Garwal is my favorite place for tourism & pilgrimage trips. Usually most of the tourist & pilgrims visit only popular destinations. But my curiosity & excitement always take me into the deep & interior part of the Garwal too. Here I am giving some details of few exciting & interesting small destinations of Garwal.
Koteshwar Mahadev Temple 
Koteshwar Mahadev Tample is famous among childless couples. The Koteshwar is in the form of cave temple & is Located at the bank of holy river Alaknanda about 3.5 kms from Rudraprayag town at an elevation of 4756 feet. Koteshwar Mahadev Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. This place is presumed to be the same spot where Lord Shiva had stopped for meditation on his way to Kedarnath. There are many idols which have been formed naturally.. I It is belived that if a childless couple chant Mahamrityunjay with full faith in the month of Shravan blessed with child. Every year a large fair is held at the tample of Koteshwar mahadev and a large number of childless couples turn to this tample. It is also believed that during the Navratras the Goddess roam around, be sited upon her steed, the lion. During the months of August and September, thousands of devotees come here to worship Lord Shiva.
H H SWAMI HARIDHOS GIRI, CHIEF DISCIPLE OF H.H.SWAMI GNANANANDA GIRI AND PEETATHIPATHI OF SHRI GNANANANDA GIRI AND PEETATHAM, TENNANGUR, TAMILNADU ENTERED INTO JALSAMADHI HERE ON 4 SEPTEMBER 1994. A Bhajan Platform is made here in his memory and dedicated to him. This is a beautiful place & worth to visit.
Indrasani Mansa Devi
The temple is situated in village Kandali Patti at about 15 kms. from the Rudraprayag and at about 7 kms. from Tilwara which lies on main road of Rudraprayag-Kedarnath. It is believed to have been constructed in the age of Adi Shankaracharya. The temple has historic unique architecture surrounded by temple of Jalkedareshwar, Khetrapal and Jakh Devta. Not being popular due to lack of knowledge among tourist, only rare tourist visits this place.
The origin of Indrasani Mansa Devi is described in Skandpuran, Devibhagvata and Kedarkhand. It is believed that Indrasani Devi is a Mansi Kanya of Kashyapa and is known as VAISHNAVI, SHAVI AND VISHARI. Legends claim that the Devi cures persons who have been bitten by snake.
During Devi Jat held in the month of December 2000, on digging a Nag Jalkund was found and snakes were seen by the devotees in Jalkund. It is also claimed that if any person is bitten by snake, the person is brought before the Devi temple for worship and SANKH JAL (water) is applied on the affected area which removes the poison of the snake.
Augustmuni
We visited the Augustmuni on 9th October 2009. The Augusmuni lies 18 kms. from Rudraprayag on the main route of Kedarnath, at an altitude of 3300 feet and on the bank of river Mandakini, The Agasteshwar Mahadev temple is a major attraction here which is an ancient temple dedicated to sage Agastya. The temple is about 200 years old and is well-known for its architectural beauty. The stone carved images of gods and goddesses that beautify its walls illustrate the unique craftsmanship of ancient years. The main idol here is made of copper surmount by a silver mukut (crown), surrounded by silver mukhotas (face masks) of local divinity. Within the same compound, there are other temples which are dedicated to Shringi Rishi, Bhagwati Devi, Shaneshwar. This is the place where rishi Agastya meditated for years. On the occasion of Baisakhi a large fair is held and many devotees come here to worship and pay their homage to God.
You may visit the temple while going to Kedarnath which will take just half an hour.
Guptkashi
Guptkashi is a holy place of great importance like Kashi, with calmness. The ancient Vishwanath temple, Ardhnareshwar temple and Manikarnik Kund, where two streams of the Ganga and Yamuna meet, are the main places of attraction in Guptkashi.
It is believed that after the battle of Mahabharata, the Pandavas wanted to meet Lord Shiva and seek his blessing. But Lord Shiva evaded from Guptkasi to Kedarnath as he did not want to meet the Pandavas, the reason being that although they had fought for the right cause, they were also responsible for destroying their own dynasty. Guptkashi is situated at an elevation of 4350 feet. A stupa is constructed at Nala, which is quite close to Ukhimath 12 kms from Guptkashi. Ukhimath is the winter seat of Lord Kedarnath, when the doors of the temple of Kedarnath are closed. Some local people call it the grave of Rana Nal.
