Tungnath | World's Highest Shiva Temple
#World's Highest Lord Shiva Temple! #3680m
This is one of the holiest Temple in India dedicated to Lord Shiva. Also one among the Panch kedar temples of Himalayas (Kedarnath, Rudranath, Tungnath, Madhyamaheshwar & Kalpeshwar), Tungnath named as Trithiya Kedar (3rd out of 5).
Where it is located
It is located at a small village Chopta, between Ukhimath and Chamoli towns, in Rudraprayag District, Uttarakhand. Chopta is 210 km from Rishikesh. (Rishikesh is 230 km from New Delhi).
A 4 km Medium uphill trek to be completed to reach the Temple from Chopta village. Further 1 km leads to Chandrashila peak (#4000m)
How to reach
By road - Chopta Village can be easily accessible by road, Many Taxis or Buses available from Rishikesh / Haridhwar. Some times we might have to switch the buses to reach Chopta. (Pre plan your trip via road ). Nearest town is Ukhimath.
Additionally or Most importantly, Travelers who like to ride a bike on these mountain roads will not be disappointed at any time. Because Rishikesh is the place where you can hire Bikes for any number of days to visit most unbelievable places of Uttarakhand state. Many Bike rental shops are available and can be contacted by online also to book your bike.
Self drive cars are very limited at Rishikesh and may not be available most of the time, So it is better to take it from Delhi to plan it as required.
By train - Train facilities not available to reach this place, Haridhwar railway station is located around 225 km from the Chopta. Private and Government UTC buses will be available to reach Chopta from railway station.
By Air - Nearest airport is Jolly Grant Airport - Dehradun, Which is 225 km from Chopta. Dehradun airport and Rishikesh are just 20 km apart. It is better to reach Rishikesh from airport and get taxis or Buses. In the peak season Many taxis will be available from airport only.
Best time to visit
Temple will be open only between the months of May to November, Similar to Chardham (Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath & Badrinath) the temple will be Worshiped only in this period. But the temple can be visited any time a year,
Sometimes in the months of January, February and March due to heavy snowfall this place will be closed for access, It is better to get more information from the local hotels to visit in this time. But Trekking in winter on snowy mountains is the best experience of all.
Summer - April to June : Is the best time to visit to enjoy the pleasant weather and peaceful nature.
Rainy - June to September : Trek will be good for people who love to explore the place in rain, But there might be chances of more landfall in rainy seasons. Please be prepare for cautions. But in this time the temple will be open all day for worship.
Winter - October to December : Best time to explore with adventure, fully covered with Snow and peaceful climate. It will be fun to trek in snowy path. usually snow fall starts from mid November, depending o the weather conditions. It might be bit difficult to reach till Chopta after January as the roads will be covered with snow.
Trek Difficulty level
Moderate. Suitable for Freshers, Families, Kids and pro trekkers. Trek path is covered with Stone caved flat path with little steep in between. In peak season Mule services will be available from Chopta till Tungnath temple.
Trek distance - 4 km trek from base camp (Chopta village), Trek path is easily visible through out the trail. No guide required.
Time required - 3-6 hrs required to reach the Temple, 1 more hour to reach the peak of Chandrashila. Descending can be done in 1-2 hrs. Trekking can be done at overnight too.
Accommodation / Camping
Camping site 1: Many hotels, tents will be available at Chopta village around with a wide range from 100/- to 1500/- with basic amenities. It is better to pre book in peak seasons. Hotel numbers available in google maps.
Camping site 2: At the foot of the Temple after trekking 4 km, very limited hotels and Tents accommodation available, please book prior to visit.
We can take our own Tents and camp at these locations and Pay & Use toilets also available to get freshen up.
Food - Food facilities available at the Chopta village as well as near the Temple too. As said in the off seasons like heavy winter time, hotels might be closed near the Temple.
Permission
Trekking fee of Rs 150/- required & it will be paid at the starting point of trek. Prices may vary a bit depending on season.
