Tungnath: The Highest Shiva Temple, and It Is Leaning

The route:

• Chopta, at about 2,680 metres, is the roadhead
• The path climbs steadily for around 3.5 km to Tungnath at 3,680 metres
• Ascent of about 1,000 metres by trail distance, or around 400 metres of net vertical gain depending on the starting point measured
• Stone paved and stepped for most of its length
• Open, with the meadow on either side and views widening as you climb
• Two to three hours up for most people, an hour and a half down

Chandrashila:

• About 1.5 km further and 300 metres higher, at roughly 4,000 metres
• Steeper and rougher than the temple path
• A summit with a very wide Himalayan panorama, taking in Nanda Devi, Trishul, Chaukhamba, Kedarnath peak and Bandarpunch in clear conditions
• Tradition holds that Rama meditated here after the war, and that the moon did penance here, from which the name, the moon rock, comes

Why so many people do this trek:

• It is short
• The roadhead is drivable
• The reward, in views, is disproportionate to the effort
• It can be done as a day trip from Chopta and as a weekend from Delhi
• It works in most seasons, including as a snow trek in winter

Chopta:

• A small settlement of dhabas and camps in a meadow, at 2,680 metres
• Frequently called the mini Switzerland of Uttarakhand, which is what every meadow in India is called and is not helpful
• Within the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary
• Almost entirely a product of the trekking traffic; there is no old village at Chopta itself

The bugyals. The alpine meadows of Uttarakhand are ecologically important and are under pressure.

• Bugyal is the local term for high alpine meadow above the treeline
• They support summer grazing, an enormous diversity of alpine flora, and the region's water
• The soil is thin and slow to form
• Damage from camping, trampling, vehicles and waste is slow to heal
• The Uttarakhand High Court issued directions in 2018 restricting commercial camping in bugyals in the state, after concern about damage at Bedni, Ali and other meadows

What that means for a visitor:

• Camping in bugyals is restricted. Check the current position and use authorised arrangements
• Stay on the path. Cutting corners on switchbacks destroys the vegetation and starts erosion channels
• Do not camp on the meadow
• Take out everything you bring in

The waste problem at Tungnath and Chopta. It is serious and it is visible.

High visitor numbers on a short trek with limited facilities produce exactly what you would expect. Plastic, packaging and bottles accumulate along the path and around the temple.

There is no waste management at 3,680 metres. Anything left there stays or is burned.

What to do:

• Carry a bag for your own waste and take it down
• Take somebody else's down as well if you can
• Carry a refillable bottle rather than buying plastic ones on the way
• Do not buy packaged food to eat on the trail if you can avoid it
• Support the local clean up efforts, which exist and are run by local people and trekking groups

The temple has been reported as tilting, and the matter is genuine and current.

What has been reported:

• The main structure at Tungnath has been observed to be out of vertical
• Figures reported in the press have put the tilt at around five to six degrees for the main temple, with smaller structures tilting more
• The Archaeological Survey of India has examined the site and the matter has been the subject of official attention, with reports and proposals for protection and stabilisation
• The temple has not been closed and worship continues

Possible causes. Several have been proposed and they are not mutually exclusive.

• Ground movement and slope instability at altitude
• Freeze thaw cycling in the foundations, which is severe at 3,680 metres
• Seismic activity, since this is an active zone
• Loss of the original foundation's integrity over time
• Increased footfall, construction and paving around the temple altering drainage and loading

Why it matters beyond this temple. Tungnath is one instance of a much larger problem in the Uttarakhand Himalaya.

Joshimath. In January 2023, widespread ground subsidence at Joshimath in Chamoli district caused cracks in hundreds of buildings, the evacuation of families and a national response.

• Joshimath sits on old landslide debris, which was known and had been warned about
• The Mishra Committee report of 1976 had documented the instability and recommended restrictions on construction and on slope cutting
• Construction, road widening, hydropower tunnelling and drainage failure continued
• The subsidence in 2023 was the accumulation of decades

The general problem:

• The Himalaya are young, rising, seismically active and geologically unstable by nature
• Slopes are steep and the rock is fractured
• Road building, particularly wide roads on steep ground, destabilises slopes
• Hydropower projects involve tunnelling through unstable rock
• Construction loads slopes that cannot carry them, frequently without engineering assessment
• Deforestation removes the root systems holding soil
• Increasingly severe rainfall events do the rest

The 2013 Kedarnath disaster. It should be described because it is the reference point for everything else.

