Rudranath
Encyclopedia
Rudranath is a Hindu temple
dedicated to god Shiva
, located in the Garhwal Himalayan
mountains in Uttarakhand
, India
. Located at 2286 metres (7,500 ft) above sea level, this natural rock temple is situated within a dense forest of rhododendron
dwarfs and Alpine pastures. The temple is the third temple to be visited in the Panch Kedar
pilgrimage circuit, comprising five Shiva temples in the Garhwal region. The other temples in the circuit include: Kedarnath and Tungnath
to be visited before Rudranath and Madhyamaheshwar
or Madmaheshwar and Kalpeshwar
to be visited after Rudranath. The face (mukha) of god Shiva is worshipped as "Nilkanth Mahadeva" here.
. Legend has it that the Pandavas came to the Himalayan mountains in search of god Shiva, to redeem them of the sins of killing in the epic Kurukshetra war
. God Shiva did not wanted to meet them and escaped in form of a bull in the ground and reentered in parts in the Panch Kedar places: the hump raising in Kedarnath, the arms appearing in Tunganath, the navel and stomach surfacing in Madhyamaheswar, the face showing up at Rudranath and the hair and the head appearing in Kalpeshwar.
In winter, a symbolic image of Shiva is brought to Gopeshwar for worship.
The Doli Yatra starts from Gopeshwar via Sagar. The Doli Yatris cross Lyuti Bugyal and Panar and finally reach Pitradhar. The worship of ancestors is done here. Then, after crossing Dhalabni Maidan, the Doli or the symbolic image of Shiva, reaches Rudranath.Here first the Vandevi is worshipped. The local belief is that Vandevi protects the area. The Kheshtra is protected by Vandevi or Vandevatas.
The temple celebrates an annual fair on the full moon
day in the Hindu month
of Sravan
(July–August) that is mostly on the day of Rakshabandhan. The fair is attended mainly by locals. The priests at the Rudranath temple are Bhatts and Tiwaris of Gopeshwar village.
At Nandikund (2439 m (8,002 ft)), on the trekking route to Rudranath (if coming via Madhmaheshwar), devotees worship old historic swords protruding from the rocks, believed to be of Pandavas.
. The mountain peaks of Trisul
, Nanda Devi
, Devasthan, Hathi Parbat and Nanda Ghunti are visible from Rudranath.
The name "Rudranath", literally means, "Him who is Angry."
The mountain cave of Rudranath was modified into the temple we see today.
The nearest airport is Jolly Grant, Dehradun
(258 km (160.3 mi)). The nearest railway station is Rishikesh (241 km (149.8 mi)). Most trekking routes to Rudranath are from Gopeshwar or nearby places. A motorable road is present up to the village Sagar — 5 km (3 mi) from Gopeshwar, beyond which a 20 km (12.4 mi) trek has to be undergone to reach Rudranath. The trek winds through tall grass, oak and rhododendron forests. The trek path is stated to be slippery. Other routes include: an uphill, 17 km (10.6 mi) trek from Gangolgaon — 3 km (2 mi) from Gopeshwar — through the forest and Panar and Naila shepherd settlements. Another trek route from Gopeshwar to Rudranath passes via Mandal (13 km (8 mi)) and then additional 6 km (4 mi) to the Anusuya Devi temple and then another 3 km (2 mi) to Rudranath. The Anusuya Devi temple is home to goddess Anusuya, who is believed to help devotees in distress. A 45 km (28 mi) trek path is available from Joshimath via Helang too (considered a strenuous trek).
There's also a trekking route to Rudranath from Kalpeshwar, via Dumak,Kalgont Kimana and Palla. The route meets at Urgam village, a little ahead of which is Kalpeshwar.
Hindu temple
A Mandir, Devalayam, Devasthanam, or a Hindu temple is a place of worship for followers of Hinduism...
dedicated to god Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
, located in the Garhwal Himalayan
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
mountains in Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Located at 2286 metres (7,500 ft) above sea level, this natural rock temple is situated within a dense forest of rhododendron
Rhododendron
Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...
dwarfs and Alpine pastures. The temple is the third temple to be visited in the Panch Kedar
Panch Kedar
Panch Kedar refers to five Hindu temples or holy places of the Shaivite sect dedicated to god Shiva. They are located in the Garhwal Himalayan region in Uttarakhand, India...
pilgrimage circuit, comprising five Shiva temples in the Garhwal region. The other temples in the circuit include: Kedarnath and Tungnath
Tungnath
Tungnath is the highest temple in the world and is one of the five and the highest Panch Kedar temples located in the mountain range of Tunganath in the Rudraprayag district of Tehri Garhwal, in Uttarakhand, India. The Tunganath mountains form the Mandakini and Alaknanda river valleys...
to be visited before Rudranath and Madhyamaheshwar
Madhyamaheshwar
Madhyamaheshwar or Madmaheshwar is a Hindu temple dedicated to god Shiva, located in the Mansuna village of Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand, India. Situated at an elevation of , it is the fourth temple to be visited in the Panch Kedar pilgrimage circuit, comprising five Shiva temples in the...
or Madmaheshwar and Kalpeshwar
Kalpeshwar
Kalpeshwar is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located at an elevation of in the picturesque Urgam valley in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand state in India...
to be visited after Rudranath. The face (mukha) of god Shiva is worshipped as "Nilkanth Mahadeva" here.