3 kms. from Guptkashi, the remains of Ramgarh(in Ronitpur) still seem to echo the love between Lord Krishna’s son Anniruddha and Vanasur’s daughter Usha.
Holy Places In Guptkashi
Vishwanath temple
Ardhnareshwar temple
Manikarnik Kund
Kalimath
Kalimath is one of the divine place and "siddhapith" situated on the side of Saraswati river in the beautiful valley of Himalayas close to Ukhimath, and Guptakashi in Rudraprayag District district of Uttarakhand the 27th state of Republic of India. This is the divine place & shakti peeth where “Maa Kali” killed the demon "Raktbeej" and had gone under the earth. The temple of Goddess Kali located here is visited by a large number of devotees round the year, especially during the “Navratras”. The most interesting thing about the temple is that it does not have any idol there. Pooja of “Shree Yantra” is performed here. Only for one day in the whole year the divine goddess is taken out and puja is performed in the midnight when only the chief priest is present.
This area of the Himalayas is said to be one of the most spiritually vibrant areas for meditation. Kalimath is among the most powerful, having the energy of shakti, as well as an ancient history of saints and their meditations there.
The temple is surrounded by ancient, antique & unique architecture temples of Goddess Maha Laxmi, Maa Saraswati, Gauri-Shankar and many antique Shivlings, idols of Nandi, Ganesh etc. The structure & walls of these temples are self explanatory regarding the age of temples. An eternal holy flame always burns in the temple of goddess Maha Laxmi.
‘Honorable Guru’ & Member of Parliament Shri “Satpal Ji Maharaj” has setup a small Aashram just behind & very close to the temple. Pilgrims can stay there. This place is very beautiful and eye-catching. My first visit of this divine place happened in October 2009 and I liked this place so much that again visited in March 2010 and decided to have my own place for living here in the holy feet of ‘Maa Kali’ Lets see when Goddess Kali given me such blessings.
The divine rock known as ‘KAAL SHILA’ where the foot prints of Goddess Kali is present is located at a high hill which can be reached by 7 kilometers difficult tracking uphill. An old Saint and a German lady saint who visited this place about 18years ago and remained there in meditation and worship of goddess. She never came down.
Ukhimath 
Ukhimath is a major Hindu pilgrim site located 182 km from Rishikesh, in Rudraprayag District, Uttarakhand. According to folklore, Ukhimath derives its name after Usha, the daughter of Banasur, who had lived here once. This is the winter seat of Lord Kedarnath and Worship is performed at the Omkareshwar Temple during the winters when the temples of Kedarnath remain closed. The temples of Usha and Aniruddha, Lord Shiva and Parvati are worth visiting. Ukimath is at a distance of 41 kms. from Rudraprayag and 13 kms. from Guptkashi. It is situated at an elevation of 4365 feet.
Gopeshwar 
Gopeshwar or Chamoli Gopeshwar is the administrative headquarters and a large town in the Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, situated at an elevation of 1308meter above sea-leve 210 Kms from Rishikesh. An ancient temple of Lord Shiva is the main attraction of the town and thousands of pilgrims come here throughout the year to visit the temple. There is an interesting story behind this temple. It tells us that in ancient times, this region was ruled by a King named Sagar (on whose name there is a nearby village) whose cow used to give milk to a Shiv Linga everyday. When the King one day saw this happening, he decided to construct a temple where the Shiv Linga was. And thus, Gopinath Temple came into being.
Gopinath temple is topped by a dome and 24 doors leads to the sanctum sanctorum, which is 30 sq. feet in area. There are several broken idols around the temple which support the theory that in ancient times there were several more temples in Gopeshwar. In the courtyard of the temple there is a trident about five metre high made of eight different metal dating back to the 12th century, bears inscriptions attributed to Anekmalla, king of Nepal who reigned in the 13th century. another inscriptions records the erection of a royal edifice by him in Saka 1113 (A.D. 1191)
Four shot inscriptions of later times, in Devanagri, are cut into the metal of the shaft but only one of them is decipherable.
