Kedarnath Temple

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Kedarnath Temple
Pandavas
Elevation3,583 m (11,755 ft)
Website
badrinath-kedarnath.gov.in
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Kedarnath Temple (

Himalayan range[1]
near the
Kartik Purnima, the autumn full moon). During the winters, the vigraha (deity) of the temple is carried down to Ukhimath to be worshipped for the next six months. Kedarnath is seen as a homogeneous form of Shiva, the 'Lord of Kedarkhand', the historical name of the region.[2]

The temple is not directly accessible by road and has to be reached by a 22 kilometres (14 mi) uphill trek from

Sekkizhar in their Tevaram texts.[5]

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 the market area were heavily damaged.[6]

History and legends of origin

Mahabharata War

At a height of 3,583 m (11,755 ft), 223 km (139 mi) from

Ganga, is a stone edifice of unknown date.[7] It is not certain who built the original Kedarnath temple and when. The name "Kedarnath" means "the lord of the field": it derives from the Sanskrit words kedara ("field") and natha ("lord"). The text Kashi Kedara Mahatmya states that it is so called because "the crop of liberation" grows here.[8]

A folk legend about Kedarnath relates to the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic

Nandi). Bhima, the second of the five Pandava brothers, then saw the bull grazing near Guptakashi ("hidden Kashi" — the name derived from the hiding act of Shiva). Bhima immediately recognized the bull to be Shiva. Bhima caught hold of the bull by its tail and hind legs. But the bull-formed Shiva disappeared into the ground to later reappear in parts, with the hump raising in Kedarnath, the arms appearing in Tungnath, the face showing up at Rudranath, the nabhi (navel) and stomach surfacing in Madhyamaheshwar and the hair appearing in Kalpeshwar. The Pandavas pleased with this reappearance in five different forms, built temples at the five places for venerating and worshipping Shiva. These five places are collectively known as Panch Kedar.[1][9][10]

A variant of the tale credits Bhima for not only catching the bull but also stopping it from disappearing. Consequently, the bull was torn asunder into five parts and appeared at five locations in the

yagna (fire sacrifice) and then through the heavenly path called the Mahapanth (also called Swargarohini), attained heaven or salvation. The Panch Kedar Temples are constructed in the North-Indian Himalayan Temple architecture with the Kedarnath, Tungnath and Madhyamaheshwar temples looking similar.[11]

After completing the pilgrimage of Lord Shiva's

Lord Vishnu at the Badrinath Temple, as a final affirmatory proof by the devotee that he has sought blessings of Lord Shiva.[12]

The

Ganges river. The text names Kedara (Kedarnath) as the place where Shiva released the holy water from his matted hair.[13]

According to the

Gahadavala minister Bhatta Lakshmidhara.[15]
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 Kedarnath.

Kedarnath Teerth Purohits are the ancient Brahmins of this region, their ancestors (Rishi-Muni) have been worshiping the lingam since the time of Nara-Narayana and Daksh Prajapati. King Janmejay, grandson of the Pandavas, gave them the right of worshiping this temple and donate the whole Kedar region, and they have been worshiping pilgrims ever since.[8][13][14]

According to a tradition recorded by the English mountaineer

Badrinath temples, travelling between the two places daily.[16]

Deities and architecture

Panch Kedar
Kedarnath
Tungnath
Rudranath
Madhyamaheshwar
Kalpeshwar

The presiding image of Kedarnath in the form of

Adi Sankara.[20]

Rituals

The head priest (Raval) of the Kedarnath temple belongs to the

Yudhishtira, the eldest of the Pandavas, was leaving for the heaven, one of his fingers fell on the earth. At that place, Yudhishtira installed a Shiva Linga, which is the size of the thumb. To gain Mashisharupa, Lord Shiva and Bheema fought with maces. Bheema was struck with remorse. He started to massage Shiva's body with ghee. In memory of this event, even today, this triangular Shiva lingam is massaged with ghee.[17]

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 by the Uttarakhand State Government, which provisioned adding additional committee members including government officials and a vice-chairman.

