Rudranath Trek (with Kalpeshwar): A Rigorous and Humbling Journey

The Story of Rudranath and Kalpeshwar:

According to the lore, following the war of Mahabharata, where Pandavas killed their own kin, the five brothers sought out Mahadev to plead for forgiveness against their sins. The god wasn’t in the mood to forgive so he took the form of a bull to avoid them. Eventually, Bhima recognised the bull as Lord Shiva and tried to capture him, which led the god to leave his form, which later appeared in five different places where the Pandavas created temples in the name of Mahadev.

At Rudranath materialised Mahadev's face, and at Kalpeshwar, his hair. It is said that when Mahadev was still in the form of the bull, he saw the Pandavas coming after him. They, too, saw him, and the moment their eyes met with Mahadev, the god immediately left his form. In that moment, his head was tilted to one side, which is why, the face in Rudranath is not straight but tilted.

Due to the sacred nature of these locations, please follow the rules of these places. Photography is prohibited within the premises of the temple, especially the garbhgriha (where the form of Lord Mahadev resides). If you try to take pictures, you will be reprimanded or penalised. So, keep your cameras away and do the darshan with your own eyes.

Where is Rudranath Temple and How to Reach There?

Called the toughest trek of Panch Kedar, the Rudranath Trek is approximately 22-24 kilometres, largely depending on which starting point you choose. The most common route taken by the pilgrims starts from Sagar village, which is at a distance of 3km from Gopeshwar. There is a main gate which marks the beginning of the trek.

Another path, sometimes, chosen by the trekkers starts at Mandal village, which is 5 km from Sagar. From here, you first take a 5-6km trek to Anusuya Devi Temple. From there, it is about 20 kilometre to Rudranath. The trail goes through desne forests, so if you are not sure about the area or are alone, it is advised to take a guide with you. Because it is a forest area with wild animals, it is also advised that you try to finish the trek before it gets dark.

There are other points to start the trek too, though most of them are unbuilt and unmarked, unlike the main trail. They go through dense forests and are only known to the locals. If you choose to embark on those trails, you are highly advised to get a local guide and never do it alone.

To reach Sagar village, you can take a UTC bus from Dehradun to Mandal. It leaves at 6:30 in the morning and costs upward of Rs. 600. You can board off at Sagar or go directly to Mandal, depending upon the starting point of your trek. You can also take a cab which will cost you anywhere around 5-10k, depending on the vehicle.

I did the trek with a trek group I found online. They covered the transportation to and from Rishikesh. (Haridwar, Dehradun and Delhi are also common pick up points for tour groups.)

Best Time to do Rudranath Trek: The gates of the Rudranath Temple usually open in May and close sometime in October. The dates differ each year, so make sure you know them beforehand. It is advised to do the trek between May and June, and then September and October. While the trek remains open in July and August as well, it is monsoon season, which makes the journey very rough and unpredictable.

Where to Stay during Rudranath Trip?

For stays in the village of Sagar or Mandal, there are a lot of homestays and hotels that provide good accommodation with hot water facilities. The prices are usually high during the season, but for a two-bed room, you can easily find a place for Rs 1000. You can try to negotiate a bit to get the price down.

During the trek, the only place you can stay mid-journey is at Leuty Bugyal. (Previously, camps were allowed in Panar Bugyal as well, but now they are not). There is limited accommodation there, so it is advised that you make arrangements for your stay there beforehand, if you are travelling by yourself. You can talk to the owner of your homestay to make arrangements for you. The price for the stay at the camps also goes up drastically during the peak season, so be prepared for that. Due to the limited accommodation, you might not get individual camps. There are sharing camps with 6-8 beds which are shared by other travellers (both male and female). Booking for individual camps needs to be done beforehand.

The same goes for your plans to stay at Rudranath Temple. There are limited accommodations there, so you must arrangements beforehand. You must also be prepared for the fact that you will not be getting many options for toilets, and they might not be as clean.

Things to Carry on Rudranath Trek:

Try to keep as fewer things as possible, especially if you are going to carry your own backpack throughout the journey. Here are the essentials:

Clothes: During the day, the weather is generally sunny and hot, so wear light clothes for the trek. Try to wear light full-sleeves T-shirt to avoid getting sunburn on your arms. Apart from what you are wearing, keep one light T-shirt and lower so you don’t have to sleep in the dirty clothes of the day. Keep a light jacket as temperatures tend to drop during the night, but not as much, considering that you will be doing the trek in the summers. I did it at the end of September and a light jacket was more than enough.