The legend goes that the trident belonged to Shiva who threw it at Kamdeva (The God of Love) to kill him and it got fixed in this spot. It is believed that while brute force can not move this Trident , the slightest touch by a true devotee can cause a tremor in it. The metal of the trident does not appear to have become weathered by the elements over the century.
Owing to its natural beauty and fresh and serene atmosphere, Gopeshwar is becoming a major attraction for the tourists. Many well know tourist spots and religious centres are spread around this town. According to historians, the name Gopeshwar has associations with the name of Lord Krishna. Besides the ancient temple of Lord Shiva, Vaitarni Kund, a group of temples without idols and Oak view are other places of interest.
Gopeshwar is surrounded by four famous temples: Tungnath, Anusuya Devi, Rudranath, and Badrinath. The holy town of Kedarnath is also nearby.
Nandprayag 
Nand Prayag is situated at 3046 feet forms the confluence of the Alaknanda & Nandakini (flowing from a glacier near Nanda Devi Peak) rivers. The source of Alaknanda is Satopant and Nandakini is emerging from the foot of the Nanda Devi Peak. Nandprayag was a capital of Yadu Kingdom. On their way to Tapovan across Kunwari Pass or on their way to Roopkund, it is popular with trekkers. It is said that the confluence is named for the pious Raja Nanda. According to one legend, the king had been promised the boon of Vishnu as a son. Unfortunately, the same boon had been granted to Devki, the imprisoned sister of the tyrant king, Kansa. Ultimately, the gods found an ingenuous if wily solution: Vishnu would be born as Krishna to Devki but would be brought up by Raja Nandas wife, Yasodha.
The confluence of the Alaknanda and the Nandakini lies below the main market and you need to climb down some steps before you get to it. Te ghat here is concrete and the Nagar Panchayat has built a park next to it, dotted with benches, in which you can sit and watch the ever-changing waters of the rivers and listen to the soothing sound of the water as they make their way down to the plains.
Unfortunately, no Ganga aarti is held at this confluence yet, as is customary at the three prayags after this one. But what is interesting is that, a little further away, is marked the place where Sir Edmund Hillary abandoned his ocean to the Sky expedition. It is said that Lord Badrinath appeared in his dream and told him to abandon the venture.
Chandika Devi Temple, Nand Prayag:
Chandika Devi, to whom this temple is dedicated, is the gram devi (village deity) of seven nearby villages, including Nandprayag. The idol of silver, placed in the sanctum sanctorum of the main temple is impressive and obviously commands great devotion. Other smaller temples in the compound are dedicated to Lord Shiv, Bhairon, Hanuman, Ganesh and Bhumiyal.
The pujaris here belong to the Sati community and have a traditional right to worship at this temple, which they have exercised for generations. It is said that one of the ancestors of the current pujari had a dream that the idol of the devi was floating down the Alaknanda during Navratra celebrations. In the meanwhile, some cowherds, who had gone to graze their cattle on the banks of the river, rescued the idol and hid it in a cave. They didn’t return home in the evening and when the villagers went to look for them, they were found unconscious in the cave next to the idol. The pujari took the idol home, and had another dream during which he was told to find the Sri Yantra that gave the idol its power in a field. This he did. He was then given further instructions on how to make the appropriate mould for the statue from the wood of a mulberry tree.
The site is said to be at least 300 years old and the temple is maintained by a local temple committee. Navratras are celebrated here with great fervour. Traditionally, she was carried in the arms of a pasua but now a doli is taken out during the festivities.
Gopalji Temple 
The beautiful ashtdhatu (eight metals) idol of Lord Krishna was established in 1892 and the temple was built in 1918. Since the last Mahant of the temple died, it has been taken over by the Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee, which is in the process of renovating this temple. It is said that King Nand prayed to Lord Vishnu here, towards the end of life.