District Councils of Chamoli, Pauri Garhwal, Tehri Garhwal and Uttarkashi districts, and ten members nominated by the Government of Uttarakhand.[24] On the religious side, there is a Rawal (chief priest) and three other priests: Naib Rawal, Acharya/Dharmadhikari and Vedpathi.[25] 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.[26]

2013 floods

Main article: 2013 North India floods
Rear view of the Kedarnath Temple in the aftermath of the flood with the huge rock that protected the temple.

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 (भीम शीला).

Another theory for the temple not being destroyed is because of its construction.

Chief Minister announced that the Kedarnath shrine would remain closed for a year for clearing the debris.

Front view of the Kedarnath Temple in the aftermath of the flood

The experts, who were asked by the Archaeological Survey of India 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.[31][32]

Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) was given the responsibility of rebuilding Kedarnath. Although the institute did not have the expertise in urban planning or construction, they mastered in high altitude training. Under the leadership of veteran mountaineer, Colonel Ajay Kothiyal, NIM rigorously worked for a year and made the pilgrimage yatra possible from the next year.[33]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8239-3179-8
    .
  2. ^ a b "Kedarnath Temple". Kedarnath - The official website. 2006. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  3. ISBN 978-1-59884-204-3
    .
  4. ^ "KEDARNATH". chardhamtour.
  5. ^ "Tiruketharam (Kedarnath)" (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  6. ^ Joanna Sugden; Shreya Shah (19 June 2013). "Kedarnath Temple Survives Flash Floods". WSJ.
  7. ^ Abram, David (2003). The Rough guide to India. New York: Rough Guides.
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-0-307-83295-5
    .
  9. ^ a b "Panch Kedar Yatra". Retrieved 5 July 2009.
  10. ISBN 9788185880167
    .
  11. ^ "Panch Kedar". chardhamtour.in. 5 March 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Panch Kedar". Archived from the original on 31 August 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  13. ^
    ISBN 978-90-04-30618-9
    .
  14. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7914-1282-4
    .
  15. ISBN 978-1-4381-0873-5
    .
  16. ISBN 978-0-415-33422-8
    .
  17. ^ a b "Kedarnath Temple: Interesting Facts About The Significant Lord Shiva Temple That Will Leave You Surprised". English Jagran. 20 December 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  18. ISBN 978-81-7907-053-6
    .
  19. ^ Whitmore, Luke (2018). Mountain, Water, Rock, God: Understanding Kedarnath in the twenty-first century. University of California Press. p. 38.
  20. ^ "Uttarakhand government website". Government of Uttarakhand. Archived from the original on 10 June 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  21. ^ a b c "Kedarnath priest's family prays for his safe return". Deccan Herald. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  22. ^ "Garhwali Dance Forms". euttaranchal.com. 6 March 2013.
  23. ^ "Administration of the temple". Shri Badrinath - Shri Kedarnath Temples Committee. 2006.
  24. ^ "Committee members of the temple". Shri Badrinath - Shri Kedarnath Temples Committee. 2006.
  25. ^ "Religious setup of the temple". Shri Badrinath - Shri Kedarnath Temples Committee. 2006.
  26. ^ "Power structure of the temple". Shri Badrinath - Shri Kedarnath Temples Committee. 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  27. ^ "What happened on the night of 16th June inside Kedarnath temple". Tehelka.com. 17 June 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  28. ^ "Account of survivors of Uttarakhand floods". Yahoo newsuutar. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  29. ^ "Account of survivors". youtube.com. 17 June 2013. Archived from the original on 31 October 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  30. ^ "Account of flood victims". youtube.com. 17 June 2013. Archived from the original on 31 October 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  31. ^ "Monsoon fury leaves Kedarnath shrine submerged in mud and slush". The Indian Express. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  32. ^ "Kedarnath shrine safe, to remain closed for a year". The Hindu. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  33. ^ "In Rebuilding Kedarnath, a New Disaster in the Making". The Wire. Retrieved 1 June 2019.

Further reading

External links

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