Mukteshwar Mahadev Temple

Getting there

• By train

  The town has two stations, Garhmukteshwar and Garhmukteshwar Bridge (Brijghat), both on the Delhi to Moradabad line.

• By road

  The town is on National Highway 9, about 100 km from New Delhi. UP Roadways buses run regularly from Anand Vihar bus stand in Delhi, and the town is 42 km from Meerut.

Why devotees come here

Mukteshwar Mahadev Temple gives the town of Garhmukteshwar its name. The town is in Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh, on the right bank of the Ganga, and it is known for the Kartik Purnima bathing fair.

The settlement is mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana and the Mahabharata, and the town takes its name from the temple of Mukteshwar Mahadeva. Devotees believe that cursed ganas of Shiva were freed from their ghost form after seeing Mukteshwar here, and that is how the place came to be called Garh Mukteshwar. The Shiva Purana gives the older name as Shiv Vallabh, meaning dear to Shiva.

The town was once the capital of the Garhwal rajas, and later came under Prithviraj Chauhan. It lies on the right bank of the Ganga, in the Garhmukteshwar tehsil of Hapur district, and it is part of the Delhi NCR region. Hapur district has three tehsils: Hapur, Dhaulana and Garhmukteshwar.

On Kartik Purnima, devotees from nearby districts of western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan bathe on the banks of the Ganga here. The Ganga bathing fair on that day is considered the largest fair in North India, and the wider Garh Ganga fair draws a large number of tourists.

Festivals

• Kartik PurnimaKartik Purnima Ganga bathing fair

  Devotees bathe in the Ganga and offer Deepdaan for their ancestors. A Times of India report quotes the UP Chief Minister calling the historic fair a mini-Kumbh.

Tips for your visit

• Karkhandeshwar, an ancient Shivling, is also in the town.
• Brijghat, 3 km away, also has an old Hanuman temple, a Vedanta temple and a new Ganga ghat.

Questions people ask