Kedarnath Dham

 

Kedarnath Temple

Kedarnath temple is located in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand state of India. It is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Hinduism. It is said that wind comes here from heaven.

     According to mythology, the Kedarnath story is related to the period of Mahabharata. After the battle of Kurukshetra, the Pandavas went out in search of Lord Shiva.

To get salvation from all the sins committed in the war, the Pandavas started searching for Mahadev Ji with great zeal, but as soon as Mahadev Ji came to know about this, he went and hid in Kedarnath.

The Pandavas first reached Kashi and after searching there a lot, they could not find Mahadev Ji. From there, while searching, they reached Himalayas. Seeing the Pandavas, Mahadev Ji took the form of a bull and joined the other animals. The Pandavas suspected that Lord Shankar was hiding here.

        At this time, Bhima assumed a gigantic form and spread his legs on two mountains. All other cows and bulls passed through but the bull in the form of Shankar Ji was not ready to go under his feet. Seeing this, Bhima realized that this was Shankar Ji. Then Mahadev Ji started disappearing into the ground. At the same time, Bhima pounced on this bull with all his might. Then Bhima caught the triangular back portion of the bull.

Seeing the devotion and determination of the Pandavas, Lord Shankar was pleased and freed them from their sins by giving them darshan. Since then, Lord Shankar is worshipped in Kedarnath in the form of the back of a bull. It is believed that when Lord Shankar disappeared in the form of a bull, the upper part of his torso appeared in Kathmandu.

Bhairavnath Temple

There is a temple of Shri Bhairavnath Ji at a distance of less than half a km from the Kedarnath temple. Bhairavnath is called the Kshetrapal of this area. Baba Bhairavnath Ji protects the Kedarnath temple and the surrounding area. And in winters, when the doors are closed for 6 months, Baba Bhairavnath Ji protects them for those 6 months. And it is said that if you come to Kedarnath and do not visit Baba Bhairavnath Ji, then the Kedarnath Yatra is considered incomplete.

KNOW YOU ?

1. This temple was renovated by Adi Shankaracharya several thousand years ago.

2. On the day of Govardhan Puja, the temple doors are closed and after 6 months when the doors are opened, the eternal flame is found burning inside the temple.

3. The flood disaster that came in 2013 was so terrible that the entire Kedarnath was destroyed but the miracle was that the Kedarnath temple did not suffer even a single dent in the disaster. 

In that flood, a huge stone was coming towards the temple very fast along with the water flow, but as soon as it came near the temple, it suddenly stopped behind the temple and separated the flood water into two parts. It is said that Bheem himself saved the Kedarnath temple, today that stone is worshipped as Bheem Shila.

Best months to visit Kedarnath -  From May to September - October