Best Tourist Places in Guptakashi, Uttrakhand, India

Best Tourist Places in Guptakashi, Rudraprayag, Uttrakhand, India

The place Guptakashi is one of the pilgrim center located in the Indian state of Uttrakhand in a district called Rudraprayag. It is situated near the banks of the Mandakini River. The coordinates of Guptakashi are 30.526944⁰N and 79.081667⁰E. Guptakashi is 1,319m above sea level. During summer the temperature ranges from 15 ⁰C to 30 ⁰C and in winter the temperature ranges from 0 ⁰C to 24 ⁰C. There are plenty of temples dedicated to Lord Shiva. One such temple is the Ardhanareshvara.

The most favorable period in the year to travel to Guptakashi is from November to March.

History of Guptakashi

History of this place dates back to the Mahabharata era. After waging a war on the battlefields of Kurukshetra, the Pandavas wanted to wash of their sinful acts that took place on the battlefield. Lord Krishna and other great saints advised the Pandavas to seek forgiveness from Lord Shiva before attaining death. But the Lord was unhappy about the events that took place in the war and kept avoiding them. At Kashi, in order to avoid the Pandavas, the Lord disguised as a bull and proceeded to Uttarakhand to reside at Guptakashi. But the Pandavas were not willing to give up and they too reached Guptakashi. On recognizing the disguised form of the Lord, one among the five Pandavas, whose name was Bhima, immediately grabbed the tail and rear legs of the bull. But the Lord disappeared into the earth at Guptakashi. The Lord later emerged into his true form with each part of his body at five different places. The place where the Lord made his disappearance was since then called as Guptakashi.

People & Culture Guptakashi

Guptakashi is populated by people worshipping Hindu religion. Apart from Hindu religion there are people who are followers of the Sikh and Jain religion.Garhwali, English and Hindi are the languages spoken by the people in and around Guptakashi, with Hindi being the local language.

Food and Shopping Guptakashi

Restaurants in Guptakashi serve tourists with a variety of vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian dishes. Artifacts crafted from wood are sold in many shops. Other crafted items are jewellery, woolen shawls and rugs. There are shops selling beautiful paintings.

Tourist Places in Guptakashi

Kedarnath

Among the 12 Jyotirlingam, Kedarnath is regarded as the greatest of all. The temple was created in ancient times and is dedicated to Lord Shiva

Chopta

Known as the Switzerland of India, Chopta provides an amazing view of the Himalayan range.

Jakholi

Located close to the river Ganga, the ambience of this hamlet provides a rejuvenating feeling. There are various monuments of the past which are of one’s interest.

Kalimath

Among the serene surroundings is present a temple which houses a shakti peeth in the village Kalimath.

Ardhnareshwar Temple

Within this temple there are paintings depicting Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati as one form which represents the equality between male and female.

There are other interesting places to visit. The names of such tourist places are

Augustmuni
Khirsu
Ukhimath
Vishwanath Temple
Gaurikund
Chandrashila
Tunganath
Kartik Swami Temple
Sonprayag
Triyuginarayan
Deoria Tal
Vasuki Tal
Rudranath Temple
Madmaheshwar Temple
Koteshwar Mahadev Temple
Rudraprayag Temple
Indrasani Mansa Devi Temple
Maa Hariyali Devi Temple

Means of Commutation to Guptakashi

The city, Guptakashi is well connected with the rest of places in India through roadways, railways, and airway.

Nearest railway station to Guptakashi is located at Rishikesh which is located at a distance of 189km. there are daily trains from Delhi, Varanasi, Jammu, Howrah and Dehradun.

Jolly Grant Airport located at Dehradun is at a distance of 198 km from Guptakashi city.

The city boasts of good public transport facilities.

Private buses and Government run buses from various parts of India do stop at Guptakashi city. Tonga, taxis and buses are also the modes of transport available within the city limits.

Accommodation Options at Guptakashi

Guptakashi, being a pilgrimage center also attracts tourists from all over the world. To cater to the accommodation needs there are four star hotel, five star hotel and resorts with initial price per room beginning at Rs. 3000/- per day. There are also budget hotels whose initial price per room starts at Rs.1500/- per day.