This is among the world's unique temples, where Lord Shankar's face is worshiped.
Talking about the scriptures, along with religion, many temples of Lord Shankar are established in the country and world where Bholenath sits in a unique style. One of these is the Rudranath temple included in Panch Kedar which is located in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.
This temple of Lord Shankar is situated at an altitude of 3600 meters above sea level. The most special thing about this temple is that the face of Lord Shiva is worshiped here. Not only this, but it is also even more special than the rest of the body of Lord Shiva is worshiped in Kathmandu, Nepal. Yes, this is the reason that this temple is very popular in the country.
This temple is also known as Pashupatinath Temple, since Rudranath is different from other temples, so people come from far away to visit this temple. While Shiva's lingam form is worshiped, only his f is worshiped in this temple. According to beliefs, the face of Lord Shiva is there in this temple and it is known as 'Neelkanth Mahadev'.
The name of Rudnath temple is included in Panch Kedar
According to the stories, after the Mahabharata war, the Pandavas wanted to get rid of their sins. For this, he went to Shri Krishna and wanted to know the solution from him. Then Lord Krishna advised the Pandavas to go to the shelter of Lord Shankar. There are stories that Lord Shiva was angry with the Pandavas because the Pandavas destroyed their own clan. So when the Pandavas reached Varanasi, Lord Shiva came and hid in Guptkashi, when the Pandavas reached Guptkashi, Bholenath reached Kedarnath and took the form of a bull. It is said that Pandavas received blessings from Lord Shiva.
There are popular beliefs that when Lord Shankar disappeared as a bull, the upper part of his torso appeared in "Kathmandu", which is known as Pashupatinath. Then there is the worship of Lord Shiva's arms in Tungnath, the navel in Madhyamaheshwar, the shape of the bull's back-body in Shri Kedarnath. Apart from this, it is said that Lord Shiva's jata appeared in Kalpeshwar and Mukh Rudranath. These five places are called "Panchkedar". One of them is 'Rudranath Temple'.
Rare Stone Statue
It is said that in the huge natural cave near Rudranath temple, a rare stone statue of Lord Shiva is seen in the temple. In which Lord Shiva appears to his devotees with a crooked neck. It is popularly believed that this rare idol of Mahadev, the God of the Gods, is Swayambhu and till date, no depth could be ascertained.
How to reach Rudranath Temple?
Nearest airport: Jolly Grant, Dehradun 258 km.
Nearest railway station: Rishikesh 241 km. Most of the trekking routes to Rudranath are from Gopeshwar or nearby places.
Most of the trekking routes to Rudranath are from Gopeshwar or nearby places. There is a motorable road to Hotel Sagar, located 5 km (3 mi) from Gopeshwar, beyond which a 20 km (12 mi) trek is required to reach Rudranath. The trek winds through tall grass, oak and rhododendron forests. The trek path is described as slippery.
Rudranath Trek Itinerary
The best trekking route is from Sagar Village which is 215 km from Rishikesh
Day 01: Sagar-Pun Bugyal-Panar Bugyal (Trek- 12 km)
Day 02: Panar Bugyal- Rudranath (Trek- 8 km)
Day 03: Rudranath-Mandal (Trek- 20 km)