Legends and worship
The Rudranath temple is believed to be established by the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic MahabharataMahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
. Legend has it that the Pandavas came to the Himalayan mountains in search of god Shiva, to redeem them of the sins of killing in the epic Kurukshetra war
Kurukshetra war
According to the Indian epic poem Mahābhārata, a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins of an Indo-Aryan kingdom called Kuru, the Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura resulted in the Kurukshetra War in which a number of ancient kingdoms participated as allies of...
. God Shiva did not wanted to meet them and escaped in form of a bull in the ground and reentered in parts in the Panch Kedar places: the hump raising in Kedarnath, the arms appearing in Tunganath, the navel and stomach surfacing in Madhyamaheswar, the face showing up at Rudranath and the hair and the head appearing in Kalpeshwar.
In winter, a symbolic image of Shiva is brought to Gopeshwar for worship.
The Doli Yatra starts from Gopeshwar via Sagar. The Doli Yatris cross Lyuti Bugyal and Panar and finally reach Pitradhar. The worship of ancestors is done here. Then, after crossing Dhalabni Maidan, the Doli or the symbolic image of Shiva, reaches Rudranath.Here first the Vandevi is worshipped. The local belief is that Vandevi protects the area. The Kheshtra is protected by Vandevi or Vandevatas.
The temple celebrates an annual fair on the full moon
Full moon
Full moon lunar phase that occurs when the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun. More precisely, a full moon occurs when the geocentric apparent longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180 degrees; the Moon is then in opposition with the Sun.Lunar eclipses can only occur at...
day in the Hindu month
Hindu calendar
The hindu calendar used in ancient times has undergone many changes in the process of regionalization, and today there are several regional Indian calendars, as well as an Indian national calendar. Nepali calendar, Bengali calendar, Malayalam calendar, Tamil calendar, Telugu calendar, Kannada...
of Sravan
Shraavana
Shraavana is a month of the Hindu calendar, also known as Sawan. In India's national civil calendar, Shraavan is the fifth month of the Hindu year, beginning in late July and ending in the third week of August. In the Tamil calendar, it is known as Aavani and is the fifth month of the solar year...
(July–August) that is mostly on the day of Rakshabandhan. The fair is attended mainly by locals. The priests at the Rudranath temple are Bhatts and Tiwaris of Gopeshwar village.
At Nandikund (2439 m (8,002 ft)), on the trekking route to Rudranath (if coming via Madhmaheshwar), devotees worship old historic swords protruding from the rocks, believed to be of Pandavas.
Geography
There are numerous sacred water tanks ("Kund") near the temple. These include Surya-kund, Chandra-kund, Tara-kund, Mana-Kund etc. Nanda Devi, Trishul and Nanda Ghunti are the famous mountain peaks, which provide the backdrop to the temple. The holy river Vaitarani or Baitarani or Rudraganga flows near the temple, which has a grey stone idol of Rudranath. The river is identified with the "river of salvation", where souls of the dead cross to reach the other world. Thus, devotees visit Rudranath to perform rituals of the dead, such as performing a pind offering. Some believe that offering a pind to ancestors here equals offering a hundred million at the holy city of GayaGaya, India
Gaya is the second largest city of Bihar, India, and it is also the headquarters of Gaya District.Gaya is 100 kilometers south of Patna, the capital city of Bihar. Situated on the banks of Falgu River , it is a place sanctified by both the Hindu and the Buddhist religions...
. The mountain peaks of Trisul
Trisul
Trisul is a group of three Himalayan mountain peaks of western Kumaun, with the highest reaching 7120m. The three peaks resemble a trident - in Hindi/Sanskrit, Trishul, trident, is the weapon of Shiva. The Trishul group forms the southeast corner of the ring of peaks enclosing the Nanda Devi...
, Nanda Devi
Nanda Devi
Nanda Devi is the second highest mountain in India and the highest entirely within the country ; owing to this geography it was the highest known mountain in the world until computations on Dhaulagiri by western surveyors in 1808...
, Devasthan, Hathi Parbat and Nanda Ghunti are visible from Rudranath.
The name "Rudranath", literally means, "Him who is Angry."
The mountain cave of Rudranath was modified into the temple we see today.
Access
Rudranath is sometimes considered as the toughest Panch Kedar temple to reach.The nearest airport is Jolly Grant, Dehradun
Dehradun
- Geography :The Dehradun district has various types of physical geography from Himalayan mountains to Plains. Raiwala is the lowest point at 315 meters above sea level, and the highest points are within the Tiuni hills, rising to 3700 m above sea level...
(258 km (160.3 mi)). The nearest railway station is Rishikesh (241 km (149.8 mi)). Most trekking routes to Rudranath are from Gopeshwar or nearby places. A motorable road is present up to the village Sagar — 5 km (3 mi) from Gopeshwar, beyond which a 20 km (12.4 mi) trek has to be undergone to reach Rudranath. The trek winds through tall grass, oak and rhododendron forests. The trek path is stated to be slippery. Other routes include: an uphill, 17 km (10.6 mi) trek from Gangolgaon — 3 km (2 mi) from Gopeshwar — through the forest and Panar and Naila shepherd settlements. Another trek route from Gopeshwar to Rudranath passes via Mandal (13 km (8 mi)) and then additional 6 km (4 mi) to the Anusuya Devi temple and then another 3 km (2 mi) to Rudranath. The Anusuya Devi temple is home to goddess Anusuya, who is believed to help devotees in distress. A 45 km (28 mi) trek path is available from Joshimath via Helang too (considered a strenuous trek).
There's also a trekking route to Rudranath from Kalpeshwar, via Dumak,Kalgont Kimana and Palla. The route meets at Urgam village, a little ahead of which is Kalpeshwar.