The Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee tells the legend behind the five temples. After the Kurukshetra war the Pandavas sought Shiva's blessing. He eluded them and took refuge at Kedarnath as a bull, then dived into the ground and left his hump on the surface there. The other parts of him appeared at four more places, and the five together are the Panch Kedar.
The five temples
The committee says Shiva dived into the ground where the sanctum now stands, and the hump left on the surface is the conical rock worshipped inside. The temple is built of large, evenly cut grey stone slabs, and a stone Nandi stands outside the door. The road ends at Gaurikund and the rest is a trek. The how to reach Kedarnath page has the route and the distances.
On the Chandranath parbat in Rudraprayag district, and the committee calls it the highest temple of Shiva. The trek starts at Chopta, on the Gopeshwar to Guptkashi road between Kedarnath and Badrinath. The committee gives about 212 km by road from Rishikesh to Chopta through Chamoli and Gopeshwar, then a short trek of 3 km (3.5 km on another part of the same page).
The Chamoli district site says the face of Shiva is worshipped here, and the whole body at Pashupatinath in Kathmandu. Nanda Devi and the Trishul peaks are in view from the front of the temple. The trek starts at Sagar village, 219 km from Rishikesh, and runs 20 km to the temple.
The committee lists it as the fourth temple of the Panch Kedar circuit, with two smaller shrines beside it, one for Parvati and one for Ardhanarishwara. It gives May to November as the time to visit. Its route text for Madmaheshwar repeats the Kedarnath trek from Gaurikund, so this page does not use it.
The committee names Kalpeshwar as the place where Shiva's locks and head appeared. It does not describe the temple itself, and the Chamoli district site has no page for it. The committee does place the Dhyan Badari temple in the Urgam valley near Kalpeshwar.
Where the deities go in winter
The committee says Kedarnath is under snow from November to April. Each year, on a date announced in advance, the symbolic statue of Shiva is carried down to Ukhimath, where the winter puja and the year-round puja of Omkareshwar are held. In the first week of May it is carried back and the temple doors open. The shrine generally closes on the first day of Kartik (October or November) and opens in Vaishakh (April or May).
Tungnath's winter puja is at Makkumath, 45 km from Ukhimath. The committee gives Ukhimath as 41 km from Rudraprayag.
Planning around Kedarnath
The five temples are in Rudraprayag and Chamoli districts, and three of them are treks. Use the how to reach Kedarnath page for the main temple and the nearby page for what is close to it.