Kedarnath Dham

Kedarnath ji This is one of the popular "Jyotirlingas" of Lord Shiva. Kedarnath is also one of the sacred parts of holy Chardham circuit in Uttarakhand. Kedar is another name of Lord Shiva which means Powerful. The area is located in the middle of Garhwal Himalayas. The site is elevated at a height of 3581 meters above the sea level. The temple is circled with the snow clad mountains and can be viewed from the site.

When the battle of Kurukshetra ended the Pandavas began their journey to Varanasi. The Pandavas were in need of the blessings of Lord Shiva to get themselves freed from the sin, because they have killed their brothers the Kauravas. At that time Lord Shiva did not want to appear in front of them. Lord Shiva did not meet with them and moved on from Kashi to Uttarakhand state and took shelter in Guptakashi. Pandavas again tried to bring Lord Shiva by meditation but Shiva again fled to Kedarnath. The Pandavas also followed him and reached Kedarnath too. Pandavas did not give up and continued their meditation. Badrinath & Kedarnath are popular in Hindus.

Even when the Lord Shiva engaged himself into a crowed of grazing animals to hide their self from Pandavas. One of the Pandavas Bhim with great courage starched his leg around the mountains to recognize Shiva among them. All the cattle had gone under his legs but Shiva did not. Bhim noticed Shiva and tried to catch Siva but Shiva sank into the earth and only the back side of Shiva was taken by Bhim. This continued determination of Pandavas made Shiva impressed. Then Shiva forgave them by freeing their sin and appeared in front of them. Lord Shiva also requested them to pray his hump. Hence the hump of Lord Shiva started worshiping in the shrine of Kedarnath in the conical form.

Kedarnath Temple Guide
The Garhwal Himalayas consists of five highly revered temples of Panch Prayag. Panch Prayag is very significant among the devotees and Hindu followers. Each prayag has its own importance among the Hindus. Panch Kedar yatra is not a picnic but a divine experience.

Panch (Five) Kedar
Confluences of sacred rivers in India are adorned a lot and determined as the example of immortal piety. Meetings of rivers are sacred in the country when the rivers are started honored as Goddess.

Kedarnath
It is a complete package for legends, tradition and heritage. The site is also very popular as Lord Rama and his father Dashrathe performed self mortification at the site. Deo Prayag is situated at a height of 618 meters. According to the believers the name of Devprayag is taken from a Brahmin Priest. The priest meditated here for the birth of Vishnu avatar and the priest was granted guise of Ram.

Madhyamaheshwari
The meeting point of the holy rivers Alaknanda and Mandakini is called the Rudra Prayag. It is also believed that the sage Narada visited the site to accomplish with Rudra in a musical tone. This is the place where wife of Lord Shiav came into being again. Sati was died by self-immolation because her father humiliated her husband.

Tunganath
This confluence of river is made by rivers of Pindari and Alaknanda, Alaknanda River is at 788 meters high above the sea level. There is a holy shrine which is dedicated to karma. Karna is son of Kunti and Lord Surya. Other temples at the site devoted to Narayan, Shiva, Uma and Gopal.

Rudranath
One of the Panch Prayags, the meeting of Alaknanda and Nandakini is known by the name of Nanda Prayag. It is located at 914 meters height. It is conceived that the name is taken from Raja Nanda, who had celebrated a large fire purification ceremony here.

Kalpeshwar
The confluence of Vishnu Ganga and the Dhauliganga is popular as Vishnu Prayag. Vishnu prayag is about 1,372 meters high above the sea level. There is an old temple located near to a pool known as Vishnukund. It is considered that sage Narada worshipped Lord Vishnu here and lord blessed him for his intensive consideration.