Ukhimath. is a Himalayan settlement on the Mandakini River
in Uttar Pradesh's highlands, across the river from Guptakashi.
Kedarnath, a form of Shiva whose summer abode is a temple in
the hamlet of Kedarnath, high in the highlands near the Mandakini's headwaters,
has made Ukhimath his winter home.
The town is at such a high altitude that it is only
accessible once the snows have melted between late April and October; in
October, the temple is ritually closed until the next spring.
When the temple at Kedarnath closes for the winter, the god
(symbolically represented by a moveable figure) goes to Ukhimath for the winter
before returning to Kedarnath in the spring.
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