The origin and history of Kedarnath Temple
Kedarnath is a holy temple of lord Shiva. It built by the Pandavas and the present temple was established by Adi Shankaracharya, who restored the glory of the shrine in the 8th century A.D in Uttarakhand. The temple is said to be more than 1,200 years old and one among the 12 jyotirlingas in india.
It is said that the Pandavas sought Lord Shiva to relieve themselves from the guilt of killing their blood relatives, However, Shiva didn't want to release them from their sins, so he disguised himself as a bull to roam the Garhwal Himalayas. On being found by the Pandava, Shiva dove underground. Bh could only manage to get hold of his hump. Other body parts of Shiva in the form of a bull showed up at different places.
The hump of the bull was found in Kedarnath, The navel emerged in Madhya- Maheshwar, two forelegs apeared in Tungnath, the face in Rudranath, and the hair in kalpeshwar. These are Collectively called Panch Kedar - the five sacred places
GLORY OF THE SHRINE
The majestic Kedarnath peak (6,940 metres) stands behind the temple along with other peaks and adds to the scenery of the area. Built from large, heavy and evenly cut grey slabs of stones, the structure is a master piece. The conical Shiva lingam is worshipped as the Lord in his Sadashiv form. The Garbha Griha is for worship and a Mandap is for assemblies of pilgrims and visitors.
The Kedarnath temple closes on the first day of Kartik ( October - November) and reopens in Vaisakh ( April - May) every year. Around this time of the year, the air appears echo with the name of Lord Shiva amid snowclad peaks, meadows and forests of the lower range of the Himalayas. The temple is built on the banks of rivers Mandakini and Saraswati.
Other places in Kedarnath Dham that are major tourist attractions are Gaurikund, Chorbia Tal,. Bhairav Temple and Vasuki Tal.
It that essence, the incredible Kedarnath Temple which has stood the test of time I more than 1,000 year old. It is claimed by geologist that Kedarnath Temple was under the snow for 400 years during the Little Ice Age. The Little IceAge constitutes the period between 1300 - 1900 AD.
The 2013 North India Flood
The Kedarnath valley, along with other parts of the state of Uttarakhand, was hit with unprecedented flash floods on 16 and 17 June 2013. On 16 June, at about 7:30 p.m. a landslide and mudslides occurred near Kedarnath Temple with loud peals of thunder. An enormously loud peal was heard and huge amounts of water started gushing from Chorabari Tal or Gandhi Tal down Mandakini river at about 8:30 p.m. washing everything away in its path. On 17 June 2013 at about 6:40 a.m. waters again started cascading at a huge speed from river Swaraswati and Chorabari Tal or Gandhi Tal bringing along with its flow huge amount of silt, rocks, and boulders. A huge rock got stuck behind Kedarnath Temple and protected it from the ravages of the flood. The waters gushed on both the sides of the temple destroying everything in their path. Even eyewitness observed that one large rock got carried to the rear side of Kedarnath Temple, thus causing obstruction to the debris, diverting the flow of river and debris to the sides of the temple avoiding damage. The rock which protected the temple is worshipped as the God's Rock (à¤ीम शीला).
The Panch Kedars
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