The pilgrimage town ‘Guptkashi’ is situated at an elevation of 1319 meters from sea level and has its own mystic charm and forms an important stop on the traditional pilgrim route. ‘Gupt Kashi’ also means ‘Hidden benares” and is considered to be as important to Kashi also known as Benares.  The importance of the town lies in the belief that at Manikarnik Kund, the streams of Ganga and Yamuna are believed to meet. According to Mahabharata, it is here that the pandavas came after defeating the kauravas to meet Lord shiva and seek his blessing,but Lord shiva evaded them and left for kedarnath as he was annoyed with the Pandavas  for destroying their own dynasty even though they had fought for the right cause.

Duration of stay: A minimum of 3 (three) day stay is recommended.                               

Things to do:

·         Vishwanath temple: The term vishwa indicates ‘lord of the universe’ and is dedicated to Lord shiva. It is the main temple at Guptkashi.  

·         Manikarnika Kund: ‘Kund’ means pond and in front of the temple lays a shiva-linga (linga n. Hinduism. It is a stylized phallus worshiped as a symbol of the god Shiva) bathed by two springs representing the rivers Ganga and Yamuna. The Ganga spring flows through trunks of two stone elephants while the Yamuna spring flows from a spout in the shape of a cow’s mouth.  

·         Kedarnath Temple: It is one of the holiest Hindu temples dedicated to Lord shiva near the Mandakini river in Kedarnath. Here, Lord shiva is worshipped as Kedarnath. 

·         Ukhimath: Located at a distance of 12 Kms from Guptkashi, It is a temple town and is said to be the winter abode of lord kedarnath.  It lies on the opposite banks of river Mandakini and during the winter months when kedarnath temple is inaccessible due to snow conditions, the deity of Kedarnath is shifted via guptkashi to Ukhimath to continue the worship uninterrupted. 

·         Trigunarayan Village: According to Hindu mythology, Shiva proposed to Parvati at guptkashi and got married in this small village which lies at the confluence of River mandakini and Sone-Ganga.. It is considered to be a very holy spot by devotees. 

·         Gandhi Sarovar: It is a lake about 2 kilomteres away where the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi was immersed.

How to reach:

• Air: Jolly Grant - 203 kms
• Rail: Rishikesh – 186 Kms.
• Road: Rudraprayag – 39 Kms