Rudranath

Rudranath
Rudranath Temple
Religion
Affiliation	Hinduism
District	Chamoli Garhwal
Deity	Shiva
Festivals	Maha Shivaratri
Location
Location	Rudranath (village), Garhwal
State	Uttarakhand
Country	India
Location in Uttarakhand
Geographic coordinates	30°32′0″N 79°20′0″E / 30.53333°N 79.33333°E / 30.53333; 79.33333
Architecture
Type	North-indian Himalayan Architecture
Creator	Pandavas, according to legend
Completed	unknown
Elevation	2,290 m (7,513 ft)

Rudranath (Sanskrit: रुद्रनाथ) is a Hindu temple dedicated to God Shiva, located in the Garhwal Himalayan mountains in Uttarakhand, India. Located at 3,600 metres (11,800 ft) above sea level,^[1][2] this natural rock temple is situated within a dense forest of rhododendron dwarfs and Alpine pastures.^[3] The temple is the fourth temple to be visited in the Panch Kedar pilgrimage circuit, comprising five Shiva temples in the Garhwal region to be visited in a strict pecking order starting with Kedarnath (Sanskrit: केदारनाथ) at an altitude of 3,583 m (11,755 ft), the Tungnath (तुंगनाथ)(3,680 m or 12,070 ft), Rudranath (रुद्रनाथ) (3,550 m or 11,500 ft), Madhyamaheshwar (मध्यमहेश्वर) (3,490 m or 11,450 ft) and Kalpeshwar (कल्पेश्वर) (2,200 m or 7,200 ft).

The face (mukha) of god Shiva is worshipped as "Neelakantha Mahadeva" here. The trek starts from Sagar Village which is approximately 3 km away from Gopeshwar. The other trek starts from Mandal which is 12 km away from Gopeshwar. This trek goes through the Anusuya Devi Temple. The trek is very hard with a distance of approximately 24 km.^[3]