Rudranath Temple

Deity: Lord Shiva

Locality: Garhwal

State/Country: Uttarakhand

हिंदी में पढ़े

Rudranath temple, dedicated to god Shiva is located in the Garhwal Himalayan Mountains in Uttarakhand, India. Located at 3,600 metres (11,800 ft) above sea level, this natural rock temple is situated within a dense forest of rhododendron dwarfs and Alpine pastures.

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History & Architecture

Legend

Rudranath is the fourth temple in the series of holy Panch Kedar. The temple was originally constructed way back in 8th Century AD.

Story associated with the temple is that after killing their cousins at the war, Pandavas started their journey to visit Lord Shiva to wash their sins. Lord Shiva wanted to avoid them as he was deeply incensed by the death and dishonesty at the Kurukshetra war. Therefore, he disguised in the form of a bull (Nandi) and disappeared into the ground with different parts of the body appearing at various places. His hump appeared at Kedarnath, his bahu (arm) was spotted at Tungnath, his head surfaced at Rudranath, the stomach and navels were traced at Madhyamaheswar and his jata (tress) was divined at Kalpeshwar. Pandvas built a temple at this place to worship Lord Shiva and to please him. The face of Lord Shiva is mysteriously embodied on a shivling, at Rudranath Temple.