In a remote green valley at the foot of the Chaukhamba massif, reached by a long trek from Ransi and Gaundhar, Madhyamaheshwar (Madmaheshwar) is one of the five Panch Kedar shrines of the Garhwal Himalayas. In the Panch Kedar legend of the Mahabharata, when Shiva took the form of a bull to elude the Pandavas and dived into the earth, it was here that the navel and middle part (madhya) of the Lord reappeared — and so the linga is worshipped in this form, giving the shrine its name.
The ancient stone temple, ringed by the snow peaks of Chaukhamba, Kedarnath, and Neelkanth, stands in serene isolation amid meadows and forest; in winter its deity is honoured at Ukhimath.
Cherished for both its deep devotion and its untouched Himalayan setting, Madhyamaheshwar is among the most rewarding — and most peaceful — of the five Kedar shrines.
