The Tungnath (literal meaning: Lord of the peaks) mountains form the Mandakini and Alaknanda river valleys.

[3] Many folk legends related to the Garhwal region, Shiva and the creation of the Panch Kedar temples are narrated in Hindu epic Mahabharata.

They wished to atone for the sins of committing fratricide (gotra hatya) and Brāhmanahatya (killing of Brahmins — the priest class) during the war.

But, Shiva wanted to avoid them as he was deeply incensed by the death and dishonesty at the Kurukshetra war and was, therefore, insensitive to Pandavas' prayers.

He saw a bull grazing near Guptakashi (“hidden Kashi” — the name derived from the hiding act of Shiva).

The Pandavas pleased with this reappearance in five different forms, built temples at the five places for venerating and worshipping Shiva.

Consequently, the bull was torn asunder into five parts and appeared at five locations in the Kedar Khand of Garhwal region of the Himalayas (The arms in Tungnath, the hump in Kedarnath, the face in Rudranath, the navel in Madhyamaheshwar, and the hair in Kalpeshwar).

Legend also states that Rama, the central character of Ramayana, meditated at the Chandrashila peak which is close to Tungnath, in India.

The valley between Chopta and Tunganath temple has wooded hills with rich alpine meadows with rhododendron coppices and also agricultural fields.

The rhododendrons, when they are in full bloom during March, display dazzling colours ranging from crimson to pink.

Nearing the top of the temple, there is a forest resthouse at Dugalibitta, just opposite to the Kedarnath range of hills.

Generally, the pilgrimage to Tunganath is undertaken as part of the Panch Kedar trekking covering all five temples over a 170 km (105.6 mi) route (road cum trek length) starting from Rishikesh in the order of: Kedarnath, Tungnath, Rudranath, Madhyamaheswar and Kalpeshwar.

The few pilgrims who undertake this trekking pilgrimage to the shrine do so in summer months (end April or early May to October) as the temple remains snow bound and unapproachable.