Treks by
Ideal Months: March to June and September to November Festivals: Mahashivratri (February/March), Shravan Somwar (July–August) These months offer pleasant weather, fewer rains, and spiritual ambiance in the forested surroundings.
By Road: Located ~6.5 km from Dehradun Clock Tower; well-connected by taxis, auto-rickshaws, and buses. By Train: Dehradun Railway Station is just 7 km away. By Air: Jolly Grant Airport (32 km away) offers daily flights from major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.
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640 meters
Tapkeshwar Mahadev Temple is a revered cave temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, located on the banks of the Tons River, around 6.5 km from the main city of Dehradun, Uttarakhand. It is one of the oldest and most spiritually significant temples in the region and attracts thousands of devotees and tourists every year.
This temple holds deep roots in Indian mythology. It is believed that the cave, also called Drona Cave, was the meditation site of Guru Dronacharya, the teacher of the Pandavas and Kauravas from the Mahabharata. According to legend, his son Ashwatthama was miraculously fed milk here by Lord Shiva when his mother couldn’t nourish him.
Tapkeshwar Temple, is an ancient Shiva temple nestled inside a natural cave along the banks of the Tons River. The temple’s origins are rooted in the Mahabharata era, making it one of the oldest Shiva shrines in Uttarakhand. Ashwatthama, Dronacharya’s son, was fed by droplets of milk that miraculously dripped from the ceiling of the cave—an act of divine blessing from Lord Shiva. Over time, water droplets continued to fall on the Shiva Lingam naturally, hence the name “Tapkeshwar,” derived from the word tapakna (to drip).