Are you planning for kedarnath trip?
Kedarnath is one of the most popular sacred places in India. It is on the footstep of the Himalayas in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand. In this temple, Lord Shiva is worshiped. In the sanctum of this temple, there is one of the twelfth ‘Jyotirlinga’ of lord Shiva, which means the Radiant sign of Lord Shiva. This ‘Jyotirlinga’ is tringle by its shape.
It is known from the ‘Mahabharata’, after the end of the great war of ‘Kurukshetra’ Pandavas came here to satisfy Shiva and situated a temple. It is also known that in the eighth century ‘Adi Shankaracharya’ came here with his pupil.
In 2013, a horrible flood ruined the whole of Kedarnath but the amazing fact is this temple had not even a small effect. A huge stone guarded this temple. This stone is called ‘Bhimshila’. It is said, the third Pandava ‘Bhima’ came here to protect this temple as the disguise of the stone.
How to go to Kedarnath temple:
To visit this temple, you should come to Haridwar by train or plane. There have some mediums to reach Kedarnath.
- Footstep
- Riding on horse
- Pitthu or Doli or Tokri
- Palki
- Helicopter
First, you have to go to Sonprayag by bus, privet jeep, or share jeep. Buses are available from 3:00 am to 6:30 am. You can get a shared or private jeep at any time of the day.
Fare of
- Bus: 550-800 INR per head
- Share jeep: 1000 INR per head
- Privet jeep: 9000 INR for a single trip
If you want to ride in the helicopter, you have to get off on Guptakashi or Phata or Sersi in the root of Sonprayag. You can get helicopter facilities only in these three places. The fare of the helicopter for a round trip is 5500-7500 INR.
You have to come to Gourikunda from Sonprayag by share jeep or you may come by footstep. The distance between Sonprayag and Gourikunda is around 5km. And the fare of the share jeep is 50 INR.
Now you have to start the journey to your destination. The distance is 18 km between Gourikunda and Kedarnath. If you want to go by footstep then begin but if you want any option then book it. The fare of
- Horse: 4000-5000 INR
- Doli\ Tokri: 6000-7000 INR
- Palki: 13000-15000 INR
This rent will decrease 20% in the time of coming back.
If you choose footstep you have to choose one of two conditions.
- Continue walking (in this case you may reach within 7-8 hours).
- Rest walking (in this case you may reach 10-12 hours.)
There are many restaurants, waiting rooms, and storage of drinking water on the way. You can enjoy the views of nature by tracking.
You need a ‘Chardham’ pass to visit or worship Kedarnath. This pass could collect online from the ‘Chardham’ website or Sonprayag offline registration office. After registration, you should collect tokens to worship.
Method of worship:
If you want to just visit the temple, go directly in front of the temple. If you want to enter the sanctum, collect tokens and stand in the queue. The main gate opens from 3:00 am to 3:00 pm and from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm again. But the temple is open for twenty- four hours.
There are many shops for ‘Prasad’ around the temple. The lowest price of ‘Prasad’ is 50 INR. There is no extra worshipper called ‘Panda’.
Here you can get VIP facilities. To get this facility, you should pay 2100 to 4000 rs.
In the evening around 7:30 pm, ‘Sandhyarati’ is held. It is so beautiful. It is suggested just to see it.
Hotels, Tents, and Dormitories:
1. Kedarnath: You can find many tents here. The rent of these tents is 500 INR per head. You can find a few hotels but they have extraordinary rents, around 11000 INR.
You can get personal hotels and bathrooms only in hotels but tents could not provide them. In this case, you have to use moving public toilets and public taps for drinking water. You can find many restaurants. Non-veg and alcohol are banned here. You can find every kind of veg item but you have to pay 4-5 times than natural price.
2. Gourikunda: There are many dormitories and hotels in Gourikunda. The minimum rent for the dormitory is 400-500 INR and the hotel is 4000-5000 INR. A minimum of two people are needed for the hotel.
You can get many restaurants here. Non-veg and alcohol are banned here. Food price is a little low than in Kedarnath.
3. Sonprayag: You can find many dormitories and hotels at Sonprayag. The minimum price of the dormitory is rs.400-500 and the hotel is 2000-3000 INR. Two persons are mandatory for booking a hotel.
There are many restaurants. Non-veg and alcohol are banned here. Food price is a little low than in Kedarnath.
4. Haridwar: There are sufficient hotels, dormitories, and ‘dharma-shalas’ in Haridwar. You can find everything minimum at rs.500. there have many restaurants also in Haridwar. The price of food is a little more and non-veg and alcohol are banned.
Costing per head:
Haridwar to Haridwar footsteps price is 6000-7000 INR per head.
Travel plan:
- 1st day: To reach Haridwar book a hotel for a day. Take rest after taking meal then go to stand and book bus or share\privet jeep. Come back hotel and have dinner and go to bed early.
- 2nd day: wake up early and take a shower. You may not get a chance after that. Go up to your booking bus. You will reach Sonprayag in the afternoon. Then book a dormitory and take your lunch and rest. Here you can’t find a good facility toilet take your dinner between 10:00 pm and go out to Gourikunda. Here you can find a well of hot water. You can bathe if want. Now go to your destination.
- 3rd day: If you follow in your footsteps, you will reach Kedarnath around 11:30 am. Book your hotel or tent, have lunch, and take a rest. Then go to the temple and enjoy ‘Sandhya Arati’.
(In case of not staying a night there, collect tokens just after reaching, go to the temple, and visit and worship ‘Jyotirlinga’. And then come down to Gourikunda. You can stay the night here or come to Haridwar by bus or Jeep. You can reach Haridwar at 2:00-3:00 pm. And then book a hotel.)
- 4th day: At 3:00 am, stand in a queue, collect tokens,s and go to ‘Jyotirlinga’. After worship, go to visit the temple, finish your lunch and take a rest. At 7:00-8:00 pm start for Gourikunda.
- 5th day: Depart for Sonprayag. Stay here a day or book a bus or jeep for Haridwar and Book a hotel.
Traveling tips:
- Temperature becomes minus in evening. So please carry a sweater or woolen clothes sufficiently.
- Weather change is very often the case. Any time starts raining. So keep your raincoat with you.
- Please keep dry foods with you.
- The price of drinking water increases as high as the mountains. Carrying drinking water from the foothill will be better. carry a small flask to keep water warm.
- The bathrooms and toilets are not good enough. So please eat a little and accommodate it.
- Be careful while tracking.
- You may face breathing problems on the high of the mountain. Keep camphor with you.
- Don’t take alcohol anyhow. It’s a punishable crime.
Note:
- If you want to eat non-veg, you have to come to Jwalapur from Haridwar.
- The price of 2\3 liter of warm water is 150-200 INR. So keep a portable water heater.
- Jio and Airtel networks are good in Kedarnath.
- You can get the facilities of blankets and electricity in all the tents
We all go to Kedarnath to earn virtue. Our motive is to give up ourselves to ‘Lord Shiva’, to visit ‘Lord’. It’s a humble request to you please go there by walk or helicopter if you can but don’t ride on a horse. The masters of those innocent animals treat them very inhumanely. They torture those animals only for money. Many people were hurt badly by falling from the horses. The horses and their masters disturb pedestrians very much.
If don’t become unable or carry babies and old people please avoid pitta or palki. So please avoid all of these.