Toiletries: Toothbrush, toothpaste, facewash, hand wash, sanitiser, tissue paper, wet wipes. No need to keep shampoos or soaps as you most likely won’t take a bath. Even if you do, it’s best not to use these things as the hard water of the mountains makes it difficult to wash off soap.

Medicines: The altitude increases considerably over the course of the trek and it might lead you to have altitude sickness. Headache, nausea, fatigue and dizziness are some of its symptoms. To counter them, you must carry medicine for altitude sickness beforehand. Consult with a doctor or ask the locals or more experienced trekkers to advise you. Apart from this, carry pain relief spray or cream for sprains or cramps. Also carry medicine for fever and body pain, just in case. If there is any other problem that you usually experience on trips or treks, then keep the meds for them handy too.

Shoes: Wear good trekking shoes that provide nice padding for your soles and good ankle support, considering that the path is very rough.

Water bottle: It is advised not to carry a discardable water bottle. To keep the mountains clean and prevent littering, carry your own bottles, preferably metal. You can easily refill the bottle at the many water points available during the entirety of the trek.

Additionally, you should carry sunscreen (a MUST), sunglasses, a sun hat/cap, and eatables.

Can Rudranath be Done Solo? Is it Better to go With a Tour Group/ with a Guide?

Rudranath trek can be done solo. It can even be done in one day if you are considerably fitter and experienced. However, you must also be prepared for the challenges, especially of accommodation. If you are travelling by yourself, it is best to make arrangements for your accommodations and food before you start the trek and try to reach your destination before dark.

I travelled with a group, and I would advise as much, especially if you are travelling solo. Being with a group does away with all the problems of making arrangements and whatnot, so you can simply focus on enjoying the trip. Being with a group also allows you to mix and mingle with new people, which can be handy if you need to make any additional plans to the trip, as it can considerably lower the costs for you (as it did for me). The tours also provide guides, who can be very helpful in different situations, and will take care of you, in case you get unwell. For reference, I booked by trip with Trek Yaari/ Garhwal Eye via Instagram. When booking with any company/tour guide, do confirm all the details, especially regarding the availability of the meals. Some do not include breakfast and lunch.

Here's a day-by-day breakdown of how my trip went.

Day 1: I'd arrived in Rishikesh the previous evening and stayed in Hosteller in Upper Tapovan. The pick up was from the same place. I had expected a tempo traveller, but it was a four-seater car. Because my journey started on a Thursday, there weren't many bookings with the travel company. There were only two more travellers with me, who came from Chennai.

The journey started around 6:45 from Rishikesh and we reached Sagar around 3 for lunch. We stopped once on the way for breakfast around 9, and didn't find many traffic jams on the way. While travelling in the hills, especially when there is still a possibility of the rain, the weather and the roads can change for the worst pretty easily. While the roads were good most of the way, there were a couple of times when he we had to wait for a few minutes for the road to get cleared and the vehicles to pass smoothly. Because it was a Thursday, the traffic was kinder. However, if you are travelling on a weekend, be prepared to face such jams for a longer period of time. If you don't get them, consider yourself lucky.

After reaching Sagar, we were given rooms to stay for the rest of the day. I was single and there was no other female traveller, so I had the whole room to myself. The hotel also provided Wifi, which came in handy because there are no Jio signals in Sagar. You might get Airtel signals, but Jio is only available either in Mandal or when you ascend higher through the trek. I had lunch, which was not included in the meals.

I freshened up a bit and roamed around the village. The weather was getting a bit cloudy, and it was clear that it was already raining on Rudranath trek. There is a small temple dedicated to Raja Sagar. I did not visit it, but you can. Soon it got dark and started raining in Sagar too. I had dinner and went to sleep.

Day 2: The previous night, the two other people in the group decided that they wanted to do the whole Rudranath trek in one go. That was more than 20 kilometeres and I wasn't sure I could do it, considering it was all uphill. I decided to stick with the original plan: do first half of the trek and stay in Leuty Bugyal for the night. Because it is only around 10-12 kilometers, I was in no hurry. The others left for the trek around 5-5:30 in the morning. I started it around 6:45.

