Kedarnath Temple

Kedarnath Temple
Kedarnath Temple
Location in Uttarakhand
Name
Proper name Kedarnath
Geography
Coordinates 30°44′6.7″N 79°4′0.9″E / 30.735194°N 79.066917°E / 30.735194; 79.066917Coordinates: 30°44′6.7″N 79°4′0.9″E / 30.735194°N 79.066917°E / 30.735194; 79.066917
Country India
State Uttarakhand
Location Kedarnath
Culture
Primary deity Kedarnath, 'Lord of Kedar Khand' (Shiva)

Kēdārnāth Mandir (Kedarnath Temple) is a Hindu temple dedicated to god Shiva. It is on the Garhwal Himalayan range near the Mandakini river in Kedarnath, Uttarakhand in India. Due to extreme weather conditions, the temple is open only between the end of April (Akshaya Tritriya) to Kartik Purnima (the autumn full moon, usually November). During the winters, the vigrahas (deities) from Kedarnath temple are brought to Ukhimath and worshiped there for six months. Lord Shiva is worshiped as Kedarnath, the 'Lord of Kedar Khand', the historical name of the region.[1]

The unstable temple is not directly accessible by road and has to be reached by a 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) uphill trek from Gaurikund. Pony and manchan service is available to reach the structure. The temple was built by Pandavas and revived by Adi Sankaracharya and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the holiest Hindu shrines of Shiva. It is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams, expounded in Tevaram. Pandavas were supposed to have pleased Shiva by doing penance in Kedarnath. The temple is one of the four major sites in India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage of Northern Himalayas. This temple is the highest among the 12 Jyotirlingas.[2] Kedarnath was the worst affected area during the 2013 flash floods in North India. The temple complex, surrounding areas and Kedarnath town suffered extensive damage, but the temple structure did not suffer any "major" damage, apart from a few cracks on one side of the four walls which was caused by the flowing debris from the higher mountains. A large rock among the debris acted as a barrier, protecting the temple from the flood. The surrounding premises and other buildings in market area were heavily damaged. The temple structure has been standing erect and facing nature's fury for the past 10 centuries and it is expected that the structure has the endurance to remain intact in the future as well.[3][4]

Temple and past significance

The temple, at an height of 3,583 m (11,755 ft), 223 km from Rishikesh, on the shores of Mandakini river, a tributary of Ganga, is an impressive stone edifice of unknown date.[5] The structure is believed to have been constructed in the 8th century AD, when Adi Shankara visited. The present structure is on a site adjacent to where Pandavas are believed to have built the temple.[1] It has on Garbhagriha and a Mandapa and stands on a plateau surrounded by snow clad mountain and glaciers. In front of the temple, directly opposite to the inner shrine, is a Nandi statue carved out of rock.[1]

Hindu mythology

According to Hindu History, during the Mahabharatha war, the Pandavas killed their relatives; to absolve themselves of this sin, the Pandavas undertook a pilgrimage. But Lord Vishweshwara was away in Kailasa in the Himalayas. On learning this, the Pandavas left Kashi. They reached the Himalayas via Haridwar. They saw Lord Shankara from a distance. But Lord Shankara hid from them. Then Dharmaraj said: "Oh, Lord, You have hidden yourself from our sight because we have sinned. But, we will seek You out somehow. Only after we take your Darshan would our sins be washed away. This place, where You have hidden Yourself will be known as Guptakashi and become a famous shrine."

From Guptakashi (Rudraprayag), the Pandavas went ahead till they reached Gaurikund in the Himalayas valleys. They wandered there in search of Lord Shankara. While doing so Nakul and Sahadev found a buffalo which was unique to look at.

