The Kumaon Ancient Temple Circuit: The Temples That Predate Char Dham by 500 Years

Visit Jageshwar Dham. Jageshwar is not just a quick stop but needs its own sweet time. It is a complex of 151 ASI-protected temples in a deodar forest on the banks of the Jata Ganga River, built over several centuries by the Katyuri dynasty and still in active worship today. Some of these temples are over 1,200 years old, and the stone carving on the main Jageshwar Temple, the Dandeshwar and the Mrityunjaya is of a quality that rewards slow looking. Adi Shankaracharya is believed to have meditated here. Entry is ₹25 for Indian nationals; a guide at the gate costs ₹200 to ₹400 and is genuinely worth the fee.

Go to Chitai Golu Devta Temple. This is one of the most unique temple experiences in India. Golu Devta is the God of Justice in the Kumaon tradition. Devotees submit written petitions- formal letters, sometimes stamped like court documents- seeking justice for grievances. Locals believe that when your prayers are answered, you should tie a bell here. And as a result of that, once you walk into the premises, you will see nothing but bells tied around. Something unlikely to find at any other temple.

Make the effort for Katarmal Sun Temple. At 17 kilometres from Almora and a 3-kilometre uphill trek from Hawalbagh, lies the Katarmal Sun Temple. The temple architecture specialists consistently rank among the finest Katyuri achievements. It is the only Sun temple in Kumaon, second in national significance to the Konark temple in Odisha. It has 44 smaller shrines and stone carvings that most visitors describe as worth going to.

Combine Baijnath with a night in Kausani. Baijnath, 66 kilometres from Almora on the banks of the Gomti River, was the historical capital of the Katyuri kings. The 12th-century temple is quieter than Jageshwar, and gives a genuine sense of what a medieval Kumaon temple town looked like. Trishul, Nanda Devi and Panchachuli peaks are visible from here on clear mornings.

Visit Kasar Devi for a different kind of pilgrimage. The Kasar Devi temple sits on a ridge 8 kilometres from Almora. It falls within what scientists describe as the Kumaon anomaly, a section of the Earth's Van Allen Belt (where the geomagnetic field has unusual characteristics documented in NASA research). Whether or not the metaphysics interest you, the ridge has drawn meditators and artists continuously since the 1960s. Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens, Timothy Leary and D.H. Lawrence all spent time here.

Time your visit around the Nanda Devi Fair in September. The annual Nanda Devi Fair in Almora is one of the finest traditional festivals in Uttarakhand: Kumaoni music, dance, craft stalls, and the procession of the patron goddess of Kumaon through the old bazaar. If you can be in Almora in September, this is worth organising your trip around.

THE BELLS AT CHITAI GOLU DEVTA ACCUMULATE A LITTLE MORE EVERY YEAR. THE TEMPLES AT JAGESHWAR HAVE BEEN IN DAILY WORSHIP FOR OVER 1,200 YEARS. THIS IS LIVING HERITAGE — NOT A MUSEUM, NOT A TOURIST ATTRACTION. REMEMBER THAT WHEN YOU VISIT.

Rush through Jageshwar tour. One hour at Jageshwar is not enough. The complex has 151 temples, and the ASI museum adjacent to it holds sculptural fragments and inscriptions with the real context. Give it at least two to three hours. The deodar forest and the sights around it make up for half the experience.

Photograph the deity without asking. At Jageshwar, photography inside the main sanctum is restricted. At Chitai, Dunagiri and most of the smaller temples, the priest is present, and the deity is worshipped regularly. Always ask before pointing a camera at the idol. A moment of courtesy goes a long way and is the basic minimum respect owed.

Dress inappropriately. These are living pilgrimage sites, not monuments. Both men and women should cover shoulders and knees inside the temple. You can wear lightweight cotton trousers and carry a shawl or scarf for the upper body.

Leave plastic behind. Travel responsibly; Jageshwar's deodar forest and the approach roads to Katarmal and Dunagiri have no waste management infrastructure. Plastic bottles and packaging left at these sites accumulate with no system to remove them. Carry a refillable water bottle and carry your rubbish back with you.

Skip the circuit because you think you've seen Uttarakhand. This is the most common mistake. Most people who visit Uttarakhand multiple times only discover the Kumaon temple circuit on their third or fourth trip, and almost all of them say the same thing: they wish they had found it earlier. If you have done Char Dham, Panch Kedar and the Panch Kailash, this circuit is the next layer. It is as old as any of those pilgrimages and considerably less crowded.

THINK OF UTTARAKHAND'S PILGRIMAGE HERITAGE LIKE A BOX OF EXQUISITE HANDMADE CHOCOLATES. CHAR DHAM IS THE TOP LAYER — EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT IT. THE KUMAON TEMPLE CIRCUIT IS THE SECOND LAYER. JUST AS GOOD. ALMOST NOBODY HAS OPENED IT YET.

October and November are the best months for this circuit. Post-monsoon clear skies, comfortable temperatures, and the deodar forest at Jageshwar at its finest, is what you must witness. Spring (March to May) is also good, with rhododendrons blooming on the surrounding hills. The Nanda Devi Fair in September is worth planning a trip around if possible. Winters are cold, but the temples are beautifully quiet, and the sky is very clear.

The Kumaon temple circuit passes through villages and communities where the temples are not tourist attractions; they are places of active worship that have been there for over a thousand years. But you should keep a few things in mind before you go.

Support local guides. Jageshwar has excellent local guides at the ASI gate who know the history of every temple in the complex. Hiring one costs only ₹200 to ₹400. At Katarmal, the ASI officer at Hawalbagh can arrange a guide for the trek up. This kind of engagement is what responsible tourism looks like in practice.

Buy locally. Almora's bazaar is fampus for copper and woollen crafts, local honey, Kumaoni pickles and bal mithai (a fudge-like confection made from roasted khoya). Buying from local vendors in Almora rather than mass-produced items from roadside stalls makes a real difference to the local economy.

Take it slow. Aaaram se is the Kumaoni and Hindi way of saying 'relax, take your time'. The temples on this circuit are not a checklist; each one has stories, carvings and a living community around it that rewards slow attention. The traveller who spends two hours at Jageshwar instead of forty-five minutes comes away with something the rushed visitor simply does not get.

The Kumaon ancient temple circuit is one of the most rewarding heritage experiences in Uttarakhand, yet most undervisited. The temples are older than the Char Dham shrines and set in a landscape of Kumaon hills and deodar forests- a landscape to marvel at.

Go for at least two nights. Go in October or November for the best conditions. Hire a guide at Jageshwar. Ask before photographing. And take a refillable water bottle.

The Katyuri kings who built these temples are 1,200 years gone. The temples they built are still standing and still in use. That kind of continuity is rare in the world, and the Kumaon hills are full of it.