

Bura Madmaheswar offers you a 360 degree view of the entire region. You can see the Nandikund group of peaks and some other marvellous peaks (eg. Kachni).

small temple of Bura Madmaheswar

The place is so pure and pristine you will feel one with nature , it really feels like heaven.

Stay there as long as you want keeping in mind that you have to reach Ranshi before dark. If you have time then its not a problem you can stay anywhere on the way.

If the weather is clear you will be able to see the glorious peaks throughout your return journey.



Warnings:   
1) The area is prone to earthquakes and subsequent landslides so stay on guard . We felt a quake after crossing Nanu.
 2 )Do Not proceed in the dark no matter how tight schedule you have.You don't want ending up lost.


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