Tunganath Shiva temple at Chandrashila Peak in Uttarakhand

I have been to Tunganath Temple the highest Lord Shiva Temple in the world on the Chandrashila Peak & it is one of the sacred places I have ever been in my life. The trek is not tough. Its a very good trek for beginners and there are some very nice views during the trek. If you guys are planning to stay, then you can stay at bughyal but you need to have your tents and other necessary things to stay at night & then early morning, you can complete rest of your journey. The only tough part of journey is from Tunganath Temple to Chandrashila Peak. The view from this place is mind blowing and you can see almost all the highest peaks of Himalayas.

However, it is not too difficult to get there. You need to drive up to Chopta and then take a trek. The trek is pretty steep though fairly short. Most people take a mule one way going up, which is a good idea as the path is steep. Chandrashila is about a kilometer from Tunganath. The trek is short but again very steep and often takes longer than expected due to the altitude which touches 4k meters. Once at Chardrashila you get a spectacular view of the Himalayan snow peaks with a 360 degree view and almost all the major peaks are visible from this point.

The Trek from Chopta to Tunganath is about 4 km but the height gain in the 4 km is more than 700 meters in the short stretch. You gain another about 400 meters in the 1 km trek to Chandrashila from Tunganath. If planning a trip, you need to spend a night at Chopta so you can acclimatize to the altitude and then start climbing early in the morning to reach Chardrashila at Sunrise so you can see the spectacular view as the sun is rising. You will feel an immense energy inside temple. Chopta doesn’t have very good hotels or rest houses, but basic accommodation is available and you may even get hot water on request at some of them. There are several Dhaba style food shacks that serve hot food and tea etc. Tunganath is the highest Shiva Temple and one of the Panch Kedar. Yes, it is higher than Kedarnath in elevation,

I booked the bus from Delhi to Rishikesh, got down and roamed in Rishikesh for 2 hours took a bath and left for the bus stand. In you can take bus for either Haridwar or directly to Rudra Prayag. Got the bus for Rudra Prayag which took around 5-6 hours but I can assure you that this journey, river Ganga flowing on either the left side or right it will blow our mind from which I can conclude that road is too beautifully scenic. Then we left the bus in Rudra Prayag, last bus to Ukhimath leaves at 3:00 pm . So I had an extra hour which used to see Rudra Prayag sangam and didn't regret that 2 km walk to it.

Got on to the bus, And left for the Ukhimath though this bus was really messy and crowdy so be aware. It took me around 3 hours to reach but in between I met four amazing people who were also going Chopta for the trek .One thing I do want to mention is make friends if you are travelling alone. Reached Ukhimath, but there was no facility to reach there except a cab. So we all booked a cab and the way to Chopta it was really picturesque. After sometime it started snowing we got too excited though this excitement of ours cost us 2 km of walk since it was heavily snowing, Cars tyres were skidding on the road.

Finally we reached safely Tunganath mandir. On trekking route I have seen two or three shops, but they were closed due to winter. So do remember to carry enough water and food with you as you won’t find anything beyond Chopta. It’s a ~4 km of trek that may take around 3 - 4 hr to reach there. More you move ahead on trek more you find snow. It’s all snowy from half of the trek to Tunganath but track was clean. The temple remains closed in winter still enough crowd was there. Chandrashila is another ~1.2 km from Tunganath Temple. And if you start early, you can cover both the destination and can return to Chopta in a single day.

Tunganath is one of the highest Shiva temples in the world and is the highest of the five Panch Kedar temples located in the mountain range of Tunganath in Rudra Prayag District in Uttarakhand. The Tunganath (literal meaning: Lord of the peaks) mountains form the Mandakini and Alaknanda river valleys. It is located at an altitude of 3,680 m (12,073 ft), and just below the peak of Chandrashila. The temple is believed to be 5000 years old and is the third (Tritiya Kedar) in the pecking order of the Panch Kedars. It has a rich legend linked to the Pandavas heroes of the Mahabharat Epic.

As Tunganath Temple is famous but not as developed as Kedarnath. There is mot any facility To stay at night and it is higher than Kedarnath. If you are a regular trekker you can stay here with your own foldable tents and enjoy the local Dhaba type food. But I will suggest you for this only if you are a good and experienced trekker. As weather condition is extreme here especially during snow fall it is quite challenging to walk on the snow laden rocky path. Plus there are no shops or restaurants here so we can only stay in Chopta which should be your base camp. But people here are very friendly and hospitable and help you in every way they can. Jay Shri Bholenath Maharaj