Kedarnath Jyotirlinga

When it is open

In 2026 the doors opened at 8 AM on 22 April; the date was announced on Maha Shivratri at the Omkareshwar temple in Ukhimath. As of 5 October 2026 the 2026 closing date has not been announced. By custom the date is announced on Vijayadashami and the doors close on Bhai Dooj (Yama Dwitiya): so it was on 3 November 2024 and on 23 October 2025. In 2026 Vijayadashami falls on 20 October and Bhai Dooj on 11 November, but take the closing date as settled only once it is announced. According to the temple committee, Kedarnath is worshipped in winter at the Omkareshwar temple in Ukhimath.

Source: newsonair.gov.in·Checked: 5 October 2026

The story of Kedarnath: Nara-Narayana and the Pandavas

According to the Shiva Purana (Kotirudra Samhita, chapter 19), Nara and Narayana worshipped an earthen linga at Badarikashrama. At their prayer Shiva came to stay at Kedara in the Himalaya in the form of a Jyotirlinga and was called Kedareshvara.

In the same chapter, on seeing the Pandavas Shiva fled in the form of a buffalo; they caught him by the tail, and he stood with his face down. His head portion became fixed at "Nayapala", and at Kedara that form is worshipped. The Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee links this story with the Panch Kedar: the hump at Kedarnath, the arms at Tungnath, the face at Rudranath, the navel at Madhyamaheshwar and the locks at Kalpeshwar.

The temple, darshan and Adi Shankaracharya

According to the temple committee the temple was first built in the 8th century by Adi Shankaracharya, next to the site of an even older temple built by the Pandavas. In the sanctum a conical rock is worshipped as Shiva in his Sadashiva form. According to the Press Information Bureau, Adi Shankaracharya’s samadhi, destroyed in the 2013 floods, was rebuilt and inaugurated on 5 November 2021.

The temple committee gives no full daily darshan timetable; it says only that the evening aarti is at about 6 PM in summer and that a slot for the morning abhishek must be taken at the puja counter a day ahead. The Uttarakhand government’s yatra registration portal (registrationandtouristcare.uk.gov.in) says the opening, closing and aarti times "will be announced soon", and pilgrims register there for the yatra.

How to reach Kedarnath

• By road to Gaurikund, then about 16 km on foot from Gaurikund; places to stay at Sitapur, Sonprayag and Guptkashi (temple committee).
• Airport: Jolly Grant, Dehradun, about 235 km; rail: Rishikesh, about 243 km before Gaurikund (temple committee).
• According to the temple committee, helicopter seats are booked only on heliyatra.irctc.co.in.

Main festivals

Where the sources differ

• Height: the temple committee gives 3,584 m (and 3,581 m further down the same page), the Rudraprayag district 3,586 m, and Uttarakhand Tourism and Incredible India 3,580 m.
• The trek: 16 km from Gaurikund (temple committee, Uttarakhand Tourism), 17 km (Rudraprayag district) or 14 km (another sentence of Uttarakhand Tourism).
• Who built the temple: the temple committee names Adi Shankaracharya (8th century, beside the Pandavas’ temple); the Uttarakhand yatra portal says the Pandavas built it and Shankaracharya restored it.
• The story: the Shiva Purana and the temple committee say a buffalo, Uttarakhand Tourism a bull; the Shiva Purana puts the head portion at "Nayapala", the temple committee the locks and head at Kalpeshwar.
• Order: the Dvadasha Jyotirlinga Stotra names Kedarnath 11th (this site follows that order); the Shiva Purana's list (Kotirudra Samhita 1.21–23) runs in another order and names it 5th.

Frequently asked questions