Things to carry - Shoes, rain coat, tent, sleeping bag, torch or headlamp, enough water bottles, emergency first aid kit, energy savers, fruits, energy bars, cookies, importantly camera. 😇
If trekking in Snowy weather its better to have snow hiking shoes. few hotels will give it for rent.
Precautions
Take some prevention from cold in rainy season & Winter too. no worry about wild animals.
Experiences
Stay at mountain is the best moment of our life, Sunrise/Sunset beauty is mind blowing, An adventure feel of visiting worlds highest Shiva temple. Billion stars to see at night. Wide range of white mountains beauty is unexplained.
Travel plan
Tunanth is located in Uttarakhand, India.
Detailed travel plans for Char Dham or uttarakhand with various options are explained on the Guide page.
Check the link below for more information.
“This is the gist of all worship: to be pure and to do good to others. He who sees Shiva in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worships Shiva. And if he sees Shiva only in the image, his worship is but preliminary. He who has served and helped one poor man seeing Shiva in him, without thinking of his caste or creed or race or anything, with him Shiva is more pleased than with the man who sees Him only in temples.”
MY TRAVEL STORY @4000m
Stage 1
Chopta to Tungnath, 4 km medium trek, 3-4 hours time.
Stage 2
Tungnath to Chandrashila peak, 1 km trek, 1 hour to reach.
I have visited Tungnath 2 times, one when i was working in Delhi and another with my soulmate and buddy friends from Bangalore.
I would like to tell my story of visiting the Worlds highest Lord Shiva temple Tungnath for the very first time on December 31st 2017, That’s the New year which i will never forget in my entire life, No Pubs, No Lights, No Crackers, No Crowd, No Sound, No Traffic, far far away from home and friends. A completely opposite of regular new year celebration. This trip was with Arjun, he is my only Himalayas travel bro/colleague/friend/buddy/AH you name it. Without him i wouldn’t be visitied this place.
Itinerary was like this :
It was a 3 day Trip as Delhi - Tungnath - Delhi, Friday night to Monday night.
Friday night to Rishikesh from Delhi by Bus. 240 km. 6 hr Journey. Reach early morning and get fresh.
Saturday morning, hire a pre booked Bike (Hey, which bike it is - hmmmm,, Royal Enfield Classic 350, Of course Yessss!!) Start driving towards Tungnath via Devprayag - Srinagar - Rudraprayag - Ukhimath - Chopta). 210 km. 8-9 hr journey. Reach Chopta by evening & Stay at pre booked Tents. As it was in December, due to more cold, accommodation at the temple was not available. (Wanna know what happened on New year eve? Its in the story below)
Sunday trek to Tungnath, Complete the day and stay back at Chopta.
Monday head back to Rishikesh by evening, Late night bus booked to reach Delhi.
Reaching Chopta - Story part 1 of 3 :
(Negative Temperature, Tent stay, Heavy cold, what happened at night 1 am): It was a perfect vacation, New year day was on Monday and its a holiday, so we got 3 days to do to do to do whattt? absolutely we had no idea of what to do. But we decided to make use of this opportunity, as i was in Delhi working for an IT company and my colleague Arjun was also in line with me for the plan. its a new year time many plans were roaming around us, not much as exiting to fix one, later i had a thought of reverse engineering, so the gear started to rolling on my mind, may be we should go far away from the people, far from parties, pubs, streets, lights, sound, disturbance, somewhere high to get high (heyy,,…, not that high friends), So the first thing came on mind was Himalayas & Something Big called Worlds highest Shiva Temple Tungnath.
Bus booked for 11 pm, got on the Bus after having little….. little….. little…. little water i came to say guys nothing else, we didn’t sleep even for a minute with the great ride from Local Bus and highway road. Ufff,, my god. Since my friend had enough water he slept very well. Thanks to him for the company.
Morning 6 am reached Rishikesh, got freshen up in local pay and use Toilets, since we were very lucky, we got the restroom with Toilet door was unable to lock, no latches, no hot water, not enough cold water at least, but some how we refreshed our self. Later came to know that there is a well maintained restrooms near the Main bus stop. Our Bad…. There are many good restrooms or budget hotels available for refreshing up at Rishikesh, please take help from localities.
