Quick Answer
Om Namah Shivaya — "I bow to Shiva" — is the five-syllable (panchakshara) mantra Na-Maḥ-Śi-Vā-Ya preceded by Om. Described in the Shiva Purana and the Shri Rudram tradition, it is the central mantra of Shaivism, mapping to the five elements and offered as complete surrender to the auspicious one.
The mantra and its meaning
ॐ नमः शिवाय — Om, the primordial sound; namah, "bowing / salutation / not-mine"; shivaya, "to Shiva, the Auspicious". Together: "I bow to Shiva" — or, more inwardly, "nothing here is mine; all is offered to the auspicious one."
The five syllables and five elements
Tradition maps the five syllables — Na, Ma, Śi, Vā, Ya — to the five great elements (pancha bhutas): earth, water, fire, air and space. Chanting the panchakshara is thus a harmonising of the whole of nature within the devotee. The mantra appears in the Shri Rudram of the Krishna Yajurveda and is expounded at length in the Shiva Purana.
How devotees practise it
There is no license required for this mantra — it is the people’s mantra, open to all. Devotees chant it aloud, whisper it on rudraksha malas of 108 beads, write it, or simply repeat it mentally while walking. On the Kedarnath trek you will hear it constantly — from loudspeakers at tea stalls, from groups of pilgrims, and from solitary walkers keeping rhythm with their steps.
At Kedarnath
Nowhere does the mantra feel more at home than on the Kedarnath trail: five syllables, five Kedar temples, and one direction — up. Many pilgrims consciously chant through the climb, turning effort into japa.