Kedarnath Temple: Few Facts That Will Take You By Surprise

Add as a preferred source on Google

Kedarnath is a part of the mystical Uttarakhand whose name reminds us of the presence of Lord Shiva and Parvati in their mountainous terrains. Around 86 km from Rudraprayag, its headquarters, Kedarnath temple, that is protected by none other than Lord Shiva, has withstood several onslaughts of landslides and still stayed intact. It is an ancient temple whose construction and architecture is amazingly brilliant which otherwise, could not have withstood the onslaught of nature and man on it.

1. The monsoon of 2013 was a curse on the tourists who had headed to Kedar nath temple that year. The intense downpour, the unforeseen landslide, the floods, demolished the entire area around Kedarnth temple. Several lost their lives, in search of Kedarnath, and finally reached his lotus feet. During the catastrophe, as nature wreaked havoc all over, the temple of Kedarnath stood regally aloft, and intact as if protected by a divine hand.

2. There is yet another fact that is not so well known. It is the Bhairo Nath temple, that is at a few yards of distance from the Kedarnath temple. The Bhairav nath is known to be he guarding deity for the temple of Kedarnath as he keeps evil energies away when the temple is closed. So at the time of opening and closing of Kedarnath, it is compulsory to visit this temple.

3. As you step into Kedarnath, you leave your usual pretenses and social graces far behind and see that your greetings change from hi and hello to Jai shri Kedar or Jai Kedar. That is the kind of magnetic pull that this place exerts on the devotees.

4. Udak Kund, which is towards the South of Kedarnath, is used for Abhishek for Lord Shiva, If the holy water of Udak Kund is consumed before death, the soul is freed from the cycle of birth and death.

5. Kedarnath purohits are called Panda or Tirth Gurus of Kedarnath. These pandas perform corrective rituals for devotees and get paid for this. Pandas are found in the Bamsu area of Guptkashi, Ukhimati, and the valley of Kedarnath. These purohits are known to be descendants of 360 purohit families bearing the names of Purohit, shukla, sharma, katiyal, vajpai etc.

6. It was the pandavas of Mahabharata times who arrived here to ask forgiveness from Lord Shiva for killing so many in the war. But Lord Shiva was not easily accessible to them. He assumed the form of a humped bull and hid himself at Guptkashi. Somehow the pandavas were able to trace him out and Lord Shiva, pleased with their devotion, stayed on as a jyotirlinga as Kedarnath. Pandavas built a temple for him here.

Later Parikshit Raja, from the same Pandava family, reconstructed the temple. He died of snake bite which is why Janamejaya, his son embarked upon a snake yaga to kill all the snakes in the world.

7. One more legend says that Goddess Parvathi worshipped Kedarnath to bless her by assuming the form of Ardhanarishwara by uniting with her. So that is how Lord Shiva became a jyotirling and came to be called Kedarnath.

8. The most surprising phenomenon is that Lord Shiva here is not worshipped by Sanskrit chants. He is worshipped with chants in Kannada, the mothertongue of Karnataka. The priests from a particular community called Veera Shaiva Jangama conduct the worship chanting Kannada songs and slokas.

They are called by locals as Rawals but they do not perform the puja by themselves., but have attendants who conduct the puja on their behalf. The Rawals oversee the puja procedure in which other priests participate

9. This was the temple where Adi Shankara merged into Lord Shiva by initiating maha samadhi.

10. Inside the temple, there is a diya that is continuously burning from scores of years. When the temple closes for 6 months, this small diya keeps burning which you can see for yourself, when the temple opens again after 6 months.

11. Due to its high altitude, there are no roads constructed for the devotees to reach their way up to the temple. From Gaurikund you can trek your way up but this is quite dangerous for those with heart ailments. They can hire helicopters instead and comfortably get the darshan of Kedarnath.

12. The Jyotirlinga at Kedarnath is triangular in shape with a shiny black exterior.

13. Kedarnath Temple is part of the Panch Kedar, which are the five sacred areas that are associated with Lord Kedarnath. Located in the Garhwal Himalayas, Tungnath, is associated with Lord Shiva's hands, and Rudranath, his face. Shiva's stomach and navel are found in Madhyamaheshwar while Kalpeshwar is associated with his head.

14. The Kedarnath Temple, is a jyotirling located at the highest altitude of 3583 m.

15. As per Shiv Puran, the pilgrims who happen to die at Kedarnath, or thoswe who consume the tirth in the temple, will be freed from their sins, and attain salvation as well.

16. The temple was submerged under snow for 400 years. It was then discovered and opened for public view.

Disclaimer: The information is based on assumptions and information available on the internet and the accuracy or reliability is not guaranteed. Boldsky doesn't confirm any inputs or information related to the article and our only purpose is to deliver information. Kindly consult the concerned expert before practising or implementing any information and assumption.