04/09/2026
In June 2013, Kedarnath was transformed within minutes.
Days of extreme rainfall had swollen rivers across Uttarakhand. Then water, mud, rocks and debris surged down through the valley, turning the Mandakini into a violent torrent.
Buildings, roads and bridges were torn apart. Entire settlements downstream were devastated. Thousands of people across the region were killed or reported missing.
When the floodwaters receded, the landscape around Kedarnath looked almost unrecognizable.
But one image became impossible to ignore: the Kedarnath Temple still standing amid a vast field of destruction.
A disaster remembered not only for its scale — but for the evidence it left behind.