Then Bheema went after the buffalo with his mace. The buffalo was clever and Bheema could not catch him. But Bheema managed to hit the buffalo with his mace. The buffalo had its face hidden in a crevice-in the earth. Bheema started to pull it by its tail. In this tug-of war, the face of the buffalo went straight to Nepal, leaving its hind part in Kedar. The face is Doleshwar Mahadev in Sipadol, Bhaktapur, Nepal.[6][7][8]

On this hind part of Mahesha, a JyotirLinga appeared and Lord Shankara appeared from this light. By getting a Darshan of Lord Shankar, the pandavas were absolved of their sins. The Lord told the Pandavas, "From now on, I will remain here as a triangular shaped JyotirLinga. By taking a Darshan of Kedarnath, devotees would attain piety". A triangular shaped rock is worshiped in Garbhagriha of the temple. Surrounding Kedarnath, there are many symbols of the Pandavas. Raja Pandu died at Pandukeshwar. The tribals here perform a dance called "Pandav Nritya". [9] The mountain top where the Pandavas went to Swarga, is known as "Swargarohini", which is located off Badrinath. When Darmaraja was leaving for Swarga, one of his fingers fell on the earth. At that place, Dharmaraj installed a Shiva Linga, which is the size of the thumb. To gain Mashisharupa, Shankara and Bheema fought with maces. Bheema was struck with remorse. He started to massage Lord Shankara’s body with ghee. In memory of this event, even today, this triangular Shiva JyotirLinga is massaged with ghee. Water and Bel leaves are used for worship.

When Nara-Narayan went to Badrika village and started the worship of Parthiva, Shiva appeared before them. Nara-Narayan wished that, for the welfare of the humanity, Shiva should remain there in his original form. Granting their wish, in the snow-clad Himalayas, in a place called Kedar, Mahesha himself stayed there as a Jyoti. Here, He is known as Kedareshwara.

Inside temple

Panch Kedar

The first hall inside Kedarnath Temple contains statues of the five Pandava brothers, Lord Krishna, Nandi, the vehicle of Shiva and Virabhadra, one of the guards of Shiva. Statue of Draupadi and other deities are also installed in the main hall. A medium-size conical rough stone formation is worshiped in the Garbagruha and considered as Sadashiva form of Lord Shiva.[1] An unusual feature of the temple is the head of a man carved in the triangular stone fascia. Such a head is seen carved in another temple nearby constructed on the site where the marriage of Shiva and Parvati was held. Adi Shankara was believed to have revived this temple, along with Badrinath and other temples of Uttarakhand; he is believed to have attained Mahasamadhi at Kedaranath. Behind the temple is the samādhi mandir of Adi Sankara.[10]

The head priest (Raval) of the Kedarnath temple belongs to the Veerashaiva community from Karnataka.[11] However, unlike in Badrinath temple, the Raval of Kedarnath temple does not perform the pujas. The pujas are carried out by Raval's assistants on his instructions. The Raval moves with the deity to Ukhimath during the winter season. There are five main priests for the temple, and they become head priests for one year by rotation. The present (2013) Raval of Kedarnath temple is Shri Vageesha Lingacharya.[11] Shri Vageesh Ligaacharya who belongs from the Village Banuvalli of Taluka Harihar of Davanagere district in Karnataka. During Pooja of Lord Shiva at Kedaranath the mantras will be pronounced in the Kannada language. This has been a custom from hundreds of years.[12]

Administration

The temple was included in the Uttar Pradesh state government Act No. 30/1948 as Act no. 16,1939, which came to be known as Shri Badarinath and Shri Kedarnath Mandir Act. The committee nominated by the state government administers both temples. The act was modified in 2002, which provisioned adding additional committee members including Government officials and a Vice chairman.[13] There are a total of seventeen members in the board; three selected by the Uttaranchal Legislative Assembly, one member each by the Zilla Parishads of Garhwa, Tehri, Chamoli and Uttarkashi, and ten members nominated by the state government.[14] On the religious side, there is a Rawalji (chief priest) and three other priests: Nayab Rawal, Acharya/Dharmadhikari and Vedpathi.[15] The administrative structure of the temple consists of a chief executive officer who executes the orders from the state government. A deputy chief executive officer, two OSDs, an executive officer, an account officer, a temple officer and a publicity officer assist the chief executive officer.[16]

2013 flash floods

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. in the morning 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.