I walked slowly and steadily, which is how one should approach a trek. A local man put is rather succinctly: If you walk with a tortoise's pace, you will reach the temple. But if you walk with a rabbit's pace, you won't even reach the first bugyal. At about 2 kilometers in, I came across a registration point. Here, they get down your details (name, address, phone number, ID, and the plastic you are carrying). You have to pay Rs 200 fee, and an additional Rs 100, which you can get back when you descend. Keep the receipt safe for that.

Another kilometer in, my guide, a local boy from Gopeshwar, named Rohit, took my bag. Though the bag was light, giving it away made me feel all the lighter and allowed me to trek more easily. The path is nothing like what you will find in the rest of the Panch Kedar. It is rough and stony, not properly paved like it is in Tungnath and Kedarnath. It is mostly uphill, with some relatively flat portions. Keeping a steady pace of about 2-2.5 kilometers per hour, I didn't take any long breaks. I stayed on the rest points for about a minute or so and moved on. The trek got steeper in the last leg of the journey. Luckily, the weather was good. Having started early, I didn't have to suffer through the harsh sun of the afternoon. Moreover, the sky was cloudy and the higher up I got, the more the mountains were enveloped by clouds.

By 12, I was in Leuty Bugyal. I spent the rest of the day acclimatising. I had lunch, had some rest, then had evening tea, more rest, then an early dinner, and then a good night's sleep. Though my stay was booked in a sharing tent, I was the only one there that night, as the real onslaught of pilgrims was to come the next day (Saturday).

I got the signal of Jio at Leuty, but they were not steady. There were certain points where the signal was stronger, and I used that to let my family know of my well-being. The availability of the signal there also allows to do payments via Gpay and Paytm. The rest of the day, I didn't bother much with my phone and signal. Travelling solo, I almost always carry a book with me, so I read that for the rest of the day.

Day 3: The previous day, my guide told me about a path that forks about 3km from Rudranath, takes one through Anusuya Devi Temple, and then to Mandal. We decided to take that path on our return, but we needed to leave early for that. We'd planned to leave by 5:30, but it was around 6:30 when we left. Still, we decided that if we reach Rudranath on time, we will go down the other way. Originally, we were supposed to come back to Leuty and rest before commencing the rest of the journey to Sagar on Day 3. I thought if I have come this far, might as well go through the other path as well.

The trek starting from Leuty till Panar Bugyal is short but it is rather steep. I was also a bit tired from last day's journey, which reduced by pace. However, once we reached Panar, the view was enough to motivate me. Moreover, the path also got a lot easier with more flats than steeps and my pace increased considerably. A thing to consider here is that the availability of water might not be so good after Panar. So, keep enough water from Leuty and spend it wisely on the rest of your journey. In the monsoons, the streams are more easily available, but they might not be there when it's not raining. So, it's better to be prepared.

Till Panar, the trail only went up, but once crossing it, the trail went up and down, making it easier to trek. The last most difficult part of the trek comes right before Pitradhaar, which is the highest point of the journey. Here, one worships (for) their ancestors. There is no proper temple per se here, but you can say your prayers and remember your ancestors before moving on. From here, the journey is considerably easier. Though, there are points where the paths get really narrow, so walk carefully, especially if it's raining.

We reached Rudranath temple before 12. There was plenty of time for darshan, to look around, take in the view, and have lunch (which cost Rs. 300). By 1pm we were ready to leave and begin the next leg of our journey. After going back about 3km, we reached the point where the path split into two. One was the plainer section that would lead us back to Pitradhaar. The other went straight up the hill, and that is the one we took. Once at the top of the hill, the journey was all down, and still steep.

We descended from the grassy hill and after a few kilometers, ended up at the last point to make camp. The guide told me that only one person resides in that campsite, and he usually stays there alone, if there are no other pilgrims camping on that path. After bidding him goodbye, we continued on, this time entering a dense forest, which had narrow and very slippery paths, mainly due to the rain from the previous night.

My pace started slowing down here for two reasons. First, I was now starting to get tired. Second, I was scared of slipping and getting a sprain, which would be worse, because that would mean that I wouldn't be able to walk for the rest of the journey. Eventually, my pace was not good enough and the guide feared that we might be stuck on the trail after dark. So, he took my hand, asked me to trust him that he won't let me fall, and then we started walking at his pace, which was much faster. I found out that not only is he a local who has been up and down this trail many, many times in the span of the 20 years of his life, but he is also an athlete and trains for marathons!

