Vishwanath Temple, Guptakashi
Guptkashi, Ukhimath, Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand
The "secret Kashi" on the road to Kedarnath. In Himalayan Lust, Sadhguru says the linga here was made in Agastya's way, pure energy work, and that in an earlier life he sheltered in this temple for close to two months.
What the texts say
- Lineage text
Asked about Guptakashi and Tapovan, Sadhguru calls them two very different kinds of places. Guptakashi, he says, is an area where Agastya muni walked, and the consecration of the linga follows Agastya's way, which he describes as pure kriya, energy work alone, with no mantra and no ritual. He adds that this is the only way he himself works.
Himalayan Lust, Sadhguru, "Part Two: Life as Pilgrimage (Uttarkashi, Guptakashi, Tapovan)"
- Lineage text
He explains the three names. Kashi is the holiest, Uttarkashi is the northern Kashi, and Guptakashi, visited just after Kedar, is the secret Kashi. He says all of them hold powerful lingas spoken of as jyotirlingas, which he describes as self-created rather than made, and that Guptakashi is readily available to those initiated in the Isha way because he has left his own work there.
“Nobody is supposed to know about it.”
Himalayan Lust, Sadhguru, "Part Two: Life as Pilgrimage (Uttarkashi, Guptakashi, Tapovan)"
- Lineage text
Sadhguru says that over seventy years before this talk, in a previous life as Sadhguru Sri Brahma, he came here with four young men to help them in a sadhana. They walked about eighty-five kilometres from Rudraprayag to Kedar, found the cold and the food beyond them, having come from the warmth of south India, and walked back to stay in this temple at Guptakashi for close to two months. He says the place has stayed dear to him for sheltering them, and that he stops here briefly on every Himalayan journey.
Himalayan Lust, Sadhguru, "Part Two: Life as Pilgrimage (Uttarkashi, Guptakashi, Tapovan)"
- Lineage text
Telling of his solo Himalayan travels in the early 1990s, he says that when he later came to the Shiva temple at Guptakashi, the place, the temple and the priests all felt known to him, as though he had been there before. Sadhus recognised him and fell at his feet, and he did not say who he was.
Himalayan Lust, Sadhguru, "Part Three: No Take-away (Badrinath)"
What tradition holds
Kept apart from the texts on purpose. These are held with respect, and they are not the same as a written source.
- Pilgrim tradition
Guptkashi is held to carry an importance like that of Kashi. The district administration names the ancient Vishwanath temple, the Ardhnareshwar temple and Manikarnik Kund as the temples of the town, and says the Ganga and the Yamuna are believed to meet at that kund.
Held by: Pilgrims, as described by the Rudraprayag district administration
What you will find today
- Getting there
- Guptkashi stands on the Kedarnath road in Rudraprayag district. The district administration gives Rishikesh as the nearest railway station for the district, about 180 km away, and says the district is served by National Highway 107.
- Timings and conduct
- The district administration publishes no timings for the temple, and we have not been to see them for ourselves.
Last checked via District Rudraprayag, Government of Uttarakhand (https://rudraprayag.nic.in/tourist-place/guptkashi/). Conditions change; confirm before you travel.
A practice for this place
Most people stop here only to sleep on the way up to Kedarnath. Give the temple half an hour in the early morning instead. Sit where you are out of the way of worship, keep your spine upright, and simply follow the breath without counting it or changing it. Leave without asking for anything.