Uttarkashi

The town of Uttarkashi is located in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. This town is a very important tourist destination in the region and it is located in the Uttarkashi district. The place is known for its stunning natural beauty, and is also called as Devbhumi, which can be literally translated to ‘Land of the Gods’. Pilgrims from all around the country flock to this region too, due to its religious heritage. There are many temples in Uttarkashi that you can visit during your trip to the place and the most famous one among these is that of Lord Vishwanath. This is the largest temple in the region, and the most frequented one as well. There are several smaller temples in Uttarkashi as well, and these are dedicated to the chief deities Hanuman and Durga. Many other shrines are present in Uttarkashi and they cater to a wide variety of Gods, including Parshuram, Annapurna, Dattatrya, Bhairav, Laksheswar and Ekadashrudra. The Nehru Mountaineering Institute, which is located in Uttarkashi, is also a famous tourist spot in the region. You can also visit the hot water springs in the region of Gangnani during your trip to Uttarkashi. Gangotri is a popular pilgrimage spot located in the region, at a distance of 99 kilometres from Uttarkashi. Yamunotri can also be visited from the town as well.

Uttarkashi district was created on February 24, out of what then constituted the parganas of Rawain and Uttarkashi of Rawain tahsil of erstwhile Tehri Garhwal district. It sprawls in the extreme north-west corner of the state over an area of 8016 sq. kms. in the rugged terrain of the mystic Himalayas. On its north lie Himachal Pradesh State and the territory of Tibet and the district of Chamoli in the east. The district is named after its headquarters town Uttarkashi, an ancient place with rich cultural heritage and as the name suggests is the Kashi of north (Uttara) held almost as high a veneration as Kashi of the plain (Varanasi). Both the Kashi of the plain (Varanasi) as well as the Kashi of north are situated on the banks of the river Ganga (Bhagirathi). The area which is held sacred and known as Uttarkashi, lies between the rivers Syalam Gad also known as the Varuna and Kaligad also known as the Asi. The Varuna and the Asi are also the names of the rivers between which the Kashi of the plain lies. One of the holiest Ghats in Uttarkashi is Manikarnika so is the one by the same name in Varanasi. Both have temples dedicated to Vishwanath.

Uttarkashi town, the headquarters of the district by the same name, is more on the pilgrimage circuit than the regular tourist circuit. Nevertheless, with trekking and mountaineering gaining popularity as adventure sports, the importance of this region cannot be discounted. The region has some high-altitude lakes and the Gangotri and Yamunotri glaciers lead on to several major peaks-the hunting grounds for serious mountaineering buffs.