हिंदीOn this day
Standing

Gaurikund (Anekathangavadam of the Tevaram)

The last halt before the walk to Kedarnath, where Mata Parvati did tapas to win Mahadev. Tamil tradition identifies it with Anekathangavadam, one of the Himalayan shrines Sambandar sang.

Built: Himalayan tirtha with hot springs and a Gauri temple, on the Mandakini at about 1,980 mWhere: Uttarakhand (Rudraprayag)Deity: Mata Parvati as Gauri; Bhagwan Shiva of the Tevaram’s Anekathangavadam30.65° N, 79.03° E
  1. June 2013
Photo: Prateek as a traveller · CC BY-SA 4.0

01Gauri’s tapas

The valley’s katha says Gauri lived here through her long tapas for Shiva, and that it was here Mahadev accepted her; the wedding followed at Triyuginarayan nearby. The hot springs were made into bathing tanks for pilgrims, and Gaurikund is also told as the place where Parvati, bathing, shaped Ganesha and set him at the door. Sambandar’s hymns include a handful of shrines in the far north, Kedaram and Kailasa among them, and Anekathangavadam; the Tamil Shaiva lists place that last one at Gaurikund, and it is said he sang them from the south. The Kanchi temple of the same name is called Kachi Anekathangavadam to keep the two apart.

The life of this place

  1. June 2013The Kedarnath valley flood strikes Gaurikund along with the rest of the Mandakini valley.
Visiting

Road-head for Kedarnath in Rudraprayag district; the walk to Kedarnath, about 16 km, starts here. Open with the Kedarnath season, roughly May to October–November.

Nearby

Triyuginarayan TempleStanding
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Triyuginarayan Temple

The Vishnu temple where, by the tradition of the Kedar valley, Shiva and Parvati were married with Narayana giving the bride away and Brahma as priest. The fire before the temple, the Akhand Dhuni, is said to have burned since that wedding.

KedarnathStanding
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Kedarnath

The Himalayan Jyotirlinga at the head of the Mandakini, first of the Panch Kedar and one of Uttarakhand’s Char Dham. The linga is a rough triangular rock, the hump of Shiva in the form of a bull.

Kalimath TempleStanding
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Kalimath Temple

At Kalimath, on a river bank in the Kedar valley, Mahakali is said to have gone into the earth after slaying Raktabija. No murti is worshipped; the priests open the covered kund for a single night in the year.

Omkareshwar Temple, UkhimathStanding
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Omkareshwar Temple, Ukhimath

When snow closes Kedarnath each Kartik, Baba Kedar is carried down in his palki to Ukhimath and worshipped here through the winter. The town is also where the Puranas place the marriage of Usha and Aniruddha.