The protector and the destroyer, the praiser, the critic, the darkest night and the brightest of light, Shiva, the source of life, resides in the mountain peaks of Kedarnath. Situated in a spectacular location, near the springs of the Mandakini river, at the height of 3,358 meters, Kedarnath Dham welcomes the worshippers to the Shiva’s shrine. Located in the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, forming one of the four sites of Chota Char Dham pilgrimage, Kedarnath is one of the 12 jyotirlingas of Bhagwan Shiva and the most significant one among the Panch Kedars. The temple is open for worshippers only between the months of April and November due to extreme weather conditions. During the winter season, the shrine gets submerged in the snow so, the deity is carried down to Ukimath and is worshipped there for the next 6 months. Located in the Garhwal Himalayan range, direct access to the temple by road becomes a little difficult. The road stretches till Gauri Kund and then one has to trek 14km uphill to reach the main temple. Ponies and palanquins are easily available for covering the distance. One can also avail helicopter services for the same. The divine presence paves an easy way for every pilgrim to reach him and witness the divinity. The aura of the place is surrounded by piety.
The Legend
Going by epic, the temple was built by Pandavas. Full of remorse, after realizing the truth of killing their own kinsmen in the Kurukshetra war, Pandavas decided to atone for their sins, handed over their kingdom to their kins and began their search for Prabhu Shiva to seek his blessings. The search began from Varanasi, Kashi Vishwanath temple, Shiva’s favourite residing place. But, deeply disdained by the dishonesty and brutality in the war, Shiva wanted to avoid them and hence, disguised as a bull and hid in the Garhwal region. Pandavas then went to the Garhwal hills in search of him. While looking between the mountains, Bhima saw a bull and recognized him for Bhagwan Shiva. On being seen, Shiva dove underground but Bhima could catch the hump. Since then, the temple was established.
The hump of the bull was found in Kedarnath, the navel appeared in Madhya-Maheshwar, two forelegs emerged in Tunganath, the face in Rudranath, and the hair in Kalpeshwar. These five sacred places are collectively called the Panch Kedar – The original Pandavas built the Kedarnath temple according to the legend and the present temple was built by Adi Shankaracharya, who reglorified the Shiva shrine in 8th century A.D.
