01The face of Mahadev
When the bull that Bhima seized sank into the earth near Guptakashi, its face rose again here, and the Pandavas, says the Kedar Khanda tradition, built a shrine over it. The murti is a natural rock face of Shiva, worshipped as Neelkanth, the blue-throated one who drank the halahala poison at the churning of the ocean. The shrine is a cave-like hollow under an overhang of rock, not a built temple. Round it lie small sacred tanks named Surya Kund, Chandra Kund, Tara Kund and Mana Kund, and on clear days the peaks of Nanda Devi, Trishul and Nanda Ghunti stand across the valley.
02The doli from Gopeshwar
In winter the utsava murti of Rudranath lives in the Gopinath temple at Gopeshwar. When the doors open in spring the doli is carried up through Sagar, over the meadows of Lyuti Bugyal and Panar to Pitradhar, where pilgrims make offerings for their ancestors, and on to Rudranath. Before Mahadev, the bearers worship Van Devi, the guardian of these forests. The priests are Bhatt and Tiwari families of Gopeshwar. A fair is held on Shravan Purnima, the day of Raksha Bandhan, attended mostly by people of the nearby villages.
The usual path climbs about 20 km from Sagar village near Gopeshwar, over two days for most walkers; there is no road. Go with a local guide and carry warm clothes even in summer. In winter take darshan at the Gopinath temple, Gopeshwar.