• In June 2013, extreme rainfall combined with the breach of a moraine dammed lake above Kedarnath sent a flood of water and debris through the valley
• Thousands of people died, with the exact figure never established because of the number of pilgrims present
• Kedarnath town was largely destroyed
• The temple itself survived, protected in part by a large boulder that lodged behind it and split the flow, which is now called the Bhim Shila and is itself venerated
• Recovery, reconstruction and a redesigned approach followed over subsequent years

What that means for a pilgrim now:

• The Char Dham yatra operates with registration, capacity management and weather monitoring, and these exist for a reason
• Follow the restrictions. When the administration stops movement because of weather, that decision is made on the basis of what happened in 2013
• Do not travel in the peak monsoon
• Register where registration is required
• Understand that a Himalayan valley in heavy rain is a genuinely dangerous place and that the danger is not obvious from inside a vehicle

And on the tilt at Tungnath specifically. A small stone temple at 3,680 metres that has stood for centuries is now measurably out of plumb.

That is a fact about that building, and it is also a small readable indicator of what is happening to the ground under the whole range.

Tungnath is at 3,680 metres and Chandrashila at around 4,000, and people underestimate both consistently because the trek is short.

The full altitude guidance in the Manimahesh entry applies here. In summary:

• Headache at altitude is acute mountain sickness until proved otherwise, and you should not go higher with it
• Breathlessness at rest with a cough suggests HAPE
• Confusion and loss of coordination suggest HACE
• Both are fatal untreated and the treatment for both is descent
• Never leave a sick person alone and never let them descend alone

Why a short trek does not make it safe:

• Altitude illness is caused by altitude, not by effort
• Driving to Chopta at 2,680 metres from the plains in a day and walking to 4,000 the next morning is a very rapid gain
• The trek's shortness encourages people to do exactly that
• Being fit does not protect you. Fit young people get AMS as readily as anybody, and frequently more so because they go faster

Sensible acclimatisation for this trek:

• Spend a night at Chopta or lower before going up
• Better, spend a night somewhere around 1,500 to 2,000 metres on the way, such as Ukhimath or Rudraprayag, before Chopta
• Go up slowly on the day
• Drink water throughout
• Turn back if you feel unwell

Winter conditions. Tungnath in snow has become popular and it is a different proposition.

• The path is under snow from roughly December to March, sometimes longer
• Snow covers the steps and the route
• Microspikes or crampons and a walking pole are needed, not optional
• The temple is closed and the deity is at Makkumath
• Chopta accommodation is limited in winter and conditions are cold
• People have died on this trek in winter conditions

If you go in winter:

• Go with somebody who knows the route in snow, or with an organised group
• Carry proper traction devices
• Start early and turn round by a fixed time regardless of progress
• Do not attempt Chandrashila in poor visibility or on hard snow without equipment and experience
• Check the weather and be prepared to abandon the plan

General kit for the trek in any season:

• Layers, including a warm layer and a windproof, since it is cold and windy at the top even in June
• Waterproofs
• Proper footwear with grip
• A refillable water bottle and at least a litre
• Sun protection. UV at 3,700 metres is intense and people get badly burned on a cool day
• Sunglasses, especially on snow, where snow blindness is a genuine risk
• Some food
• A torch if there is any chance of being out late

Ponies and porters. Available at Chopta in season. Riding does not reduce altitude risk.

The Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary. Chopta and Tungnath are within it, and it is significant.

• Habitat for Himalayan musk deer, for which the sanctuary was substantially established, and which is endangered
• Himalayan monal, the state bird of Uttarakhand, is frequently seen around Chopta and is spectacular
• Bharal, Himalayan black bear, leopard and a very large bird list
• Rhododendron forest below the treeline, spectacular in April and May

That is a reason to go quietly, stay on the path, and not play music, which people do constantly on this trek and which is both antisocial and disturbing to wildlife.

The seasonal movement of Himalayan deities is a distinctive institution and it is worth setting out because it governs when you can visit anything in the region.

How it works:

• The high temple closes for winter, when snow makes it inaccessible and uninhabitable
• The utsava murti, the processional image, is carried down in a formal procession
• It is installed at a winter seat, a temple in a village at lower altitude
• Worship continues there through the winter
• In spring the deity is carried back up and the temple reopens

The winter seats of the Char Dham and Panch Kedar:

• Kedarnath: winter seat at Ukhimath, at the Omkareshwar temple
• Badrinath: winter seat at Joshimath, at the Narasimha temple, and at Pandukeshwar for Uddhav and Kubera
• Gangotri: the deity moves to Mukhba village
• Yamunotri: the deity moves to Kharsali
• Tungnath: winter seat at Makkumath
• Madhyamaheshwar: winter seat at Ukhimath
• Rudranath: winter seat at Gopeshwar
• Kalpeshwar: open year round, which is the exception

The opening and closing dates:

• Opening is generally around Akshaya Tritiya, in April or May, with the exact dates announced each year
• Closing is generally around Diwali or the days after, with Bhai Dooj commonly the date for Badrinath
• Dates are fixed by the temple committees and by traditional calculation, and are announced in advance
• The Char Dham yatra season runs between them

Why this arrangement exists. It is entirely practical and it is also theologically coherent.