Another theory for the temple not being destroyed is because of its construction.[17][18][19][20] Although the temple withstood the severity of the floods, the complex and surrounding area were destroyed, resulting in the death of hundreds of pilgrims and locals. Shops and hotels in Kedarnath were destroyed and all roads were broken. People took shelter inside the temple for several hours, until Indian army airlifted them to safer places.[11] The Uttarakhand Chief Minister announced that the Kedarnath shrine would remain closed for a year for clearing the debris.

The experts, who were asked by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to examine the condition of the foundation in wake of the floods have arrived at the conclusion that there was no danger to the temple.The IIT Madras experts visited the temple thrice for the purpose. Non-destructive testing instruments that do not disturb the structure of the temple were used by the IIT-team for assessing the health of the structure, foundation and walls. They have submitted their interim report that the temple is stable and there was no major danger.[21][22][23]

2014 Kedarnath Gaurikund Trek Opens for Walk, Horses, Mules

Rudraprayag. Essential supplies by helicopter on Thursday continued to Kedarnath. The helipad construction has begun. Horses-mules to walk Gurikund-Kedarnath has been opened for traffic.[24]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Kedarnath Temple". Kedarnath - The official website. 2006. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  2. ↑ "KEDARNATH". badarikedar.
  3. ↑ Joanna Sugden; Shreya Shah (19 June 2013). "Kedarnath Temple Survives Flash Floods". WSJ.
  4. ↑ "Minor damage to outer wall of Kedarnath temple: ASI". Zee News. 7 August 2013.
  5. ↑ Abram, David (2003). The Rough guide to India (2003 ed.). New York: Rough Guides. pp. 354–355. ISBN 9781843530893.
  6. ↑ "4,000-year-old Mahabharata relic found in Nepal? (With Images)". Thaindian News. 12 August 2009. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  7. ↑ Thapa, Bharat Bandu. "Mandir Anabaran". Rajdhani (Bhaktaput).
  8. ↑ Prasai, Dirgha Raj. "Hindu shrine: Pashupatinath (Lord Shiva) and Shivaratri in Nepal". The Indian Post. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  9. ↑ "Garhwali Dance Forms". euttaranchal.com.
  10. ↑ "Uttarakhand government website". Government of Uttarakhand. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  11. 1 2 3 "Kedarnath priest's family prays for his safe return". Deccan Herald. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  12. ↑ TV-9 Kannada telecast on 26.06.2013
  13. ↑ "Administration of the temple". Shri Badrinath - Shri Kedarnath Temples Committee. 2006. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  14. ↑ "Committee members of the temple". Shri Badrinath - Shri Kedarnath Temples Committee. 2006. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  15. ↑ "Religious setup of the temple". Shri Badrinath - Shri Kedarnath Temples Committee. 2006. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  16. ↑ "Power structure of the temple". Shri Badrinath - Shri Kedarnath Temples Committee. 2006. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  17. ↑ "What happened on the night of 16th June inside Kedarnath temple". Tehelka.com. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  18. ↑ "Account of survivors of Uttarakhand floods". Yahoo newsuutar. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  19. ↑ "Account of survivors". youtube.com. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  20. ↑ "Account of flood victims". youtube.com. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  21. ↑ "Kedarnath tragedy: PM, Sonia review situation, toll mounts to 660". Zeenews.com. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  22. ↑ "Monsoon fury leaves Kedarnath shrine submerged in mud and slush". The Indian Express. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  23. ↑ "Kedarnath shrine safe, to remain closed for a year". The Hindu. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  24. ↑ "New Trek Route of Shri Kedarnath Ji". Chardham Packagesnews. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 2015-02-21.

Notes

External links

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