The Gangotri Group of mountain

Mountain

Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

s is a subdivision of the Garhwal Himalaya in the northern India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n state of Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...

. It rings the Gangotri Glacier

Gangotri Glacier

Gangotri Glacier is located in Uttarkashi District, Uttarakhand, India in a region bordering China. This glacier, source of the Ganges, is one of the largest in the Himalayas with an estimated volume of over 27 cubic kilometers. The glacier is about 30 kilometres long and 2 to 4 km wide...

, and contains peaks that are notable either for their religious significance to Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

s, for their difficult climbing routes, or both. Climbs on three of the peaks (Thalay Sagar, Shivling, and Meru) have resulted in the awarding of the prestigious (but controversial) climbing award, the Piolet d'Or

Piolet d'Or

The Piolet d'Or is an annual mountaineering award given by the French magazine Montagnes and The Groupe de Haute Montagne since 1991...

.

Notable mountains include:

• Chaukhamba
  Chaukhamba
  Chaukhamba is a mountain massif in the Gangotri Group of the Garhwal Himalaya. Its main summit, Chaukhamba I, is the highest peak in the group. It lies at the head of the Gangotri Glacier and forms the eastern anchor of the group...
  
   (I-IV). A four-summitted
  Summit (topography)
  In topography, a summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a local maximum in elevation...
  
   massif
  Massif
  In geology, a massif is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole...
  
  ; Chaukhamba I, 7138 m (23,419 ft), is the highest peak in the group.
• Kedarnath (Mountain)
  Kedarnath (Mountain)
  Kedarnath and Kedarnath Dome are two mountains in the Gangotri Group of peaks in the western Garhwal Himalaya. Kedarnath lies on the main ridge that lies south of the Gangotri Glacier, and Kedarnath Dome, a subpeak of the main peak, lies on a spur projecting towards the glacier, two kilometres...
  
  , 6940 m (22,769 ft), the highest peak on the southwest side of the glacier
• Thalay Sagar
  Thalay Sagar
  Thalay Sagar is a mountain in the Gangotri Group of peaks in the western Garhwal Himalaya, on the main ridge that lies south of the Gangotri Glacier. It lies in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, southwest of the Hindu holy site of Gaumukh...
  
  , 6904 m (22,651 ft), a steep rock spire, and perhaps the most difficult summit to attain in the entire group.
• Shivling
  Shivling (Garhwal Himalaya)
  Shivling is a mountain in the Gangotri Group of peaks in the western Garhwal Himalaya, near the snout of the Gangotri Glacier. It lies in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, south of the Hindu holy site of Gaumukh . Its name refers to its status as a sacred symbol of the God - Lord Shiva's...
  
  , 6543 m (21,467 ft), another steep rock peak, with two summits, and the most striking as viewed from Gaumukh, the pilgrimage site at the mouth of the glacier. A symbol of the god Shiva
  Shiva
  Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
  
  , it is the most revered peak in the group.
• Meru
  Meru Peak
  Meru Peak is a mountain which lies in the Himalayas, in the Uttarakhand region of India. It is within the Nanda Devi National Park, and is high. It is the site of the world's highest BASE Jump from 'Earth', by Glenn Singleman and Heather Swan from a height of in June 2006.The mountain has three...
  
  , 6660 m (21,850 ft), lies between Thalay Sagar and Shivling, and has some highly challenging routes, only recently ascended despite multiple attempts by the world's best climbers.
• Bhagirathi [I: 6856 metres (22,493 ft); II: 6512 metres (21,365 ft); III: 6454 m (21,175 ft)], peaks with moderate routes on the back sides, but huge steep-to-overhanging cliffs on the side facing the glacier. Bhagirathi III, in particular, has seen some of the most extreme rock climbing
  Rock climbing
  Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...
  
  in the Himalaya.