Once we started walking at his pace, we moved forward considerably quickly. The first forest was the longest part of the trail and for a time, it seemed entirely neverending. Eventually, we hit another grassy field and he showed me the temple on the other mountain. I thought we still had a long way to go, but he assured me it was shorter than it looked. After the grassy hill, we once again found ourselves in a forest. But it wasn't as big or dense as the last one. Soon enough, we found ourselves by the bridge, under which flew the mighty river that would eventually meet the other tributaries and become Ganga.

The guide told me that a path down the bridge leads to the Atri Muni Ashram, where one has to go through a cave under a waterfall. It sounded like a place I wanted to visit, but it was starting to dark and we needed to reach Anusuya temple. So, we marched on. By this time, I had been walking for over 12 hours. I hadn't taken any long breaks, apart from when we had lunch, and the journey was finally starting to take a toll on me. The last kilometer of the journey, we walked in the dark, as the sun had already set, which is why when the temple finally came into view, the sight was all the sweeter.

On reaching the temple, I quickly freshened up and we attended the aarti. The weather was chilly but not cold. The people were welcoming and the atmosphere was great. I stayed in a room with a 72-year-old woman from Bangalore who was also travelling solo. We had a nice chat about our love for mountains and travelling. I was extremely happy to have found a kindred spirit in her. It is meeting people like these that makes a trip worth it. The next morning, she left early for Atri Muni ashram, while I left for Mandal.

Day 4: Due to the long, long, long journey of the previous day (where I walked anywhere around 25-28 kms), I decided not to start too early the next day. After having a good rest, we started to walk further downhill at 8. With only 5km left in our journey, we went through the beautiful, well-built trail, which eventually ended in Mandal. Here, we took a sharing taxi (cost Rs. 40), which took us back to Sagar. We were there by 10, leaving the rest of the day to be explored on our own.

The other two people from my group were already in Sagar by now. They ascended the whole way in one day and then descended the entire way the next day. They were gracious enough to wait for me, as we'd met on the way to Rudranath when I was ascending. Considering that our third day was entirely free, we decided to take a day trip to the fifth and last Panch Kedar, Kalpeshwar. We hired a taxi that asked for a total price of Rs. 5000.

Before leaving, I went back to the room, where I found I now had a roommate. I freshened up and left my stuff in the room. My roommate, who also had the whole day to herself, decided to join us to Kalpeshwar. The weather was nice and the company was good. The driver played Garhwali songs the whole way, and I talked to the others about the treks they had done prior to this. We stopped at a place to have breakfast, mainly because I hadn't had anything to eat since the morning. Then, we journeyed on to Kalpeshwar. From Hailang, the path gets really rough, so if you are going by yourself, drive carefully. Our driver was local and very experienced, so the ride went without a hitch.

In about 3-4 hours, we were in Kalpeshwar. Compared to the more than 40kms all of us had walked in the past two days, the barely 200m walk to Kalpeshwar felt like a breeze. It was a Monday, but there was no crowd there, so we spent a lot of time in the temple. We went inside to see Kalpeshwar Mahadev, did proper arti with the punditji, and came out feeling blessed. In case you need to buy the puja samagri, there is a kiosk right outside the temple. It also takes Gpay, Paytm and other UPI payment methods.

After spending a good amount of time at the temple, we started our journey back. We stopped a couple of times for tea and snacks. We'd planned to visit the Gopinath Temple in Gopeshwar as well, but by the time we came back, it was already too dark and the aarti was already done. We reached Sagar at around 7-7:30 at night. Due to the snacks and being extremely tired, I decided to skip dinner, and went straight to bed.

Day 5: The last day of our journey began at 5:45, which is when we were picked up from Sagar and were on our way back to Rishikesh. In the early morning, the clouds were pretty close down, and it felt heavenly to ride through them. I thought about taking pictures, but then dropped the idea. The pictures would never do the scene any justice. So, I decided to enjoy the view while it lasted.

The return journey was pretty swift. We stopped for breakfast at around 9:30am. By that time, we were well ahead of Srinagar. We were in Rishikesh by 12:30, leaving the rest of the day open for all of us to go back home, by flight or by bus. Thus came to end my five day journey which ended up giving me so much more than I had expected. I'd started with only the plan of doing Rudranath. But by the end, I'd also been to Anusuya Devi Temple and Kalpeshwar, and met a bunch of great people and heard their lovely stories.

An enlightening journey indeed!