Our bike was waiting for us at the shop, took the bike by Paying advance amount, it was a 1000 INR per day, took helmets (Very important, as the road somewhere is still under construction, with that Dust we cant see roads, its completely hilly roads, helmets are Mandatory). Took blessing from Ram Jhula and Laxman Jhula Temples and started the journey to mighty Himalayas. (Time : 10 am)
Took many stops for photos, for fun, for tea & ______ (You fill it, whatever comes to your mind), The journey to Devprayag and Rudraprayag, one hell of a journey of life time. A video is posted in the videos section of the blog, have a look and experience the beauty.
There is a small village called Kund, That’s the point of deviation for Kedarnath and Tungnath, Its better to fill the tank at this place, as Tungnath is just 35 km from this place, its a complete uphill drive from here and no petrol bunks available.
Since it was December, we had covered with our Thermal wears, Jeans, thick jackets, gloves and all possibility of being warm, Till Kund it was normal drive on hilly road, we didn’t feel cold much, even though temperature was around 10-12 C degrees as it was a day drive. we were in Kund around 6 pm. Started heading to Chopta 35 km uphill, sun started setting down, after 1 hour drive it was almost 25 km covered, we started seeing something in white color lying here and there, started worrying a bit, we slowed down and watched carefully, after realizing we got to know it was a fresh snow, we started having butterflies.
Even though between Kund and Chopta many villages can be found, its full of a dense forest, we started to get shivering of the cold breeze, complete darkness, thrilling silence, it was around 7.30 pm, last 5 km to reach, we were waiting to get some tea shop to ask the hotel which we want to visit or are we driving the right path even though the maps are showing fine, finally we got a light with steam coming out of a small hut, Thank god.
There was a Tea and most important which i wanted at the time at that location, i think the temperature was around 1 C degrees and i was unable to hold my Tea cup, we were shivering like hell, thanks to the guy who allowed to stand near the kitchen for us to get warm. after spending 1 hour and asking some information we reached hotel which we booked to stay at Tents, (Our hotel was 1 km behind the Chopta), The people at the tourist location are so humble here and the hotel guy saw us and asked directly, are you guys from South India, Because we were shivering like hell and suffering to breathe normal, he understood our problem and gave a hot Roti, Rice and Dhal prepared for us, after getting warm we were able to feel normal.
I never believed the stay would be like that much adventures unless i experienced it, The stay was with the sleeping bag on the mattress inside a Double coated Rain Resistant tent, (omg., You assume it, on the -3 Degree Celsius temperature, wearing same clothes after 8 hour drive, sleeping on a tent on top of the hill with cold breeze, where the snow lying all around the tent, where the temperature will go minus further as the night gets more darker and there is hardly 2 to 3 hut type hotels on the no where land and we were the only visitors on that night!!! )
It was almost 10.30 pm, we were having a small talks about the trek, snow, forest & safety and many things just to have a conversation with the Hotel guy and just to sit near the kitchen. There were few friendly dogs to play around, but the thing is, they don’t look like friendly at all. Before going to sleep, the hotel guy said there are Snow leopards in the forest, these dogs will bark like hell when they are near by, so that we will be in alert for safety, we came to our tent and we tried to sleep but the snow leopard was playing guitar in our minds after listening to hotel guy. Some how we lean to sleep due to tiredness. Complete silence.
Its a cold weather, i forgot something from the evening and it started to struggle my sleep at night 1 am, its nothing but urine. It wont come often like normal days in cold weather, it comes only when its full. My friend is dead to sleep, am the only one awake in that area may be, the dogs are barking like hell,,, wait,, wait a minute,, why the dogs are barking ? Because the leopard is playing guitar and it will find me to sing a song for him if i go out for urine. What am supposed to do now,,, !!! Hell with the adventurous trip. ☹️😆😭.
So i kicked my friend and told him to come out with me and do urine with me, if he didn’t come, by this time i would be celebrating his death anniversary today i think., (hehehee,, kidding). We some how managed and went back to sleep and closed it a journey to reach Chopta with hell lot of experience. Had a nice sleep & woke up at 7 am.
