A temple that opens only when the mountain allows it — ten miles on foot to stand where the Himalaya is said to kneel.
For six months of the year Kedarnath is under snow, and the idol is carried down the valley to winter in a smaller town. The temple stands empty at 11,755 feet, doors shut, in an amphitheatre of glacier and scree. Then in late April the priests walk back up, and it opens.
Nobody has ever been able to date it precisely. The masonry is at least a thousand years old and the site is older than the masonry. It survived the flood of 2013 — which destroyed nearly everything around it — because a boulder came down the mountain and lodged behind the temple, splitting the water. The boulder is still there. People visit it.
We give the journey five days and only two of them involve walking. The rest is spent at altitude, unhurried, because the point of arriving early is to still be there when everyone else has gone.
You do not need to be a pilgrim. You need decent lungs, a tolerance for cold mornings, and a willingness to be somewhere that does not care whether you understood it.
What you will see
The shikhara at first light The shikhara at first light
Grey stone against glacier and scree, appearing exactly where the trail runs out. We are there before the crowds, in the hour the mountain is still deciding whether to show itself.
The walk in The walk in
Ten miles of switchbacks with the Mandakini river always below and the peaks always nearer. The walk is not the way to the pilgrimage. It is the pilgrimage.
Behind the temple Behind the temple
A quiet hour at the shrine of Adi Shankara, the eighth-century philosopher who is said to have died here at thirty-two, at the edge of where the glacier begins.
Where you stay
3 places, chosen one at a time.
Property to be confirmed Mountain lodge
Gaurikund, 6,500 ft
Property to be confirmed.
1 night
Property to be confirmed Serviced camp
At the shrine, 11,755 ft
Property to be confirmed.
1 night
Property to be confirmed Riverside hotel
Guptkashi
Property to be confirmed.
1 night
What is included
Return international flights are included.
We book them with the journey, from your nearest major airport. Travellers who would rather use their own miles, or fly from somewhere we don’t serve well, can simply opt out and we adjust the rate.
Included
- Return international flights, in the cabin of your choosing
- All transfers from your door — car to your home airport included
- Private guiding throughout, and a Shunyaway lead on every journey
- All accommodation, and all meals taken together as a party
- Permits, entry fees and internal travel
- 24-hour contact with the person who designed your journey
Not included
- Visas — we prepare the paperwork, you make the application
- Travel insurance, which we require you to hold
- Personal spending, and anything bought for yourself
Practical
- Duration
- 5 days
- On foot
- 10 miles / 16 km, one way
- Altitude
- 11,755 ft / 3,583 m
- Open
- May – October
- Pace
- Two days' walking, one day simply there
- Party
- Twelve travellers maximum
Rates on request
A door-to-door journey cannot be quoted until we know which door, and which cabin. Design yours and we will price it, or simply write to us.