Tungnath Temple Dedicated to Shiva – Tungnath Trek in Panch Kedar Yatra

Tungnath Temple is dedicated to Hindu God Shiva and is located in Uttarakhand and is around a 3-hour trek from Chopta, which is on the road between Badrinath and Kedarnath. Tungnath shrine is the second temple in the Panch Kedar Pilgrimage and is located at an altitude of 12,000 ft the highest among the Panch Kedar temples but is the easiest to trek. It is believed that the legs of the bull form of Shiva appeared at Tungnath. The naturally formed ‘arm’ or Swayambhu Bhuja of Shiva is worshipped here.

The glory of the Tungnath temple is mentioned in the Skanda Purana. Shiva tells Parvati that whoever has darshan and seeks the blessings at Tungnath attains spiritual salva­tion irrespective of where he dies. Another legend states that Vishnu got his Sudarshan Chakra after meditating here.

Like the other Panch Kedar temples, Tungnath was also built by the Pandavas.

In a calendar year, the Tungnath temple is only open from April to October. The temple remains closed during the winter period and the murti is shifted to Makkumath and worshipped there during the winter. The temple remains covered in snow during the harsh winter period.

Tungnath is a beautiful stone temple and there is Nandi on the outside of the temple. Apart from the Swayambhu Bhuja worshipped at the same sanctum sanctorum of the temple, there are murtis of Parvati, Kal Bhairav, Parvati & Shiva. There are also murtis of Adi Shankaracharya and Lakshmi and Vishnu. There is also a Virat form of Shiva, and the Narasimha Avatar. On the outside of the temple, there are murtis of Parvati, Ganesh, Pancha Pandavas, Bhairavnath, Bhoot­nath and also a sphatik lingam.

The route to the temple:

National Highway 58 – Rishikesh to Rudraprayag (via Shivpuri, Devprayag and Srinagar) – 139 kilometers.

From Rudraprayag to Ukhimath – 45 kilometers.

Ukhimath to Chopta – 30 kilometers.

From Chopta it is a 3.5 km trek to Tungnath.