Guptakashi

Guptakashi, Gupta Kashi or Guptkashi is a fairly large town located at an elevation of 1,319 metres (4,327 ft) in the Kedar-khanda ('khanda' means "sector"), in Garhwal Himalayas of Rudraprayag district in Uttarakhand, India.

When Bhima, the second Pandava brother tried to hold the bull by its tail and hind legs, Nandi vanished from Guptakashi, into the ground (into a cave for hiding), but reappeared later as Shiva in five different forms namely, hump at Kedarnath, face at Rudranath, arms at Tungnath, navel and stomach at Madhyamaheshwar and the locks at Kalpeshwar.

[1][3][4][5][6] Mythology also states that Shiva proposed to Parvati at Guptakashi before they got married in the small Triyuginarayan village at the confluence of Mandakini and Sone-Ganga rivers.

[9] Another legend declares that when the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb demolished the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in 1669, and constructed Gaynvapi Mosque (he had even renamed Varanasi as Mohammadâbâd), the Shiva Linga was shifted to Guptakashi for safe keeping.

[10][11] Apart from the main Vishwanath temple, a large number of Lingas, symbols of Shiva, are seen in and around Guptakashi, which has resulted in the popular terminology jitne pathar utne shankar meaning "as many stones, those many 'Shiva's".

Another temple town called the Ukhimath is located on the opposite bank of the Mandakini river where, during the winter months when Kedarnath temple is inaccessible due to snowy conditions, the symbolic deity of Kedarnath is shifted via Gaurikund, Phata, Guptakashi to Ukhimath to continue worship uninterrupted.

Vasukital, 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from Kedarnath, is yet another enchanting lake that beholds the visitor with floating ice and sparkling water.

There are also evidences of a love legend narrated, locally only, of Krishna’s grandson Aniruddha and demon king Banasura’s daughter Usha at Ramgarh (in Ronitpur), near Ukhimath, about3 kilometres (1.9 mi) away from Guptakashi.

[3][13] Guptakashi is located in the Northern Himalayan belt within the Mandakini river valley, which has lush green forests.

The valley has large magnolia trees (locally called Champa) that provide a sweet scented atmosphere to the place.