There is a lot to write about this journey but the point is that the world of words is very small and the world of feelings is very vast towards space. Reaching 280 km away from home in the dangerous winter of Himalayas and that too on a scooter is an adventure in itself. Driving the scooter in the valleys, crossing the difficult paths, we are not able to reach Chopta because there is black ice and snow on the road due to which the scooter is slipping on the road.
To get rid of this problem, we park our scooter at a place called Dugalbitta and resolve to reach Chopta by walking on the snow lying on the road. There is no problem in walking in the area where the sun has come but here where the sun has not come, the legs have to put a lot of force to walk straight and correctly. The travelers who brought good shoes are able to walk fine while the travelers who came in running shoes are falling again and again, seeing which I am thinking that it is good that I have come wearing my trail running shoes.
We reached Chopta from Dugalbitta which is 5 km away. There is a crowd of taxis and public here, everyone wants to reach Tungnath no matter what it takes. We deposit our extra bags at a shop here and I get my friend hiking shoes available on rent here which have micro spikes on the sole so that my friend will not face any problem in walking on snow in future.
The distance from Chopta to Tungnath temple is said to be 6 km, both of us talk that we will cover this 6 km distance in 3 hours maximum. As soon as we start the trek, we start seeing the boards of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary. Each board is giving a message. One board is telling us which animals and fauna flora are found here; According to the board, deer musk, Himalayan black bear, Himalayan tahr, jackal, serow, ghoral, pika, leopard, Himalayan langoor, Indian muntjac, yellow throated marten and wild boar are found here.
If we talk about the fauna flora, acomastylis elata, linear-leaf pearly, carex setosa, rhododendron, east Himalayan fir, Himalayan birch, Himalayan mapple tree, Himalayan strawberry, black juniper, brown oak, Himalayan bird cherry and quercus are found in large quantities. There is a check post of the forest department here, here you have to pay a fee to enter this reserve area. A charge of Rs.50 is levied for children up to 12 years, Rs.100 for youth up to 18 years, Rs.200 for adults, Rs.100 for elderly and Rs.50 for students.
The following paragraph was written on the board near the forest department check post; The chopta-tungnath trek is one of the most popular trekking destinations in the GARHWAL in of UTTARAKHAND THE ALSO THE HIGHEST SHINA TEMPLE THE WORLD. CHANDRASHILA IS THE SUMMIT ABOY TUNGKATH TEMPLE IT LITERALLY MEANS "HOON ROCK" IT IS LOCATED AT A HESHT OF ABOUT 3,600 METRES ABOVE SEA LEVEL PEAK PROVIDES VIEWE NCLUDING.
There was another informative board on the side of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary on which it was written “Tungnath Temple, situated in the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, is the highest Shiva temple globally, nestled in the Tunganath mountain range. At an elevation of 3,680 meters (12,073 feet) and positioned beneath the Chandrashila peak, it is part of the Panch Kedar temples, being the third in hierarchy (Tritiya Kedar). Legend has it that the Pandavas constructed the temple to appease Lord Shiva after the Mahabharata war. Some attribute its construction to Adi Shankaracharya, evident by his image within the sanctum. The temple also houses images of the Pandavas, along with ashtadhatu images of Kaal Bhairava and Veda Vyasa. The main attraction is a dark, left-tilting linga, symbolizing an arm of Lord Shiva. Built with stone, the temple showcases ancient architectural finesse. Facing its gate is Nandi, the divine bull. Additionally, there are smaller temples dedicated to Parvati and Vyas in the vicinity. Tungnath Temple stands as a testament to Hindu spirituality amidst the Himalayan peaks.”
Moving ahead, a board read: Pilgrims going to Tungnath-Chandrashila please pay attention. This area is a sanctuary area of Kedarnath Wildlife Division. Throwing garbage/dirt here is prohibited. Doing/playing music system is a punishable offense under Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Violation of the rule will result in a fine of ₹500 to ₹5,000. It was fun reading all this information because new information was being received. About the place.
We are not facing any problem in moving forward as both of us have good shoes and we are not slipping while walking on snow. There is only snow on the way and nothing else. For the next 2 km we walk a little fast because Chandrashila Dark clouds are visible on the peak which will trouble us on our return or it may even snow and we are not at all prepared to get stuck here. Walking fast, we cross many devotees and reach closer to our destination.
The history of Chandrashila is written on another informative board as follows...
The peak situated 2 km above the third Kedarnath Lord Tungnathji is known as Chandrashila It is a famous place which is situated at a height of 4000 meters above sea level. According to Kedarkhand, this is the place where Chandrama did penance of Lord Shankar to get rid of his tuberculosis. King Daksha Prajapati had twenty-seven daughters. One of them was named Rohini. When the Moon loved the daughter of Daksha too much, King Daksha cursed him due to which Moon suffered from tuberculosis. To get rid of that sin, Moon did penance of Lord Shiva at this place and since then this place is known as Chandrashila. It is said. From this place, located in the Himalayan ranges of Garhwal, one can see amazing views of other nearby Bugyal, Gandhadebi, Trishul, Kandar, Kandar Pooch and Chidhanya peaks.
If I count the devotees who started from Chopta and reached the top, then this figure is approximately There must be 1500 people. So many people are spread all over the 6 km trail and it is difficult to click any photo in which there is no one. After walking 5 km, we are now only 1.5 km away from our destination . We stop to drink water, eat the chocolates we had brought with us and quickly complete this last leg and stand in front of the temple of Lord Shiva.
Tungnath temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and its height is 12073 feet above sea level. Above this temple is Chandrashila summit whose height is 4000 meters. We had to trek 6 kms which took us 02:45 hours to reach here. There is snow all around here and the doors of the temple are closed for everyone. Every year the idol of Lord Shiva is taken to Ukhimath where it is worshipped, the temple is closed in winters because in winters several feet of snow falls from Chopta to the temple and worshiping there is like risking life.
We all stand in front of the closed temple with folded hands and ask God for forgiveness for our sins and pray for peace. Some people around me have come here for the first time, whose eyes are filled with tears after standing in front of the temple of their idol. This temple is said to be 1000 years old, whereas 5000 years ago Pandavas came here and worshipped Lord Shiva. According to mythology, Parvati did penance here before marrying Lord Shiva. According to another story, Lord Rama also did penance at this place because he killed Ravana, who was a Brahmin.
The name of this temple is 'Tungnath' which means Lord of peaks. We pay our last respects to this temple and move on our way which will take us to 4000 meters. That's all for today, in the next post I will take you to Chandrashila Summit from where a 360 degree view of the Himalayas is visible. Well one thing, if the weather was clear today, I would have shown you 91 high mountain peaks visible from here, including Chaukhamba (7138 meters), Satapath (7075 meters). Kedarnath Dome (6940 m) and Bhagirathi (6856 m) are the major ones.
Today is 29 December 2024 and there are only 2 more days left for the #winterchallenge organized by 
Disclaimer: This post is originally written in Hindi and I have used Google Translator to translate the Hindi text in English. All the photos have been clicked by me from sony a7iii and edited in lightroom, post thumbnail created in adobe photoshop. I have taken some content from the informative boards seen in the photos in this post.
[//]:# (!worldmappin 30.48838 lat 79.21685 long On the Trail to Tungnath Temple (12073 ft): A Winter Odyssey in the Himalayas d3scr)