Practically:

• Nobody can live at 3,600 metres through a Himalayan winter without substantial support
• Snow makes access impossible
• A temple that closes for six months would otherwise have no worship at all for half the year

Theologically:

• The deity is a resident, as set out at Haat Kalika
• Residents go somewhere for the winter, like everybody else in these villages historically did
• Worship is continuous because the deity is continuously present, in one place or the other
• The village that receives the deity for the winter has a real relationship with the high shrine

What that means for the winter seat villages. Makkumath, Ukhimath, Mukhba, Kharsali and Gopeshwar are not substitutes.

For six months of the year, they are the temple. The priests move with the deity, the rites continue and the community that lives there year round is the one that maintains the relationship.

Visiting a winter seat. This is worth doing and almost nobody does.

• The winter seats are accessible in winter when the high shrines are not
• They are small, quiet and in villages rather than in yatra towns
• The deity is there, and worship is being performed
• Ukhimath, Makkumath and Mukhba are all reachable by road

If you are in Uttarakhand between November and April, when everything high is closed, this is what there is, and it is arguably a better experience of these shrines than the peak season version.

The processions. The carrying of the deity up and down is itself an occasion.

• The doli, the palanquin, travels with a procession of villagers and priests
• It stops at fixed villages along the route where it is received
• The Kedarnath doli's journey between Ukhimath and Kedarnath is a substantial event
• Attending one, if the dates work, is a considerably more interesting thing to see than the shrine at its busiest

Getting to Chopta

• Chopta, Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand, at about 2,680 metres
• From Rishikesh via Devprayag, Srinagar, Rudraprayag and Ukhimath, roughly 200 km, a full day of hill driving
• From Haridwar and Dehradun, similar
• Rishikesh or Haridwar are the nearest railheads
• Dehradun is the nearest airport
• Buses run to Ukhimath and Gopeshwar; from there local transport or a taxi

Suggested itinerary

• Day one: Rishikesh or Haridwar to Ukhimath or Chopta. Long drive. Sleep low if you can, at Ukhimath at around 1,300 metres
• Day two: to Chopta, then trek to Tungnath and Chandrashila, return to Chopta
• Day three: onward, either back down or on toward Gopeshwar, Joshimath and Badrinath

Spending a night at Chopta before the trek is better than driving up and walking on the same day.

When to go

• May and June for the rhododendron, open weather and the temple open
• September to November for the clearest views, which is the best window for Chandrashila
• December to March for snow, with the temple closed and equipment required
• Avoid July and August, the monsoon, when the road is landslide prone, visibility is poor and the risk is real

Temple opening

• Generally opens around Akshaya Tritiya, in April or May
• Closes around Diwali
• Confirm the year's dates before travelling
• Outside the season you can still trek to the temple, but it is closed and the deity is at Makkumath

Accommodation

• Chopta has dhabas and camps, basic
• Ukhimath, Gopeshwar and Rudraprayag have proper hotels
• There is very limited accommodation at Tungnath itself and staying there is not generally the plan
• Book in season, especially May, June and October

Costs and practicalities

• Carry cash. ATMs are at Ukhimath and Gopeshwar and are unreliable
• Mobile coverage is patchy at Chopta and absent higher
• Fuel up before leaving the main road

Combining the visit

• Ukhimath, the winter seat of Kedarnath and Madhyamaheshwar, which is worth a stop in its own right
• Makkumath, the winter seat of Tungnath
• Deoria Tal, a lake near Sari village with a reflection of Chaukhamba, an easy short trek
• Gopeshwar, the winter seat of Rudranath
• Kalpeshwar, at Urgam, the year round Kedar
• Kedarnath and Badrinath, in season
• Madhyamaheshwar and Rudranath, for the serious

Doing the Panch Kedar. If you want all five, the standard order is Kedarnath, Madhyamaheshwar, Tungnath, Rudranath, Kalpeshwar, and it takes roughly two to three weeks with the Rudranath and Madhyamaheshwar treks being the hard parts.

Most people do Tungnath and Kedarnath and stop there, which is entirely reasonable.

Behaving well on this trek:

• Take your waste down. This is the single most important thing
• Stay on the path
• Do not play music
• Do not feed the monal or any other wildlife
• Do not litter the temple surroundings with plastic offerings
• Be aware that at 3,680 metres in the season the temple is small and crowded, and patience helps

A closing thought. There is a stone temple at three thousand six hundred and eighty metres that has stood through a very large number of winters, and it is now measurably leaning.

Everybody who walks up there gets a photograph of it against the snow peaks. Rather fewer notice that the building is not straight, and that the reason it is not straight is the same reason the town of Joshimath cracked, and that both of those are about what the mountains are doing under everybody's feet.