Madhyamaheshwar or Madmaheshwar is a Hindu temple dedicated to god Shiva, located in the Mansoona village of Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand. Situated at an elevation of 3,497 m (11,473.1 ft), it is the fourth temple to be visited in the Panch Kedar pilgrimage circuit, comprising five Shiva temples in the Garhwal region. The other temples in the circuit include: Kedarnath, Tungnath and Rudranath to be visited before Madmaheshwar and Kalpeshwar to be visited after Madmaheshwar.

Madhyamaheshwar finds its mention in the Vedas and Mahabharata. As per historians, the land was ruled by the Khasa, Kshatriya and the rulers of Panwar dynasty. Madhyamaheshwar is associated with a legend of war between the Pandavas and Kauravas. In order to absolve from the sin of Gotra Hatya, the Pandavas decided to pay reverence to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva wanted to avoid them as he was deeply incensed by the death and dishonesty at the Kurukshetra war. Therefore, he disguised in the form of a bull and disappeared into the ground to reappear later in his original self of Lord Shiva at five places; in the form of a hump at Kedarnath, in the shape of bahu (arms) at Tungnath, with his face at Rudranath, his nabhi (navel) and stomach at Madhyamaheswar and his hair (locks) called jata at Kalpeshwar.

Pandavas, pleased with the revelation of Lord Shiva at five places in different forms, built temples at these five places, worshipped him and attained salvation with blessings of Shiva.

Lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of navel – shaped lingam enshrined in the sanctum in Madhyamaheshwar. There are two other smaller shrines, one for Shiva’s consort Parvati and the other dedicated to the Ardhanarishwara, a half-Shiva half-Parvati image. Bhima, the second Pandava brother is believed to have built this temple and worshipped Shiva here. To the right of the main temple there is a small temple where the marble image of Saraswati is installed in the sanctum.

Priests at this temple are from South India and at this particular temple they are called Jangamas of the Lingayat cast who hail from Mysore in Karnataka state.

The worship at this temple starts from a specified time period from the beginning of the summer months after the winter and lasts till October/November from start of the winter season when the temple precincts are not accessible due to snow conditions.

During the winter period, the symbolic idol of the god is shifted with religious formalities to Ukhimath for continued worship.

There is also an old temple known as Vriddh-Madmaheshwar, located on the ridge which looks straight up at the commanding Chaukhamba peaks. Madhyamaheshwar is mystically covered by the snow-capped Himalayas on the right side, lush green alpine meadows on the left side and dense forest as backdrop. The region has rich flora and fauna, particularly the endangered species of Himalayan Monal pheasant and Himalayan Musk Deer in the Kedarnath Wild Life Sanctuary.

Buddha Madhyamaheshwar situated 2 km away from Madmaheshwar another interesting place. Trekking enthusiast can also visit Kanchani Tal situated at a distance of 6 km from Madmaheshwar. Trek to Kanchani Tal is of difficult level. Gaundhar and Kalimath are two important places on the route to Madhyamaheshwar.

Source:

https://www.trawell.in/uttarakhand/kedarnath/madhyamaheshwar-madmaheshwar

https://www.gosahin.com/places-to-visit/madhyamaheshwar/

https://www.sacredyatra.com/madhmaheshwar.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhyamaheshwar