It is well-known for many reasons, its legend, the natural calamity that happened, the beautiful and mesmerizing views of the mountains, and the difficult journey that devotees go through to reach here.
The temple is situated on the Garhwal Himalayan range where the Mandakini river flows, in the state of Uttarakhand, India. The weather conditions are extreme, and hence the temple opens up to devotees only at a certain time every year. The heavys now fall is the major aspect of the harsh weather, and hence the temple only opens up from April to November; the rest of the time, the doors remain closed for the public.
As we just mentioned, the difficult journey is because the temple can’t be accessed directly via any vehicle. The devotees have to cover 22 kilometers of the uphill trek from Gaurikund. From here, they can use the pony service or manchan if not able to walk on foot.
The temple is also significant as it is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas. The natural calamity of 2013damaged the temple’s campus hugely. The flood from the higher mountains damaged the entire complex, the surrounding structures; however, the temple itself didn’t receive any major damage; a large rock came in the way as a result of the flood and protected the temple.
History and Legends
The Kedarnath temple that resides on 11,755 ft on the bank of the Mandakini river is a creation of unknown date. The original creator of the temple is unknown; the date is also not clear. The name was given to the temple “Kedarnath,” which means the Lord of the field, where Kedar means field, and Nath means Lord.
The Hindu legend states that after the Mahabharata, the Pandava brothers came here to meet Shiva on the advice of sage Vyasa. They wanted to apologize to Shiva for killing their brothers and relatives in the field. However, Shiva didn’t agree on forgiving them, and he took the form of a bull.
The bull then hidin the cattle of the hill; when the Pandavas managed to find him, the bull tried to sink into the ground with his head first. Bhima, who was the stronge stone, tried to grab the bull’s tail and forced him to appear before them and forgive them. Afterward, the Kedarnath temple was built; all the parts of Shivathat the bull tried to sink later appeared in different locations that are now known as Panch Kedar or Five Kedaras; the head of the bull appeared in Pashupatinath.
The Temple’s Description
The image or the idol of the presiding deity is 12 ft in circumference and12 ft in height. The Lingam here is not perfect like other Shiva’s places; it is more like an irregular lingam. In the front of the temple, a small pillared hall can be seen having images of Parvathi and of the five Pandava princes. Five temples are built around, namely: Badari-Kedar, Madhya Maheswara, Tunganatha, Rudranatha,and Kallesvara. The first hall also contains the statues of the Pandavas,Krishna, Nandi, and Virabhadra, one of the guards of Shiva.
When you go to the main hall, you can see the statue of Draupadi and other deities. It is said that Adi Shankara revived this place as well as Badrinath. He performed the Mahasamadhi at Kedarnath Jyothirlingam Temple, which is now situated behind the temple.
All the pujas performed in Kedarnath are done by the assistant of the head priest or Raval,unlike other temples where the priest himself performs the pujas. When the Winters come, the Raval also moves with the deity to Ukhimath to worship the Lord there until the temple opens again for the public. There are a total of five priests in the temple who become the main priest one by one every year.
This year Maha Shivratri will be celebrated on 11th March. The doors of Kedarnath will open in May 2021 for the public. Devotees, however, can visit any nearby Shiva temple on occasion and receive the guidance of Shiva in your life.