Trek to Tungnath - Story part 2 of 3 :
(Falling, Sliding, Crawling, everything on snow trek path) : On Sunday morning due to heavy cold, the water on the tap was frozen and we were unable to take a bath! we manged to get fresh with the available water and had breakfast, tea and the hotel guy packed some lunch also for us to have after trek. So we left to Chopta, 1 km drive and started trekking by around 9 am.
Before going to any place i will read few travelers blogs and gather as information as much to plan properly, but in snow sometimes plan doesn’t work out. We thought we can reach Tungnath in 3 hr and come back and go to Deoria Tal on same day. Actual time for 4 km trek to Tungnath is 3-4 hours max, but its full winter, all the trek path was filled with icy path and complete slippery. We fell, we crawled, some how we manged to reach the peak in 5 hours. (Time 2 pm)
Obviously the temple was closed, there was enough crowd on the temple who came to see winter snow, I had never seen that type of temple in my entire life till that time, its unique design and much remote location serene beauty in front of it, Yess, it is the Worlds highest Lord Shiva temple #3680m and Unfortunately we could’t see inside the temple but we were very happy to reach the temple, i cannot explain my feeling on that day at that location, its better to feel it in person.
We finished our lunch and visited Chandrashila peak further 1 km and started descending. (Time 3 pm)
Now the actual adventure starts, ascending on the icy path s bit easier but descending is much risky and funny, we fell on our bump more than 10 times and we crawled like babies, we were sliding on the trek path, every one on the path was laughing watching one another as because it was fun to fall on icy path, finally we came down with lots of humps & dumps, memories, feelings, emotions and we were completely tired and were waiting for a rest, and its New year eve. We came back to our tents around 7 am after beautiful sunset and there were few more tents were camping near the hotel, They are all localities came to mountain to celebrate new year.
New Year Eve - Story part 3 of 3 :
(Happy New year) : Our plan was running perfectly, we have to stay there only for one more night as it was almost 7 pm, driving back is not a good idea. And its the New year eve. come on.
There were few more group as said localities, were trying to put a fire camp to get warm and hotel guy came told to join with them only for new year celebration, i asked them is it legal to put a fire camp on forest roads, they said yes its illegal, But we born here and grew up here, we love this forest more than any one, we will be very careful in putting a fire camp and not to get any loss, moreover in the winter in a snowy mountain it is difficult for the fire to spread, fire camp will be for 1 hour only. They were very happy for us to ask this question, on concern of keeping the forest safe and they invited us to join for dinner with them. NOTE: Putting a fire camp at forest locations is illegal, we have to be very careful and think about the forest first.
We all sat like round table around the fire camp, we started having friendly conversation, jokes, fun parts, they were teasing the hotel guy who is childhood friend of them, hotel guy prepared some food and he himself joined.
After 2-3 hours of get together we almost became close friends, we danced, we sang, we all shared our life experience emotions, they shared their emotions to forest and mountains, its so funny how life works out like easy, they were strangers to us or we might be strangers to them, with in a short amount of time everything was unbelievable, it was almost 11.59 pm December 31st 2017, We all stand up and pray to Lord Shiva and said Hey God may this year bring good things to each individuals on their life, let people share their love each other to have a beautiful life. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Come on,, feel that experience., There were no pubs, there was no parties, there was no crowd, there was only one thing on that new year night. !PURE HAPPINESS! They were all friends, came to gather from different villages to celebrate and they were happy to do so, and that’s the night i missed my family, my love, my friends, there was no network to call any one or to receive one! Strange but true. My friend Arjun felt the same way.
All the friends cant be together all the time, but at least yearly once meet all and go to a new place for new memories. That’s the reason i love to Travel and take my friends to the place which i visit or which i want to visit, From that night i have identified myself as a Traveler, Travel is something means to me it means a life, it means Hope, it means all……… What is it means to you! ?
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Thank you!
If any information is insufficient or if any latest updates from the recent travelers, Please leave your comments below.., Your comments are most welcome & valuable.
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