KEDARNATH

OVERVIEW

Kedarnath Ji Mandir (Kedarnath Temple) is a Hindu sanctuary committed to Lord Shiva. It is on the Garhwal Himalayan range close to the Mandakini stream in Kedarnath, Uttarakhand in India. Because of outrageous climate conditions, the sanctuary is open just between the finish of April (Akshaya Tritiya) to November (Kartik Purnima – the pre-winter full moon). Amid the winters, the vigrahas (gods) from Kedarnath sanctuary are conveyed to Ukhimath and adored there for a half year. Ruler Shiva is revered as Kedarnath, the ‘Master of Kedar Khand’, the recorded name of the locale.

The sanctuary isn’t straightforwardly available by street and must be come to by 18 kilometers (11 mi) tough trek from Gaurikund. Horse and manchan benefits are accessible to achieve the structure. As per Hindu legends, the sanctuary was at first worked by Pandavas and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the holiest Hindu places of worship of Shiva. It is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams, explained in Tevaram. Pandavas should have satisfied Shiva by doing compensation in Kedarnath. The sanctuary is one of the four noteworthy destinations in India’s Chota Char Dham journey of Northern Himalayas. This sanctuary is the most astounding among the 12 Jyotirlingas. Kedarnath was the most exceedingly awful influenced region amid the 2013 glimmer surges in North India. The sanctuary complex, encompassing territories and Kedarnath town endured broad harm, however the sanctuary structure did not endure any “real” harm, aside from a couple of breaks on one side of the four dividers which was caused by the streaming trash from the higher mountains. An extensive shake among the flotsam and jetsam went about as an obstruction, shielding the sanctuary from the surge. The encompassing premises and different structures in showcase region were vigorously harmed.

HISTORY OF KEDARNATH

The sanctuary, at a stature of 3,583 m (11,755 ft), 223 km from Rishikesh, on the shores of Mandakini waterway, a tributary of Ganga, is a stone building of obscure date.[8] It isn’t sure who fabricated the first Kedarnath sanctuary and when. The name “Kedarnath” signifies “the master of the field”: it gets from the Sanskrit words kedara (“field”) and natha (“ruler”). The content Kashi Kedara Mahatmya states that it is supposed on the grounds that “the product of freedom” becomes here.
As per a fanciful record, the god Shiva consented to abide here at the demand of Nara-Narayana. After the Kurukshetra War, the Pandava siblings, came here to meet Shiva on the counsel of the sage Vyasa, in light of the fact that they needed to look for absolution for executing their family amid the war. Be that as it may, Shiva did not have any desire to pardon them: along these lines, he transformed into a bull and stowed away among the steers on the slope. At the point when the Pandavas figured out how to track him, he endeavored to vanish by sinking himself straight into the ground. One of the siblings got his tail, compelling him to show up before them and pardon them. The Pandava siblings at that point manufactured the primary sanctuary at Kedarnath. The parts of Shiva’s body later showed up at four different areas; and by and large, these five spots came to be known as the five Kedaras (“Panch Kedar”); the leader of the bull showed up at the area of the Pashupatinath Temple in introduce day Nepal.

The Mahabharata, which gives the record of the Pandavas and the Kurukshetra War, does not say wherever called Kedarnath. One of the soonest references to Kedarnath happens in the Skanda Purana (c. seventh eighth century), which contains a fantasy depicting the starting point of the Ganges waterway. The content names Kedara (Kedarnath) as to where Shiva discharged the sacred water from his tangled hair.
As indicated by the hagiographies in light of Madhava’s Sankshepa-Shankara-Vijaya, the eighth-century thinker Adi Shankara passed on at Kedaranatha (Kedarnath); albeit different hagiographies, in light of Anandagiri’s Prachina-Shankara-Vijaya, express that he kicked the bucket at Kanchi. The remnants of a landmark denoting the indicated passing spot of Shankara are situated at Kedarnath. Kedarnath was unquestionably a noticeable journey focus by the twelfth century when it is said in Kritya-kalpataru composed by the Gahadavala serve Bhatta Lakshmidhara.
As indicated by a convention recorded by the English mountain dweller Eric Shipton (1926), “a huge number of years back”, the Kedarnath sanctuary did not have a neighborhood cleric: the minister of the Badrinath sanctuary used to hold administrations at both the sanctuaries, going between the two places every day.

Facts About Kedarnath

• State: Uttarakhand
• District: Rudraprayag
• Famous for/as: Pilgrimage / Trekking
• Languages: Garhwali, Hindi
• Best Season: April-June / Sep-Oct
• Weather: -8 to 16°C,
• Winter: -8 to 10°C
• Altitude: 3049 m
• STD code: N/A

DISTANCES FROM IMPORTANT LOCATIONS

Delhi to Sonprayag: 460 km

Indore to Sonprayag: 1268 km

Nagpur to Sonprayag: 1468 km

Bangalore to Sonprayag: 2445 km

Chennai to Sonprayag: 2566 km